working on filming virtual classes and workshops to be available end of year
Artist Bio
I was born in the Chicago area, but quickly learned that the cold wasn't for me, so at age 15, my family and I moved to Florida. After high school I was introduced to the art of flameworking and quickly discovered I had a knack for it! As an avid entreprenuer and marketing student, I moved to St. Croix, in the US Virgin Islands to open a small gift shop featuring one-of-a-kind pieces with a sealife theme that I made right on site in front of visitors to the island. During this time, I worked tirelessly creating and learning techniques on the torch and realized the satisfaction and fulfillment that comes with creating and selling my own work. I returned to Florida after 4 years in the islands, and expanded the business and named my company The Glass Menagerie. I worked in Tarpon Springs at a small gift shop during this time as well, making countless number of pieces for tourists visiting the Spong Docks. Between 2000 - 2015, I expanded my reach by offering my unique sculpture and jewelry to several galleries, gift shops, museums(including my signature design, the Nautilus, to the Dali Museum and Imagine Museum in St. Pete) and exhibited in 50+ art shows over 15 years. I then named my company Cech Glass, (Bohemian/Czech by nationality) and began buidling my website and product line (https://melaniecechglass.com) to offer these unique gift items to people all over the world. Since moving back to St. Petersburg, Florida in 2015, I have continued to work in this creative medium, exhibiting at about 2-3 art shows per year and most recently have worked on developing workshops and courses, (soon to be offered virtually by the end of the year), in Beginning Techniques in Flameworking. I enjoy networking and meeting other like-minded creative entrepreneurs and other business owners that support artists and the arts community. Being an artist and entreptreneur has taught me the importance of resourcefulness and perseverence and how a dream can become a lifelong passion and reality by hard work and determination. : ) Contact me for more information about the creative process, custom or commissioned work, and the rest of the story.......................
Awards
- 2015 - Award of Distinction, Tarpon Springs Fine Art Festival, FL
- 2014 - Honorable Mention, 3D Sculpture, Delray Affair, Delray Beach, FL
- 2012 - 2nd Place, Wearable Art, Delray Affair, Delray, FL
- 2007 - 2nd Place, 3-Dimensional Sculpture, Sanibel, FL
- 2007 - Merit Award Fine Arts Veranda Park, Orlando, FL
- 2002 - Award of Distinction
Hernando County Fine Arts Council, Brooksville, FL
"The Nautilus"
"The Nautilus design is a symbol of life, harmony, and the perfection of nature. The Nautilus shell evokes a sense of mystery and awe. The chambers of the Nautilus shell are symbolic of growth, evolution, expansion and renewal -- the stages each person passes through life. The spiral itself is a symbol of creation, movement, fluidity and evolution. It reveals the cyclical nature of life and the relationship between unity and multiplicity. With no beginning and no end, the spiral curls eternally inward and eternally outward with continual self-creation. As a path, the spiral is both the journey home to who we really are, and the journey to be one who we will become, for they are one and the same.
It's spiral structure displays perfect mathematical proportion, sometimes called the Golden Mean or the Fibonacci Sequence. The Golden Mean number is also known as PHI. The unique thing about the Golden Mean is that it can be found incorporated in all known organic structures. Viewing the proportions of the Nautilus give us a serene sense of balance and well-being. The Golden Mean number is widely used in art, architecture, and religious symbols. It reminds us that subtle changes, one after the other, bring big results."