Francine Bloté-Lofrano, native of San Francisco, has had a lifelong interest in creative expression which includes poetry, textiles, paper art, book binding, mixed media, sculpture and glass. She studied drawing, design, watercolor, sculpture and poetry at San Francisco City College. She began working with glass in 1988 when she took a stained glass class at Sharon Art Studio in Golden Gate Park. Though she employs principles learned in her formal art training, she is mostly self taught in this medium. Her work includes stained glass, mosaic and kiln formed glass.
Francine's designs are inspired by her love of nature and her interest in geometric design, color, symbolism and transmission of light. She often combine transparent and opal glass, piecing and inlaying design elements rather than layering or stacking them to achieve a varied transmission of light through the piece. In all of her work, she endeavors to create art that reflects both personal and universal meaning.
In the summer of 2010, Francine was fortunate to be chosen to study the technique of Pate de Verre with renown artists Kimiake and Shin-Ichi Higuchi at the Corning Museum of Glass. She looks forward to creating new works with this ancient and elaborate process.