ZGG - About Us

About Us

When Judith Shapiro and Moulton Avery started Zero Gravity Glass, they began a creative journey that’s still unfolding. From a small, intimate space in the basement of their home, they’ve grown into a spacious commercial studio where they create distinctive jewelry, sculptural glass vessels, and a wide assortment of unique accessories. Their glass jewelry is widely regarded as the finest quality made today, and their work is represented in galleries, museums and fine craft stores throughout the United States.

Judy credits her background as a photographer and cast paper artist in forming her design aesthetic, while Moulton cites growing up in Tokyo, Japan and his extensive travel in wilderness areas as major influences.

"Creating jewelry pieces and glass vessels one-at-a-time, by hand, is an intimate experience” says Judy, noting that “It’s not at all unusual to fall in love with individual pieces." Moulton adds that “It’s always nice when someone calls and lets us know that our little darlings have found a good home.”

"After ten years, we’re even more excited about the timeless beauty of glass, and what a difference it can make in a person’s life” says Judy. “That’s why we say “Live Well and Enjoy Glass.”

About Dichro

Show Schedule

Technical Notes

About Us

About Dichro

Dichroic glass (pronounced di-crow-ick) is a beautiful and exotic material. The name dichroic comes from the Greek di and chroic meaning two colors. One of the fascinating things about dichroic glass is the way it shifts from one color to another depending on the angle at which the glass is viewed. In our studio, we combine over 25 individual dichroic colors and patterns with beautiful opalescent and cathedral glass, which we melt at high temperature to form individual pieces of jewelry.

The brilliant colors that people find so attractive in dichroic glass are created by depositing super-thin layers of quartz crystal and metal oxides on the surface of the glass. Dichroic experts at Coatings By Sandberg, one of the country’s leading manufacturers of dichroic sheet glass, says that a particular color can have as many as 30 distinct layers of these materials - yet the approximate thickness of the total coating is a super-thin 35 millionths of an inch.

Don’t plan on making it at home any time soon. You need an expensive vacuum chamber that mimics the airless void of outer space, and a pricey electron beam gun to vaporize those quartz crystal and metal oxides so they can float around inside the vacuum chamber and coat the glass. A master alchemist’s knowledge of the process is a definite plus.

technical notes

Diamond Drilling

This section is about drilling tiny 1mm holes in glass jewelry. It’s

included here because we’ve drilled thousands of pieces and, after a

while, the Glass Goddess throws you a bone. Her only caveat is that

you share. We use a Foredom DP-30 drill press to hold a standard

Foredom Flex Shaft Tool. We fit it with a 1mm Triple Ripple diamond

drill bit. The flex shaft has a foot pedal that controls the motor so you

have both hands free. Right hand controls the up-down motion of the

drill bit using the lever arm. Left hand controls the squirt bottle. Tray

keeps the table top dry. Plastic shield behind the tray contains errant

squirts. Towel on the table top in front of the tray keeps your elbows

comfy while you drill. The glass jewelry piece is held in place in a small

Fordom vise grip. More on that below...

The Technique

China Marker

We use a White Sanford China Marker to mark the point on the jewelry piece where the drilling is to be done. The white arrow in the photo at left shows the mark at the top of one of our Arrowhead Jewels.

We’re drilling a 1mm hole prior to cementing a sterling silver screw eye in place.

Fordum

This is the Fordom vise with duct tape padding the jaws. We secure the jewel in its grip...

Drill Mark

Like this. Note the mark on the top center of the jewel - that's where we're going to drill...

Vise

Put the vise on deck...

First: Center the bit on the

jewel from this angle - you want the bit to hit in the middle area between the left (back) and right (front) of the jewel.

Next: Center the bit on the jewel from this angle - on the mark you made earlier with the china marker.

Start Drilling. It takes practice, so we've included some tip below.

Hot Tips for Cool Drilling
1) Think like a slow motion woodpecker. Squirt with the water bottle, drill with the bit. Squirt, drill, squirt, drill … now you’re cooking!

2) Use a light touch, let the diamonds do the work. A quarter to half second tap with the bit is all you need at first as you establish your hole. Keep the top of the jewel wet at all times! As the hole gets deeper, it will act as a reservoir for the water and you can spend a bit more time (one second) in there with the bit.

Problem: Aieeee! The Jewel Broke in Half !! If it gets hot, it will crack. Usually the result of drilling dry (no water in the hole). As you drill, the friction of the diamonds against the glass creates heat. It will cause the water to disappear; and remember, when the bit is in the hole, there’s not a lot of extra room for the water. With a little bit too much pressure on the bit, it can get hot enough down there to turn your water into steam faster than you can say URK!.

Problem: Arrrrgh! The bit won’t drill anymore!! If this happens suddenly after you hear the telltale whee-UR sound, you’ve drilled hot and dry again. Hot enough to fry the bit - but not enough to break the jewel. Unless you buy in quantity, those little bits are over $4 a pop! Easy does it.

Problem: Urrrrguh! I put in a fresh bit and it still won’t drill! Check the left side of the drill press. Two little screw thingies that live there should be rotated up the threads until they are secure at the top. You’ll see what we mean when you look at it….

Question: How many jewels can I expect to drill with one bit? Depends on the depth of the hole. With the 1mm Triple Ripple bit I’ve gotten close to 60. My average is 35 - drilling to a depth of 4mm on earrings.

Question: Is there anything else I can do to improve my drilling besides practice? Yes. The glass goddess likes a little alter in the studio with fresh orange slices and other organic offerings daily.

Finished Product

Finished!

With the sterling screw- eye

cemented in place.

Show Schedule

Buyers Market of American Craft

Winter
Philadelphia Convention Center
February 15 - 18, 2008
Booth #5408
Glass Section

Summer
Philadelphia Convention Center
August 2008
Booth - TBA
Glass Section
For Registration Info Visit Buyers Market of American Craft

Exhibitions and Gallery Shows

Somerhill Gallery - Glassmasters IV Exhibition 2005

Judith Shapiro - Five Visions and Matrix Vessels
May 8th - June 9th, 2005. Chapel Hill, NC

Niche Award Finalist - 2005

Judith Shapiro - Matrix Series Vessel “Solar Shift”
Buyers Market of American Craft / Niche Magazine.

Torpedo Factory - Bob Hof Award

Judith Shapiro - The Mourning After - Matrix Vessel.
Torpedo Factory Art League Show - Bravery, Justice and Freedom show - November 2002

Artisans Center of Virginia - Featured Artist
Judith Shapiro - Childhood Visions: Reflections in Glass. May 1 - May 31, 2002
Exhibit made possible in part by support from the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the

National Endowment for the Arts.

American Craft Council - Spotlight 2002 Exhibition

Judith Shapiro - Matrix Series Vessel “Hush of Night”
Longwood Center for The Visual Arts - May 24 - Aug 2. Farmville, VA Juror Wendy Rosen

North American Glass 2002
Judith Shapiro - Childhood Visions Series Vessel
Guilford Handcraft Center - May 25 - July 21. Guilford, CT. 203-453-5947. Juror Josh Simpson

Torpedo Factory - First Place Award / Sculpture
Judith Shapiro - Stormy Petrel - Matrix Vessel.
Torpedo Factory Art League Show - Black and White Show - November 2001