ARTIST                                             Marcia Glenn

Handcrafted Silver and Beaded Jewelry

Marcia Glenn was born and raised in Texas, obtaining her B.A. in German and English from Baylor University.  In 1972, she moved to Germany to obtain her Master’s Degree in German, and she loved Germany so much that she stayed there, working and living in Freiburg for almost twenty years before moving to Albuquerque in 1994.  While living in Germany, Marcia worked as a travel coordinator for a division of Litton Industries, and she traveled extensively in Europe, Africa, and Asia.  During her travels, she developed a love of ethnic art and jewelry and collected gold jewelry and beaded necklaces, but she did not begin making jewelry herself until 2004.  On a whim, she took two courses in making jewelry with Polymer Clay and fine silver (Precious Metal Clay), not realizing that these courses would start her on an odyssey into both PMC design and traditional silversmithing that has become a continuing passion.

Although her style is somewhat eclectic, Marcia’s jewelry tends to be organic and ethnic.  She enjoys working with the properties of different metals, and her inspirations come from nature and primitive cultures.  She works extensively with sterling silver, brass, copper, and Precious Metal Clay (fine silver), a relatively new material that contains microscopic particles of pure silver suspended in an organic binder.  This material is malleable, having a consistency similar to modeling clay, and it can be worked with the fingers and simple tools to create a vast array of forms, textures, and surfaces that would be unattainable or very laborious using traditional silversmithing techniques.  The finished pieces are then fired in a kiln, during which time the binder and water burn away and the metal fuses leaving a finished product of fine, or pure silver.  Marcia designs her own rubber stamps, molds, and texture plates, and she has also begun combining fine silver with brass, copper, and semi-precious stones.  Her ultimate goal is to create pieces with clean and simple lines that bring beauty and serenity into a world that has increasingly become violent and chaotic.

Marcia lives in Albuquerque, where she works at the University of New Mexico and is also co-owner of Two Sisters German Translations, Inc..  She is a member of the Corrales Society of Artists and has exhibited her work at numerous juried and non-juried markets in New Mexico.

Glenn