Craft and Method: ​The Story of the Birch-Bark Vault

This page offers a behind-the-scenes look at my creative process, showcasing how a found object can inspire a finished piece. The featured project, a glass vault with a birch-bark texture, began on the streets of New York City and was commissioned by Third Ward, a craft center and makerspace in Brooklyn.
The video below, shot by artist Christian Schneider, captures my journey of transforming a discarded vault-shaped glass panel into a sculptural piece. It’s a project that showcases my passion for reclaimed materials and my ability to fuse traditional woodworking with visionary artistic techniques.

​The story began on the streets of New York City back in 2012, where I discovered the large, vault-shaped glass panel in a trash pile outside a building. Inspired by its unique form, I designed a pair of cradling wooden stands to hold it. To create the birch-bark texture, I used Elmer's glue, applying a series of glue strips from the bottle's nozzle to mimic the look of real birch tree bark.After the glue strips had set, I used a sandblaster to spray the entire glass panel. This process creates a beautiful, frosted, matte finish on the exposed glass surfaces. Once complete, I carefully peeled off the Elmer's glue strips, revealing the striking, curved bark pattern on the glass. The finished piece beautifully nested on the two wooden blocks I crafted, a perfect fusion of a found object and fine craft.
This project perfectly encapsulates my artistic philosophy: finding the story within discarded materials and bringing it to life through a blend of design, skill, and vision.

Woods of NYC, 2012

Found glass vault, reclaimed wood, milk paint. 19½ x 10¼ x 3 inches