“Glass is interesting because it moves between liquid and solid stage and can be manipulated into beautiful pieces of art,” said Potomac’s Sasha Berman. Three years ago, she attended a class at Seattle’s Chihuly Museum in glass-blowing and became fascinated with the unique properties and malleability of glass. She spent a year experimenting with an array of methods for working with glass, choosing fused glass as the medium for her bowls and plates. Berman will exhibit her pieces this coming weekend — April 15, 16 and 17 — at the Sugarloaf Craft Festival in Gaithersburg.

Berman explains how she creates her decorative plates and bowls: “Each piece is individually designed and constructed in a multi-step process. The piece starts on the drawing board, after which each piece of glass is cut to the correct size and shape. Many of my larger works have over 200 pieces of glass, all individually hand cut. The glass is then arranged according to the design and placed in the kiln for fusing. For thicker pieces, a third layer of glass is added and the piece is fused again. After the fusing process is complete, the edges are ground and polished and the work is placed back in the kiln for shaping.”

Berman recently moved from Princeton, N.J. to the Potomac area with her husband and two children. She is pleased to have been accepted into the juried Sugarloaf Craft Festival where 250 artisans will display their pottery, sculpture, glass, jewelry, fashion, home décor, furniture, home accessories, photography and fine art.

To view Sasha Berman’s intricate bowls and plates, go to her website www.sashabermanglassworks.com. The show will run from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. on Sunday. Discounts for entrance to the show are available at www.sugarloafcrafts.com.