M . J .: Was it colored glass or clear ?
Yvette : I only work with clear glass . I don ’ t know why , but I do not want to work with any colored glass . I paint everything . If you visit my Instagram you ’ ll see that I paint the glass but I also leave a lot of my glass natural , especially with a black background . It ’ s wicked and totally gorgeous ! I use the glass for texture to give depth and realism to my pieces .
When I paint the glass , I glue it all into place . Then I start painting on top of the glass to give it more depth .
M . J .: What kind of paint do you use ?
Yvette : I use acrylics , and ink , as well . Alcohol ink on glass is beautiful because it becomes transparent . So the color is there but you still see the glass . It is a really cool effect !
M . J .: Sounds like you ’ re having a lot of fun .
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Yvette : * Chuckling * Yeah , I ’ m having a good time . It ’ s like having a sandbox with all the toys in it .
M . J .: * Now I ’ m chuckling * that ’ s great !
Yvette : Yeah , I have lots of toys . I love to have toys and what I mean by that is I have paints , and pencils , and inks , and glue ... So I ’ m really , really a mixed media artist but my focus is to make sure that I put as much glass on the piece as possible .
M . J .: The dimensional quality of your art is dreamy and beautiful . What inspires your work ?
Yvette : I am inspired by all sorts of things . With my new series — French Cottages — I was going through some old pictures of my trip to the South of France . I couldn ’ t believe how many pictures I took of windows , doors , stairways , and flowers !
It was gorgeous and the pictures reminded me of what I experienced over there . I started to laugh because I realized they were all of the things I absolutely loved ! I also love how I can create a 3D effect and tell a story visually . So , I thought , why not do them ? That ’ s how the French Cottage series was conceived .
M . J .: What drew you to France , beyond the obvious ?
Yvette : Over the years , my ex and I took in students from all around the world . And my “ host-daughter ” from France invited me to go spend time with her . So I spent one month in France with her and we walked and walked and walked . We would go to garage sales every weekend in these old villages and I just went nuts taking those pictures .
M . J .: Sounds lovely . Have you done a lot of traveling ?