Francesca Bortolaso
"I confess... I like fishes!"
Francesca Bortolaso, artist and Glass Master since '92. Fish Art came to life from my passion and love for the oceans, the seaside and sea life. My dream is to move to a marine location, living there looking at the horizon, listening to the sound of the sea while working glass in my seafront workshop.
The main characters of Fish Art creations are decorated glass and copper, both natural sustainable and recyclable materials. Together with the eco-cork cord and recycled paper-pack they enclose the Fish Art philosophy, based on respect for the environment and the seas. Hence the choice to collaborate with the italian association Worldrise which believes like myself in the existence of a cross and universal love that binds us to our planet, the oceans and the earth. It is up to us to act and implement small or large actions to protect the ecosystem, including the marine one: that is why purchasing one of my jewels or a fish sculpture each of you can contribute to the activities promoted by Worldrise.
I love glass, a wonderful and mysterious material, in its infinite shapes and colors, pure alchemy, fragile, durable, flexible and multiform at the same time. My passion was born in the '80s, when I used to paint just for “hobby” on vases, bowls, glasses and mirrors, then in 1992 I decided to start of my professional career as a Glass Master. In 1993 I met the Argentine artist Miriam Di Fiore, an experience that changed my working life, in fact in her studio in Milano, I learned the technique of kiln glass fusing which had recently arrived in Italy from the United States. I enriched my partnership with this beloved and splendid material in 2005 with the lampworking technique typical of Murano. I have been living there for three winter seasons in order to learn and master my apprentiship from a Murano Glass Master, Davide Penso. Over time I have also approached another ancient material, mystical copper, an over-all female metal, that changes over time and turns red in the heating process. In my Fish Art creations I often use copper during the working melting process eather in my jewels or as a support and graphic decoration and conjunction elements for my sculptures.
Today I hold intensive classes and workshops upon request, both individual or group ones, on Venetian Lampworking, Glass Fusing and Tiffany (Stained Glass) techniques.
For information on my collections, workshops or your purchases, you can write to hello@fishartstore.com or you can contact me on social media, Instagram and Facebook.