Kay has been working in stained glass since 1971. Her involvement with glass started at a studio in Scottsdale, Arizona where she learned all phases of stained glass fabrication, including the copper foil and lead came techniques. She has studied stained glass design under Sue Bird of Utah, Margareta Grandin-Nettles of Nantucket Island, Massachusetts, and Charles Z. Lawrence of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
In 1973 Kay opened her own stained glass studio, The Stained Glass Shop, in Sun City, Arizona. The retail studio featured original glass gift items, decorative wall reliefs, and custom stained glass. Comprehensive stained glass classes were offered and taught by Kay. Colored glass from around the world was also a feature, as well as tools and supplies.
Kay’s original stained glass art has been exhibited throughout Arizona and across the United States Her stained glass work has also been shown internationally. A stained glass panel designed and fabricated by Kay, entitled Southwest Pottery, was one of twenty panels on exhibit at La Galerie du Vitral, Chartres, France. This exhibit of stained glass art was selected from the works of the Associate Members of the Stained Glass Association of America. The showing was the first presentation of non-architectural American stained glass in Europe.
For the past four years she has been incorporating glass with Maine granite to form sculptures. She is using glass made for the stained glass art and, in many cases, fuses glass in her kiln to achieve the desired effect. The sculptures vary in size from table top decorative art to five foot tall sculptures suitable for lawn and garden placement.
Award and Prize Recognition
Best of Show – Shared Recognition
Annual Mesa Stained Glass Show
Mesa, Arizona
Best Use of Opalescent Glass
Associates Show, Stained Glass Association of America
Jekyll Island, Georgia
Best of Show
Associates Show, Stained Glass Association of America
Toronto, Canada
Kay has participated in the Phoenix Art Museum’s Annual Christmas Tree Festival. Her stained glass work was featured in the magazine Better Homes and Gardens “Christmas Ideas” and in the book Treasury of Christmas Crafts and Foods, published by Better Homes and Gardens.
