NANCY GRAHLMANN

Life has always given me plenty of material to work with—four kids, a ladder-climbing executive husband, and relocations to thirteen different places. The chaos became fuel for creativity, first as a humorist writer and cartoonist with work appearing in Today’s Woman Magazine, The Lutheran Quarterly, the Gwinnett Daily News, published books, and various assignments. At forty, as my children were heading to college, I also began a new chapter—studying Animation and Visual Communication at the Art Institute of Atlanta and launching a second career in the arts.

I began as a self-taught cartoonist, signing my work By George, but over time I discovered new mediums that captured my imagination. While living in Little Rock, Arkansas, I found glass fusing and knew instantly it was my medium. Glass fusing—working with glass and then firing it in a kiln—opened up a whole new way of creating. At the same time, I explored encaustic painting, a process dating back to ancient times when pigmented wax was used to seal Trojan ships. Both mediums allow me to experiment with texture, depth, and light, carrying forward my love of humor, color, and story into tangible forms.

I am inspired by the unexpected turns of life—by chaos, family, relocations, and reinvention. Each move, each challenge, each new experience has added to my creative language. Glass and encaustic speak to me because of their history, their unpredictability, and their ability to hold both strength and fragility at once. Now, as my husband nears retirement, I feel I am just beginning. This is my time to grow, create, and keep discovering.

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