Cape Resident Captures Beauty in Dancing Glass

In a small studio below her Cape St. Claire home, Sue Rena Curtis creates art that dances in the light and sways with the wind.

The Dancing Glass mobiles that Curtis makes aren’t your standard fare. She bypasses the traditional soldering technique and uses simple wire to bind the glass to a metal frame. The method frees her to create more creative, elaborate displays than possible using traditional means, she said.

“With this, there aren’t any weight limitations,” Curtis said. “I can suspend one piece off of another.”

Why go solder-free? Curtis said she's something of an environmental buff, and doesn't like to use unneeded chemicals.

After creating mobiles like these for over a decade, she’s become something of a master craftsman. Her studio is lined with different forms of mobiles, some abstract, some with recognizable shapes like birds, hearts and mountains.

Over the years, Curtis estimates that she’s sold nearly 2,000 mobiles priced from $30 to hundreds. For Mother's Day, she's offering a 10 percent off special.

Curtis started working in art by assembling pieces of driftwood into wall hangings and tables. She said the business did well, but she was beginning to see a trend in the items she created. She wanted to explore new territory—something that could excite her creativity. After experimenting with hanging plates, she began to use glass, and then quickly discovered there was a whole new world of expression to be found by shaping the glass.

She has a diamond-ring saw that can cut any shape her mind can dream up, but it takes a steady hand and patience to use effectively, she said.  

“When I learned to cut glass, that’s when it truly started to evolve for me,” Curtis said. “It lets me do whatever my whim is—faces, mountains, birds, whatever.”

Curtis has a website to show off her mobiles, but she encourages potential customers to visit her studio and see them hanging in person. Photos just don’t do them justice, she said.

“Catching the light coming through the glass— that’s what makes these beautiful,” Curtis said.

Interested in more about Dancing Glass? Visit Curtis’ website, her Facebook page or contact her via email to schedule a visit to her studio in Cape St. Claire.