An art minor in college, she has always been interested in the visual arts. A glass bead course taken from Don Miller in Fall, 2003 at the Toledo Museum of Art was the beginning of her adventure in art glass bead-making, also known as lampwork, torchwork, or flamework. Matych-Hager is intrigued by the colors and textures created in her glass beads. The artist states, “I love the effect that occurs when one uses color to unify the myriad types of decoration available to the glass bead artist. I am fascinated by the rhythm and movement that can be created in an otherwise static form through the interplay of light striking the artist-created designs in glass. It excites me when glass is combined with other materials in jewelry such as crystals, metal and pearls to enhance the inherent beauty of the glass. I particularly enjoy the ability to work in a wide variety of styles of art glass beads and jewelry, exploring with great freedom all kinds of techniques and diversity of expression."
In the process of lampworking, the artist works in an oxygen-fuel torch where soda-lime glass is heated to its molten state. The molten glass is wound on to a metal rod, called a mandrel, which has been coated with a proprietary mixture similar to kiln wash. This mixture allows the bead to release from the mandrel when it is completed. The bead is then shaped using several techniques including heat, cooling and gravity, as well as pressing and stamping. Decoration is applied to the glass. When the bead is complete, it is placed into a digitally-controlled kiln to anneal (strengthen) so that it is less susceptible to stress cracking. After the bead has ramped down to room temperature as part of the annealing process, it is thoroughly cleaned with a diamond bit inserted into a battery operated bead reamer. The bead is then ready to be used in jewelry. Each bead is individually made. Although beads can be similar, no two beads are ever exactly alike.
In 2010, Queen of the Faeries, a necklace created in collaboration with Kathy Petersen, jewelry designer from Toledo, Ohio, was selected to be exhibited in the prestigious juried international travelling ISGB show, Convergence II: Adorning the Past, Present and Pretend. More information about the exhibit is available at http://www.isgb.org/. Her work was also exhibited in Reflections in a Monochrome World, a juried ISGB pendant show installed in Rochester, New York.
In 2009, Yellowstone had the distinction of being installed as one of 48 collaborative pieces selected for inclusion in Convergence: Contemporary Design with Art-Glass Beads, the international juried travelling exhibit sponsored by the International Society of Glass Bead Makers and Bead and Button Magazine. Susan collaborated with Kathy Petersen on this necklace. This exhibit was be shown at the Ohio Museum of Glass, Lancaster, Ohio,at Bead and Button, and at the ISGB 2009 Gathering in Miami, Florida. Five of Susan's pendants based upon the theme Muy Caliente, were juried into the exhibit of the same name and shown in Miami. She collaborated with Susan Schwartzenberger to create a seed bead embroidered necklace Two Sues, Two Great Lakes exhibited in Water All Around Us, a show cosponsored by the Southeastern Michigan Glass Beadmakers Guild and the Great Lakes Beadworkers Guild.
In 2008, she was selected to exhibit two of her works, Wallflower and Fantasy Flowers, in Out of the Box: Pushing the Boundaries of the Glass Bead, a juried traveling show sponsored by the International Society of Glass Beadmakers. The landmark international exhibit featured about twenty-five innovative contemporary ISGB glass bead artists from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Germany and Israel. The works were on display at the Ohio Glass Museum in Lancaster, Ohio, traveled to the Milwaukee, Wisconsin Bead and Button Show, and was on display at the Frank Bette Center for the Arts in Alameda, California where it was a featured exhibit of the ISGB 2008 Gathering: Currents-Merging Culture and Creativity, in Oakland, California. The exhibit completed its journey at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft in Houston, Texas. Her beads were also selected for the juried ISGB bead show, Currents.
In 2007, Susan was one of 44 contemporary innovative glass bead artists elected to exhibit in Metamophosis: The Life Cycle of a Glass Bead. The juried show, cosponsored by the International Society for Glass Bead Makers and the exibiting galleries, demonstrated how a glass bead was incorporated into jewelry. The show opened at the Heinz History Center, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania where it was featured by the Glass Art Society Convention, followed by the Evoke Gallery, St. Paul, Minneapolis, where it was viewed by members of the International Society of Glass Beadmakers attending the annual 2007 Gathering. Her beads were also featured in the juried ISGB Fire and Ice bead show sponsored by the Bead Monkey in St. Paul.
Her beads have appeared in several publications including Bead & Button magazine and The Flow magazine. The artist is a member of the International Society of Glass Beadmakers and GlassAct: Southeastern Michigan Glass Beadmakers Guild.
