Welcome to my studio, K Dahl Glass, a working art studio near Crawford, Colorado located in the beautiful North Fork Valley. Kilns, tools, inspiration, fun, and glass abound in every form.
Glass Workshops in Crawford, Colorado
HELLO GLASS
LET'S EAT!
WHAT ARE YOU MADE OF?
NOW WE PAINT WITH LIGHT
What is glass fusing?
Glass fusing is the art of building images and form from layers of glass, then transforming them in a kiln with heat and gravity. Compatible sheets of glass, along with crushed glass called frit, fine glass powder, pre-made glass pieces, and glass paints, are assembled into a design and fired at temperatures between 1,300 and 1,500 degrees Fahrenheit — where the glass softens, merges, and becomes something entirely new. What goes into the kiln is not always what comes out, and that conversation between the artist’s intention and the material’s own nature is what makes this medium unlike any other. We are not painting on a surface. We are painting with light itself.
All workshops at K Dahl Glass are taught by Kathy Steckel, who has spent nearly five decades working in this material. From her first encounter with fusing in Alaska in the 1980’s, to formal study with glass artists such as Klaus Moje, Roger Thomas, Michelle Dupille, Narcisuss Quagliata, and most recently, Miriam DeFore, her life has been full of designing, firing, and teaching glass.
What she brings to every workshop is not just technical knowledge, but a deep and genuine love for what glass can do when you learn to play with it.
Hello Glass
Are you curious about fused glass? Ever wondered what it's like to cut glass? This is where you find out. Hello Glass is a hands-on introduction to fused glass — no experience, no special skills needed, just you, some beautiful glass, and a glass cutter. In these three hours, in a relaxed, working art glass studio you'll learn to work with glass and build your own piece by layering sheet glass and glass frit.
Choose the one project that calls to you: a set of four fused glass coasters, an 8-inch round fused piece in sunset colors mounted on a display stand, or a small glass lantern built from four fused panels mounted on a glass candle holder. Every color choice, every arrangement, is yours to make. For ages 16 and up. A great outing with a friend, or with your favorite young artist (ages 8–15, with a registered adult).
Your piece will be fired in the kiln and ready for pickup or shipping the next week. No experience necessary — just curiosity, and a willingness to see what happens when glass meets heat. Come say hello. It's the first step toward a much bigger conversation with this material, if you want it.
3 hours | Up to 6 students / No experience necessary
K Dahl Glass Studio, Crawford, Colorado
$45 per person - all materials included
OCT 31 - 9am to Noon
Let’s Eat!
Love good food and beautiful things? Let's Eat! brings them together. In this hands-on fused glass class, you'll design and make your own serving piece for the table. No experience or special skills needed, just you, some gorgeous glass, and a glass cutter. In a few hours in a working art glass studio you'll learn to cut glass and build your design by layering sheet glass and glass frit. This class is for ages 18 and up. Kathy has spent over 4 decades working with glass, and she loves nothing more than sharing it. Expect plenty of guidance, encouragement, and room to make it your own.
Choose the size that calls to you from the samples available. Each one is made with food-safe Bullseye Glass and finished with bumper feet, ready for cheese, fruit, crackers, and whatever else you love to share. Every color choice, every arrangement, is yours to make. There's a ½ hour break built into the day, so bring a snack and enjoy some time with your fellow glass lovers.
Your board will be fired in the kiln and ready for pickup or shipping the next week, perhaps just in time for your next gathering. Come hungry for color. Let's Eat!
3 to 4 hours | Up to 6 students / All levels welcome / Ages 18 and up
K Dahl Glass Studio, Crawford, Colorado
$75 per person - all materials included
NOV 7 - 10 am to 2pm
What Are You Made Of?
This class asks two questions at once — what is glass made of, and what happens to you when you spend three wonderful days in a working glass art studio finding out. What Are You Made Of? is an immersion, not a single project. Over three days, Kathy opens up 45 years of technique — not to hand you one method, but to show you how many ways this material can be made to move.
Each day builds on the last, and each morning starts with a reveal: the glass you loaded the day before is transformed overnight, reaching full temperature, just there for you to catch a glimpse of. You'll work through different glass techniques such as making stackers, sliders, lace, and line work; you'll melt glass through a pierced pot and watch it pour into something you couldn't have planned; you'll cut thick glass, crush glass, smash glass, sift glass, make your own frit, and get your hands on techniques most people never see outside a demonstration. Lunch conversations dig into the science underneath it all — heat, gravity, annealing, what's happening inside the kiln while you wait.
You'll leave with a collection of samples and pieces-in-progress from everything you tried, plus something harder to box up: a real, hands-on understanding of how heat and gravity shape this material, and the beginning of an eye for what's possible in glass. This class doesn't hand you a finished piece. It hands you a wider sense of what you could build next.
3 Days | Up to 6 students / All levels welcome
K Dahl Glass Studio, Crawford, Colorado
$395 per person - all materials included
Nov 19, 20, 21
Now We Paint with Light
This class is for the vision you've been carrying, or the goal you want to attain.
Now We Paint with Light is five days of working toward one piece — yours, built from your own idea, or one of the samples in the studio, ranging from landscapes to fish, butterflies or birds. Whatever the project, this is where technique stops being the point and glass becomes the language you use to say something.
Come with sketches, ideas, and any premade glass elements you've already started — Day 1 is for planning your course. From there, each day opens with a look at what the kiln gave you overnight and where the piece wants to go next, and moves through real studio time, shared meals, and conversation about glass, kilns, and the wider world of glass art. In this workshop, lunch is ordered in each morning, so the only thing you need to focus on is the work.
Here's the honest part: what goes into the kiln is not always what comes out. Glass breaks. Plans shift. Forty-five years in, Kathy still treats this as the most interesting part of the material, not the part to avoid — and by day five, most students do too. You'll leave with an experience that's entirely your own.
5 Days | Up to 4 students
Intermediate/Advanced
Prior fused glass experience required
K Dahl Glass Studio, Crawford, Colorado
$750 per person - all materials included
DATES TO BE ANNOUNCED
Please email me if you are interested! I am flexible with dates. As soon as I have 2 or more interested, we will schedule a class.
Mentoring and One-On-One
Not every question fits inside a class. You might be deep into your own project and stuck on one specific problem, working through a technique you can't quite land, or looking for ongoing guidance as you build a body of work — not just a single piece. Or maybe you've worked through the classes here and you're not ready to stop. Mentoring and One-On-One sessions are built around exactly what you need, not a fixed curriculum.
Forty-five-plus years in glass means Kathy has made many of the mistakes worth making — and learned how to solve them. Whether you're troubleshooting a firing that didn't behave, working through a technique you can't quite land, or looking for real ongoing guidance as an artist, sessions are shaped around you, in-person at K Dahl Glass or your studio, or meeting virtually.
There's no set format here, because no two people are on the same place on the path.
Interested? Email Kathy a bit about what you're working on and how to reach you — she'll follow up to start the conversation.
For Studios & Arts Centers
I travel to studios and arts centers to teach fused glass — bringing decades of hands-on experience, a wealth of knowledge passed on to me by masters of the craft, and a teaching philosophy built on helping artists find and trust their own voice.
As a bonus for hosted workshops, I offer private one-on-one sessions with individual students in advance of the class date. This pre-workshop session gives each participant focused time on their specific challenges — so when the group gathers, everyone arrives excited to learn, some of those challenges already answered, and ready to get the most from their time together.
To inquire about booking a workshop at your location, use the contact form. Let’s talk about what your students need and build something around that.