The Professional Artists of St. Augustine (PAStA) Fine Art Gallery welcomes art glass artist and jeweler K. Alison Schaeffler-Murphy to the eclectic gallery located in St. Augustine’s historic district off of Charlotte Street. Ms. Schaeffler-Murphy, who prefers to go by “Alison,” began her love affair with the glass arts while attending Florida State University. In an “off campus” class, she came to realize the uniqueness of glass; its natural luminosity, brilliant clarity, and reflective colors offered aesthetic properties that she wished to explore further.
“My jewelry and glass dishes invite light to interplay within the various layered colors of the piece,” Alison explained. “It gives the piece a living-in-the-moment quality, as the play of light constantly changes the expression of the piece.”
After graduate degrees in both art history and art museum administration, Alison worked with non-profit art organizations, museums, and art galleries. She has served as a fine arts consultant, an art appraisal researcher, managed collections, chaired art shows and worked as art juror and judge. Additionally, Alison has served as an art gallery director and a curator. Her work has been featured in national magazines and local newspapers, displayed at glass expositions, art-in-public places, indoor and outdoor art fairs and exhibited at art galleries and museums. These days, Alison can be found full-time in her studio creating one-of-a-kind fused dichroic glass art works.
Alison’s use of dichroic glass is what makes each of her pieces appear dynamically alive! As light moves through and over each glasswork’s surface, viewers are captivated by shifting reflective colors and varied hues. Dichroic glass, a space-age glass originally developed in the 1950’s for NASA, is now made using different metal oxides thereby offering a wider kaleidoscope of colors. By using dichroic glass in her unique creations, Ms. Schaeffler-Murphy seeks to inspire the creative joy and happiness that the presence of art and beauty continually offers to our lives.
Alison’s collection of fused and dichroic glass works is on display at the Charlotte Street gallery and available for sale.
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About PAStA:
The Professional Artists of St. Augustine Fine Art Gallery (PAStA) on Charlotte Street, in downtown historic St. Augustine, Florida, was founded in 1982 by Jean Wagner Troemel, a champion of the arts, founder of the Winter Haven Ridge Art Association, served on the Florida Arts Group Board (FLAG), and spearheaded St. Augustine’s First Friday Art Walks. The gallery has served an international clientele a wealth of local talent and award-winning artists. The gallery’s mission is to showcase local and regional art and to educate and encourage area artists. In 2023 and 2024, PAStA has won The Best of Florida Regional Art Gallery, and as a finalist in the Best of St. Augustine Choice Awards. The gallery’s mission is to showcase local and regional art and to educate and encourage area artists.
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I did not connect with clay as an artistic outlet until mid-life. During a hectic and demanding career, while juggling family, job and my MBA, I needed a healthy outlet to release my frustrations while appealing to my sorely under-utilized creative needs.
One summer class gave me the impetus to redirect what little down-time I had into punching, pulling, coiling, pinching, slapping, and throwing this amazing and malleable material into anything my imagination desired. I found therapy through clay.
In the years since, I have received an Associate’s Degree from the New Hampshire Institute of Art in Manchester, New Hampshire, and set up my first studio in a basement of our house. Currently, my studio has moved above ground – to my garage, but includes a wheel, large Skutt kiln, slab roller and an array of clay and glazes that would make a chameleon dizzy. I am a proud member of the Professional Artists of St. Augustine Fine Art Gallery since October of 2021.
I work with a variety of clays and glazes – from mid-temp stoneware and shiny glazes to low-fire and matte underglazes. I find inspiration in nature, children’s stories and fables, and my own untamed imagination!
