The artist behind Volition Glass

My name is Emily Rodrigues and I live and work in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts. I grew up in Rhode Island where I earned my Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts from the glass department of Rhode Island school of Design in 2009. After college I worked in a variety of industries, but did not know exactly where my relationship with glass was meant to go. I worked for a glass tile company in Rhode Island and then moved to Eugene, Oregon where I learned to lampwork glass. At RISD I was trained in traditional Italian glassblowing, which requires a shop with a lot of large and expensive equipment, but with lampworking you need much less and can work out of a smaller space. Upon returning to the east coast in 2016 I obtained a small lampworking setup and began building my shop while working part time as a barista.

How I began working with glass

I knew from a young age that I wanted to be an artist, but I never knew which medium. I still dapple in just about everything from photography to wood working. In my teenage years my mother began nagging me to take a glassblowing class. She would bring up how I had to wait until I was 16 to get into the class but she just needed me to try it. Unfortunately, just before my sixteenth birthday she was diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer. She fought hard but lost the battle after 10 long months. I soon graduated high school and found myself still not willing to commit to a medium and started college as a business major. However, I did remember my mother’s nagging request for me to try glass blowing and so I enrolled in my first course that fall. I like to tell people that it was truly love at first sight! I felt like my jaw dropped to the floor the first time I saw that molten glowing ball gathered out of the furnace. I remember thinking to myself that no matter what my future would entail glass would be a part of it. I began filling out applications for RISD soon after that and was enrolled in the glass department by the next fall.

What led me to make Memorial Jewelry

A little background on me to explain some of what I believe led me to make memorial jewelry. I have always been fascinated with hearing people’s stories as well as telling my own. My favorite section of the library as a child was the biography section, and I strongly value the oral tradition of storytelling. I think this is part of what makes the idea of preserving someone’s memory in a physical object so rewarding for me. This object will be a permanent reminder of the person or pet it contains and so it creates another opportunity for the wearer to share their story. I have become a part of their story but also they are now part of mine. I love when people feel open enough to tell me about the life of the person whose ashes I will be working with, but do not feel obligated if you do not wish to do so.

I began working with cremated remains in 2016 when my mother-in-law lost her father. Jack was so beloved and missed that many members of his family wanted something to keep his memory alive and close to their hearts. I made several beautiful pieces for Jack’s family, many of which can be seen in the photos on this website. Although I had never made glass memorial art before, I had seen it done and it was a technique that I had contemplated trying for many years. The themes of memory and loss dominated my conceptual work through college. I not only lost my mother at age 16 but also my father to Parkinson’s Disease at age 25, so I am no stranger to mourning. The opportunity to help preserve the memory of Jack in such a beautiful way for his family was such a tremendous honor for me. Creating these pieces for people fulfills not only my need to be creative but also a more spiritual longing to help others live with loss.

For the next few years I continued to blow glass in my garage as a hobby while working as a barista. I still made memorial pieces, but only when I received requests by word of mouth. I focussed more on making glass drinking straws and selling them on Etsy and in local businesses. After giving birth to my daughter Hazel in November of 2019 I decided that it was time to commit myself fully to glass work as my career. I had been splitting my time for several years and wanted to truly put all of my efforts into making my dreams come true and working solely as an artist. This is when I began focusing on making the Memorial Jewelry available to the public.