Kathleen Gross does not hesitate to give proper credit to her husband Fritz for her amazing enterprise as a fused glass artist. She glances across the room at the face so dear to her that she cares for him during this fragile stage of his life. In their open-plan home in Trilogy at Rio Vista, this lively, lovely seventy-something woman surrounds herself with beauty, grace, and the fruits of a mind which always seeks to learn. But her initial inspiration flows from her husband, something she acknowledges and embraces. When Gross became a caregiver for her father, Fritz suggested that she take up jewelry-making as a distraction from the emotional toil. She started stringing African beads. Then her husband urged her to study glass, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Gross describes herself as a Navy baby and her husband, as an Army brat. With the characteristic flexibility of military children, the pair has traveled from California to Oregon and back in their fifty-year journey together. They met at UC-Davis, where they both became veterinarians, careers which they pursued for several decades. Gross laughs as she recalls her mother trying to get her to sew. “I like to sew, but only on living creatures,” she admits.
There’s something special about the cheerful way in which Gross describes her life that might explain the resilient beauty of the art which she currently creates as Nonny’s Glass. “Everything has to be beautiful but functional,” Gross notes. She gestures to the tables and counters, where glass pieces sit in various stages of completion. “I want my glass to be used, not just admired.”
In their early 50s, Gross and her husband decided to reinvent themselves. They retired from their veterinary practice in Marin County; bought land in North Bend, Oregon; and built a KOA. They ran the place with the help of Kathy’s parents until each passed, and then with the help of their daughter. Once Gross started making glass pieces, she sold them in the shop on their KOA grounds. Guests would stop for supplies and ask what new merchandise she had on display.
Gross fires her fused glass pieces on a kiln that she and Fritz originally purchased in 1973 for him to use with his cloisonne work. But he never pursued that hobby, and the kiln sat idle. Now she creates gorgeous platters, wine bottle holders, small easels for matted prints, bowls, jewelry, and garden art in the kiln. Her charming laughter fills the room as she recounts the astonishment of the kiln company when they learned that it still existed, let alone functioned. “They said it’s the oldest one they’ve seen. We never even opened it until I started making glass thirty years later!”
That ability to find amusement in the every day events of her life seems to have carried Gross to the quiet sense of peace which flows from her. She’s also naturally curious and driven to learn. This innate quest for knowledge drives her artistic efforts. “I study each new technique, then practice until I perfect it,” she explains. “Then I explore another technique.” When asked how many there were left to learn, her eyes light. “Thousands!” One imagines that the pursuit of the perfectly constructed plate will occupy Gross until her great-grandchildren’s day. She tilts a large platter on its end to show the layered details and the distinct patterns on back and front. Her lively eyes dance as she talks about the sequential firings, the molds which she uses to shape bowls, and the scores of cuts required to form an intricate pattern in a piece on display above her cupboards.
Walking through the house where Gross lives and works, it’s easy to imagine her art in the homes of the people who buy it. Her glasswork has a sturdy sort of splendor which invites the human touch. Like Gross, the glassware and jewelry that she creates seems likely to withstand the test of time.
Editor’s Note: On 13 July 2019, twenty Delta-based artists will participate in a group show at Park Delta Bay in the Community Room and under the big tent. We will be featuring profiles of some of the participating artists, of which the following are two. We hope this introduction will inspire you to come see all of the art on display and to explore the work being shown.
