When discussing her excitement for glass, Jones admits that "it's all in the chemistry; it's the fact that it's not a solid. It's in a state of liquid at all times; it's sparkly and it's shiny, it's rough and smooth. I collected marbles as a kid and always loved to look at them in the sun."

All of Jones' creations originate in her Reflective Art Studio, 301 E. 1700 South. Originally located in Art Space on Pierpont in 2002, she later moved to Sugar House in order to have more room.

"I've had a studio for six years now," she said. "It's where I do my teaching and have my personal work space."

She also has a small gallery there for exhibiting her glass art.

Her class sizes, of necessity, are small: four to five students. However, Jones would like to arrange it so she could teach eight to 10. She has taught 10- to 12-year-olds and up to hobbyists of retirement age.

"I've also done a teen apprenticeship program with Bad Dog Rediscovers America," she said. "That's the age group I'd really like to get ahold of to teach — to show them they have another choice for a medium."

Adamant about not returning to another medium, Jones is nevertheless grateful for her diverse art education.

"Without the painterly background that I have," she said, "I wouldn't be able to do the stuff that I do with glass."

She would, however, like to incorporate glass panels into a painting.

"I haven't figured that out yet, but I'm sure I will."

For a list of glass art for sale and classes offered at Reflective Art Studio, visit www.reflectiveartstudio.com.

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Murrini is a cane made by "layering up" hot bits of colored glass, or fusing together preformed components that are melted in such a way that the various colors join together to create patterns that are then pulled like taffy to make the cane smaller in diameter. The end result is an image within the cross section of the glass cane. When the patterned cane is cooled, it is cut into small disks and used in decorating glass or constructing glass.

Three major kinds of warm glass activities:

1. Glass fusing — joining pieces of glass together by melting them in a kiln.

2. Glass slumping — shaping glass by heating it over or into a mold inside a kiln.

3. Kiln casting — using a kiln to melt and shape glass pieces that have been placed inside a mold.

Most scholars agree that the first fusing and kiln casting was done by the ancient Mesopotamians in the second millennium BC.

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