Gale Franko's Dichroic Glass Jewelry

After 30 years as an Emmy-award-winning television producer, writer and editor, Gale Franko had had enough.  Along the way, to combat stress, Franko began making jewelry from glass beads.  It was not only therapeutic, it was addictive.

Determined to learn how to make glass beads herself, Franko invested in a torch, glass rods, and other necessary equipment.  The first attempts were exciting, but a final element was missing.  In order to prevent easy breakage of the glass, the beads must be held in a kiln at a specific temperature in a process call annealing.  This ensures that all the glass molecules heat and cool at the same rate, preventing the glass from cracking after it has cooled.

In the end, it was the kiln and it's multiple possibilities that won over Franko's heart and lured her into glass fusing.  The magical sparkle of dichroic glass was irresistable.  Thus began her part-time business of Looking Glass Designs, making pendants, earrings and other jewelry.  She began to build up some wholesale accounts, developing relationships with boutiques and galleries that sold her jewelry.

Dichroic Glass pendant by Gale Franko

The high stress of the job finally got to be too much, and a few years ago, Franko took the plunge into being a full-time artist.  Always a big leap, this required a big move into growing those wholesale accounts.  That means doing wholesale trade shows, and coming up with new and clever ways to get in touch with galleries and boutiques.


Selection of dichroic
glass rings

The recession has been a particularly difficult time for artists.  The most resilient ones continue to grow and innovate.  Franko is among those, and came up with a line of home decor objects to expand her potential sales and potential gallery representation.  Fused glass votive holders, spoon rests, cheese trays, picture frames and more are now a regular part of her line.

Glass cheese tray

To differentiate herself from the myriad other artists doing such work, Franko creates the glass designs herself, by melting powdered glass and thin glass rods onto clear glass, and making things out of that.  Check out the gorgeous lime-aqua-purple cheese tray pictured here.  It's a wowzer!  And because she creates the glass, no two will ever be exactly alike.

Franko now shows her work in  34 states around the country, plus the Virgin Islands.  The sparkle of the dichroic glass, combined with the simplicity of her shapes, has an ever-growing group of collectors always on the lookout for her latest colors and shapes.

Come see Franko's jewelry and home decor items, and meet the woman herself!  She'll be our featured artist at the December 20 Art Walk in Edmonds, and on hand to answer questions from 5 - 8 pm that evening.

"Rain Forest House" pendant
of dichroic glass