The American Folk Festival brings musicians, food vendors and crafters from all over.

One of those crafters is the Lee Art Glass Studio in Gouldsboro.

Lee Art Glass is pushing the boundaries of fused glass daily, and people are taking notice.

Local Bed and Breakfasts and celebrities Martha Stewart and Kara Dioguardi have purchased table wear here.

Chelsey Anderson visited the studio recently to see through the glass.

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Sheldon Bickford and Wayne Taylor are co-owners of Lee Art Glass Studio. They took over the business from Rod Lee, who had started it in 1985 in Winter Harbor.

Sheldon- "We had just started to learn, and thank God he had a lot of inventory because a lot of ours at first was not that great."

Wayne shows me how the process is done on a large plate.

Wayne- "Basically this is where the heart and soul of how the product is and where it's made."

First you cut your window glass down to size. (NAT)

You place your doily of choice in the center of the glass. Take the cobalt blue color and sift it onto the damp doily. Get an even coat.(NAT)

Take the doily off the glass, and place the second piece on top without smudging. Sift Plaster of Paris onto the mold, and it's ready to go in the kiln and fire.

Wayne- "That's the finished product. All I'm going to do is rinse that under cold water and on the shelf it goes."

Now it's my turn to try. I'm making a dessert bowl using a plastic doily.

"Now try to center it."

"You said this wasn't that hard and I think it is!" (laughter)

"Actually, you're right on."

After drying off your plastic doily it's time to apply color.

"Keep going in circles?" "Just keep on going until it's all covered."

If I'm doing it right I shouldn't have any white showing through.

"I call them bald spots." "Like that one?" "Yeah. Like that one. A little more in that area."

Once you have an even coat you have to remove the doily without pulling away the design.

"Oh dear!" "Alright, you squeezing them? Okay, now lift it up straight. Yes sir." "Oh! There. That was exciting. I didn't smudge it." "No! It's great!"

"Here's your true test."

I have to put the second piece of glass on top without smudging the design.

"Okay, you started from this end right?" "Yep." "Let your thumbs be your guide."

Now the check.

"There's no movement there. No movement there. Perfect." (sigh) "It's very stressful!" "A natural. A natural!" "I'm going to have an ulcer!" (laughter)

I sift my Plaster of Paris on my kiln mold and place my glass design on top and centered.

Into the kiln it goes.

"It's like a pie."

It takes anywhere from 12 to 48 hours to see your finished product, so I didn't get to see what it looked like that day. But I got the message loud and clear from Wayne and Sheldon.

Sheldon- "Don't ever think that you can't do something. I mean I could not draw a straight line with a ruler, and sometimes you have to think out of the box, and let yourself go to find what is truly inside you.">
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You can visit Lee Art Glass Studios in Gouldsboro 7 days a week all summer through Columbus Day. Or you can visit their website at leefusionartglass.com

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