941-637-7014 * judyschnabel@embarqmail.com

After retiring in 1990 from Bristol-Myers Squibb, Princeton, NJ, I had a burning desire to fulfill two “hobbies” I had wanted to do for years: watercolors and stained glass.  I enrolled in classes for each subject, but much to my dismay I learned I couldn’t draw. In the meantime the glass bug had bitten me hard.

After watching numerous shows on PBS with Vicki Payne, my nephew’s wife bought me a tiny kiln for the microwave for Christmas.  That’s all it took.  The arthritis in my hands was prohibiting me from continuing to do stained glass, so kiln-fired glass was right up my alley.  After moving to Punta Gorda in 1994, I bought my first large kiln and you might say “the rest is history.”

I am a member of the Arts & Humanities Council of Charlotte County, Charlotte County Art Guild and am a member of the Century Club and serve as vice president of the Sculpture Society of SW Florida.  A wide variety of my creations can be seen at the Punta Gorda Isles Civic Association Gift Shop, known as The Gifted Gator, Creator’s Touch in Laishley Marina next to the Crab House and at Florida Gulf Coast University in Punta Gorda.