Qeturah Bolden on Practicing and Teaching Glass Artistry

By Alex Fresch, assistant director at Glass Axis

Qeturah Bolden is a glass artist and instructor at Glass Axis. Her work will be featured amongst two dozen local glass artists at the Glass Axis Annual Holiday Sale, Dec. 8-16. We chatted with her about her work and her teaching.

Alex: Hi Qeturah, tell us about you!
Qeturah: I’m a multimedia artist, currently working as a gaffer/instructor at Glass Axis and the Franklin Park Conservatory.

Alex: How did you become interested in glass? Do you work with any other art mediums?
Qeturah: I’ve always had a love for art and my parents really encouraged me to pursue that as a career path. I became interested in glass during my sophomore year of college. The journey to attaining my BFA started with jewelry. I was comfortable wielding with a torch for small-scale metalsmithing, but I wanted to continue playing with fire, so I began taking the glassblowing classes my college offered. I have also been working with fabric since I was a child, and interweaving textiles with my glass sculptures has become a staple in my work.

Alex: How did you first become introduced to Glass Axis?
Qeturah: During the pandemic, the glassblowing studio at Columbus College of Art & Design had temporarily closed. As a result, I was granted an independent study to continue my glassblowing journey. Glass Axis allowed CCAD students to continue learning and refining our skills with the help of a CCAD instructor. Throughout my schooling, I used the Glass Axis facility to work on my projects and continued after graduation. I was then asked to work there as a class instructor, which I happily accepted.

Alex: What do you most enjoy about teaching/working with the students?
Qeturah: I really enjoy hearing the students discuss their ideas, especially kids. It’s rewarding to hear someone’s unfiltered creativity as we talk through their plans and have the opportunity to help them accomplish that goal.

Alex: What are your favorite items to make in glass?
Qeturah: My favorite items to make are plants, especially using the torch. I enjoy the repetition of sculpting the petals of a flower. The process is the same, but they all come out differently. Every sculpture ends up being an original. It feels like a nice full circle moment, having started off metalsmithing, I get to continue making jewelry and working in glass.

Alex: Where can people buy your work?
Qeturah: I’m going to be selling my sculpted flower jewelry and woven bags during the Glass Axis Holiday Sale, which runs from December 8 through 16.

Alex: What kind of projects are you working on now? Any new items coming soon?
Qeturah: I am currently working with a few new materials. I’ve picked up leathercrafting and have been making wallets. The wallets will be a nice variation in addition to the woven bags I’ve made. I’ve also gotten back into metalsmithing, so I’ve been working with stainless steel to make chainmail. The last big thing I made in metal was a table. I want to keep that momentum for making larger-scale objects going. I also plan on taking some blacksmithing courses, in hopes that I will have some mixed media glass and metal art on the way for a future holiday sale!

See the work of Qeturah and two dozen local glass artists at the Glass Axis Annual Holiday Sale, Dec. 8-16.

This article is part of a bi-weekly column brought to you by the Greater Columbus Arts Council as part of the Art Makes Columbus campaign. Explore a calendar of events, public art database and artist stories at columbusmakesart.com. To learn more about GCAC grants visit gcac.org.