Margene Rivara
Representing La Center, WA

Margene is a self-taught artist whose career first came to the public eye when she was co-owner of Rainbow Carousel Stained Glass Company, which manufactured custom art glass pieces for numerous commercial and residential installations throughout California.

Her works can be seen at the River Inn, Big Sur, California, Hotel Edward II in San Francisco, California; the Pleasanton Hotel, Museum on Main, and Linwood Methodist church in Pleasanton, California; the Catholic Church in Foster City, California; and many private residences in California, Utah, Canada, and the East Coast. Her work was also featured in the Sharper Image stores and in the Nature Company’s ” Know What ” stores nationwide. She was listed in Glass Magazine as one of the top 10 glass artists in the US and had three books published I hidden house publications on her glass designs

Margene’s glass works vary in construction technique and form, depending on the location of an installation. The old-world traditional leaded glass technique, or the Tiffany copper-foil technique, is often dictated by the location of an installation. The strength and size of a piece also play a role in determining which construction technique will be used to best withstand time and the elements.

Aside from the commissioned works Margene has done, she branches out to experiment on Works where there is no end-user in mind. She deviates from the traditional techniques and materials and loves to experiment with texture, dimension, and how glass reflects light.

She makes large windows often with glass plates, moles, candy dishes, jewelry box tops, and even thick Christmas ornaments. She does this because she discovered that often a faceted plate will reflect more light than any piece of beveled glass.

For a full-size glass guitar she made, called the “Days of Wine and Roses”, she cut wineglasses in half and then laid Swarovski crystals along with other dimensional glass into the front of the guitar, which sold at auction for $28,500. Another line of her work is called the Glass Hat Society – a line of three-dimensional hats that hang as a 20-piece group.

Through the years, Margene has taught more than 500 students how to make Stained Glass.