For Joanna Glass, creating art is about color, discovery and joy.

Her glass pieces are built from an assortment of shapes, textures and colors—sometimes carefully planned and sometimes discovered along the way. Flowers bloom from tiny fragments of glass. Curving stems become trees. Birds appear among branches. Separate pieces gradually become one composition.

It's a process Joanna loves.

And becoming an artist wasn't necessarily the path she expected to take.

Joanna grew up with dyslexia and found that numbers came much more naturally to her than words. She graduated from Southern Methodist University and went on to work as an engineer, math programmer and math teacher. Her public biography describes that transition from a childhood centered on numbers to a later life involving both art and writing.

Creativity, however, became an increasingly important part of her life.

Drawing led to other forms of artistic expression, and glass eventually provided Joanna with a medium perfectly suited to her love of color, detail and individuality.

Her life has also been deeply shaped by faith. Following her husband's cancer diagnosis and death, Joanna wrote Jesus Steps In: A Spiritual Journey, combining her personal story with her artwork. The project later expanded into a radio program.

That chapter of Joanna's life has ended, but the experiences behind it remain part of the person—and artist—she is today.

Now Joanna's attention is focused on creating original glass artwork.

Each work is assembled by hand, with Joanna choosing individual pieces for their color, shape, texture and the way they interact with one another. The result is art that feels spontaneous, colorful and unmistakably personal.

Art made to bring a little more color and joy into the world.