Janet began her love affair with glass in 1970. While studying chemistry in college, she watched, fascinated, as the glassblower in her department created scientific equipment. Upon graduation, she taught herself lampworking (glass worked over a torch) and, with a partner, built and ran a hot glass studio for eight years, creating her signature fish paperweights and floral perfume bottles.
In 1985, Janet reinvented herself as an architectural glass artist, providing decorative sandblasted doors, windows, and mirrors. Recent commissions also include large glass mosaics, glass and metal donor walls, and lighting. Her work graces homes and businesses across the Detroit metropolitan area.
Learning to scuba dive inspired her sculptural "Seafan" series. They reflect the undulating forms and luscious colors of coral reefs. Janet was married (for the first time) in 2008, inspiring new work: glass slippers and nesting birds.
| Born May 7, 1948, Detroit, Michigan | |
| EDUCATION | |
| 1971 - 2005 | Glass classes and workshops at Penland, Haystack, Toledo Museum of Art, and Pittsburgh Glass Center |
| 1966 - 1970 | University of Michigan, BS in Chemistry. |
| 1976 - 1980 | Wayne State University, MS in Nutrition. |
| EXPERIENCE | |
| 1970 - present | Maintain a studio for designing and creating architectural, sculptural and decorative glass which is sandblasted, slumped, fused, blown, and cast. | 2007 | Penland School summer class, assistant to Cappy Thompson. |
| GRANTS, PUBLICATIONS, AND COLLECTIONS | |
| 1980 - present | Numerous private collections. |
| 2006 | 500 Glass Objects, cover image, Lark Books. |
| 2004 | Jewish Women in the Arts Award |
| 1989 | Contemporary Glass, Suzanne K. Frantz. |
| 1984 | "Decorative and Craft Ideas," Feature article, February. |
| 1982 | Glass Animals, 3500 Years of Artistry in Design, A Dolez. |
| 1982, 1986, 2002 | "New Glass Review 3," "New Glass Review 7," and "New Glass Review 23," The Corning Museum of Glass. |
| 1982, 1986, 2002 | Collection of the Corning Museum of Glass. |
| 1982 | "American Craft." Portfolio Section. |
| 1982 | Creative Artist Grant, Michigan Council for the Arts. |
| SELECTED COMMISSIONS AND INVITATIONAL EXHIBITIONS | |
| 2009 | "Glass Reunion 2009," Janice Charach Gallery, West Bloomfield, MI |
| 2007 - 2008 | Leaded Glass Windows for Sanctuary, Young Israel of Oak Park, Oak Park, MI |
| 2007 | Eternal Light, Frankel Jewish Academy Chapel, West Bloomfield, MI Eternal Light, Congregation B'nai Moshe, West Bloomfield, MI |
| 2006 | Donor Wall for Congregation Beth Shalom, Oak Park, MI |
| 2006 | Wall sculpture for Southfield Public Library, Southfield, MI |
| 2005 - 2007 | Annual Anniversary Exhibition, Prism Contemporary Glass, Chicago, IL |
| 2005 - 2008 | Annual International Invitational, Habatat Galleries, Boca Raton, FL |
| 2004 | "Keeping Warm," Tobin-Hewett Gallery, Louisville, KY |
| 2003 - 2008 | Annual International Invitational, Habatat Galleries, Royal Oak, MI |
| 2004 | Spertus Judaica Prize Competition, Spertus Museum, Chicago, IL |
| 2003 | Glass Mosaic Donor Wall, JVS, Southfield, MI "Emerging Artists," Tobin-Hewett Gallery. Louisville, KY |
| 2002 | "Dimensions in Glass," Washington Street Gallery, Ann Arbor, MI "5 Michigan Artists: 5 Directions in Glass," Janice Charach Epstein Museum/Gallery, West Bloomfield, MI "Janet Kelman and Holly Pennington," Michigan Hot Glass, Detroit, MI. |
| 2001 | "Hot, Hot, Hotter," Washington Street Gallery, Ann Arbor, MI Window for Huntington Woods Library, Huntington Woods, MI |
| 2000 | "For the Love of Glass," Washington Street Gallery, Ann Arbor, MI, solo exhibit "Glass," Gallery One, Washtenaw Community College, Ypsilanti, MI Leaded Glass Windows for Lobby, Cong. Temple Emanu-El, Oak Park, MI "Out of Solitude," Michigan Gallery, Detroit, MI |
| 1993 | "Reform Function," Detroit Artists Market, Detroit, MI |
| 1991 | Entry Doors, Janice Charach Epstein Museum/Gallery, West Bloomfield, MI |
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