April 2007

Glass artist Paula Williams Kochanek, from Sherborn, Mass., spent the day with Claudia Black's visual art classes, demonstrating her techniques in the Gail Wynne Art Studio. Her visit was sponsored by Taft's Rockwell Visiting Artist Series.

Kochanek earned a commercial art degree from Vesper George School of Art. She started working in stained glass back in the early '80s. It all started when she had a custom lamp designed and made. Thinking to herself.. “Hey, I think I’d like to try this,” she took a class in stained glass at a local glass store in Framingham.

During the short class Paula was hired to design and execute windows and lamps for the store. She was soon asked to relocate to Australia for four months to open up several restaurants in Melbourne. She stayed a year and during that year she designed a large stained glass window for her employers: The Pavilion Group, Inc.

After a year, she came home to pursue a career in business, but continued to work on her art. Her position of Package Designer for Microsoft ® and Original Equipment Manufactures (OEM) took her all over the country. This allowed Paula to collect different influences and ideas from various parts of the country. In 2001 she decided to focus on her art and teaching, and creating one of-a-kind pieces for residential and commercial clients. Her love of flowers, nature and the sea greatly influence her work.

She has been involved with Snow Farm in Western Massachusetts for several years, teaching the art of fusing and slumping glass into large vessels and jewelry.