Texture Together!

Sheila Mahut, Laura Donefer

Join us for a lively and collaborative hot shop demo featuring the dynamic duo of Sheila and Laura! Watch as Sheila blows a beautiful vessel skillfully, setting the stage for serious surface fun. Then, Laura takes over, adding bold textures, quirky patterns, and maybe even some unexpected twists. This fast-paced, interactive session is all about teamwork, experimentation, and pushing the boundaries of glass surface design. Audience participation is highly encouraged—be ready to cheer, suggest, or join in the action!

Artist Bio: Sheila Mahut is a Canadian glass artist whose career spans over 25 years. She graduated from Sheridan College’s School of Craft and Design—where she and Laura Donefer first met in 1982! Sheila has taught at Sir Sandford Fleming College, in the glass department at Sheridan, and at workshops across North America, including The Studio at The Corning Museum of Glass.

Laura Donefer is an award-winning artist who has been using glass as her primary medium for over forty years, often in combination with diverse materials. Celebrated for her innovative, colorful blown glass and flame worked “Amulet Baskets”, she also pushes the boundary with work that explores ideas concerning memory, assault, bereavement, joy and madness. In demand as an exciting instructor, Laura has taught workshops and given lectures worldwide, including Japan, the United States, China, New Zealand, the UK and Australia. Her work is in many public and private collections, the Corning Museum of Glass, the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, the Museum of Art and Design in Manhattan and the Museum of Fine Art in Montreal to name but a few. Laura has been bestowed with many honours, among them “Lifetime Achievement Awards” from the Glass Art Association of Canada, as well as Craft Ontario, the prestigious “Honorary Membership Award” from the Glass Art Society, for her dedication to the glass community at large, and the International Flameworking Award for “extraordinary contributions to the glass art world,” as well as being honored in 2016 with the Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass award for her role in the glass community. Laura lives in the wilds of Ontario, Canada, and in her spare time grows kale, hangs out with her husband, The Mighty Dave, and kayaks the nearby waterways, loving and living her life to the fullest!