Nancy Dillingham Marks: grit, growth and glass

With a rich background in languages and science, creative pursuits were encouraged during Nancy Dillingham Marks' childhood, but not fully embraced by the young Nancy.

On leaving school Nancy's professional life was dominated by analytical roles, and she excelled in various corporate positions, including at Sony Pictures. What Nancy didn't realize at the time was that her path to success was not only fuelled by her organizational skills, but by intertwining those with creative problem-solving. 

A personal and professional shift lead Nancy to explore her mother's enthusiasm for fused glass, which quickly became the creative outlet she had been looking for.

Faced with the closure of her local glass studio, Nancy once again brought her corporate experiences into play as she opened her own studio, Glass Arts Collective. 

In this episode Nancy emphasizes the importance of community and support in nurturing creativity, as she reflects on how her friends stepped in to help her teach and grow her business. She is excited to tell me all about her studio's welcoming environment, where novices often arrive feeling uncertain about their creativity, only to leave with newfound confidence and a sense of accomplishment. 

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Researched, edited and produced by Claire Waite Brown
Music: Day Trips by Ketsa Undercover / Ketsa Creative Commons License Free Music Archive - Ketsa - Day Trips
Artworks: Emily Portnoi emilyportnoi.co.uk
Photo: Ella Pallet

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To me, that was. That was just organizational skills. It never occurred to me that that was actually a really creative way of looking at things. But I really didn't have a lot for me, I didn't really have a place to decompress. So I talked to my friends, and several of them said, hey, I'll help you teach the more advanced classes. You don't have to do it all yourself. And I'm like, you're right, I don' I don't have to do it all myself. And I will go make something and it does exactly what it's supposed to do. It helps relax me. It helps me to decompress and bring the joy back in. Hi, I'm Claire, founder of Creativity Found. For this podcast, I chat with people who have found or refound their creativity as adults. We'll explore their childhood experiences of the arts, discuss how they came to the artistic practices they now love, and consider the barriers they may have experienced between the two. We'll also explore what it is that people value and gain from their newfound artistic pursuits. This time, I'm chatting with Nancy Dillingham Marks. Hi, Nancy. How are you? I am great. I'm so excited to be here with you. Thank you so much. Me, too. Start by telling me, then, please, what your current creative outlet is. I am a fused glass artist and I own my own studio. Very exciting. Yes, it is. So let's go back to when you were younger. As a child, at home and at school, were creative endeavors. Were they encouraged in you? Did you enjoy them when you were younger? They were absolutely encouraged. I didn't really enjoy a lot of them. I played the recorder. I had to take piano lessons. Didn't care for that. I did enjoy photography. I did enjoy working with my dad with his model railroads and helping him with his sound system. We had a lot of symphonies played in the house, and we were always adjusting for the chair and where it was. And it was a lot of fun because it was something I got to do with my dad. Sports? Not really. I did like baking, but that was about it. I really didn't have a lot of creative outlets as a child. And what were your strengths at school? What were the subjects that you were most interested in or good in? Math was probably my best science. I didn't really like the idea of dissecting an animal, so I took electronics instead. At the age of seven, I was speaking two languages in third grade. We lived in Israel for a year, so I was speaking primarily Hebrew at that point. We came back, and in Fourth grade, I had to learn French, and everything came out in Hebrew automatically because that's pretty much all I'd been speaking. So that was kind of a fun and different experience. But I really wish I had appreciated the multilingual capabilities that I had at that point. Yeah. So then, when your education, or school at least, was coming to an end, did you have an idea of what you wanted to do when you came in? Inverted commas. Grow up. No. And actually, I had a fun situation. When I graduated high school, my parents left home. They went on another sabbatical. So they had held off another sabbatical until I graduated, and then they left home. And back then, there was no Internet, there was no cell phones. And so at the age of 17, I was kind of like, okay, what do I want to do? I'm staying home for at least a good year. And I just did basic work at a multipurpose store. You were all on your own? Yes. At 17? Yep. I was an adult early in life. Oh, my. Good for you. You have had an illustrious business career since then. So tell me about how that all progressed and how your career did what it did. I moved from Massachusetts, where my parents had been to California, followed a boyfriend. And when I got out here, I went to an employment agency that someone had recommended, went on an interview the next day for a clerk typist, was hired on the spot to start the next day. So I said, good. Okay. I made this decision correctly. And basically, a lot of the movement and my capabilities for growth, all based on my hard work and my willing to learn anything. And to a certain degree, I would say a no fear factor of learning anything. So if I had to learn a whole bunch of stuff, I just did it. I just assumed, you know, I can learn languages, I can learn anything. And that really helped me propel through life. So if you looked at my resume, my education, and the things that I'd done in the past didn't necessarily qualify me for the next job I went to, but the hard work and referrals that I was given made it work for me. So I would say part of my dedication of hard work, and I didn't realize it at the time, was my creative way of looking at things. So I was able to look at things from multiple directions. If I had to work on something for the union that was in the warehouse doing payroll, I really wanted to understand all of the components of what that meant. So how does it impact them? What's the timing? Things have to be done. What do I have to verify what has to be approved. But I just grew and I went to ABC Entertainment. I was in the personnel department at the time. I learned a tremendous amount there and jumped over to ABC Motion Pictures. And so I did a whole bunch of moving around and ultimately ended up at Sony Pictures, which used to be Columbia Pictures. And I went into the IT department. I'd had some programming capability in college, didn't really like it, but conceptually it made sense to me. So I went over to that department. I was there for 10 years. I was the director of administration. And again, I would say my creative outlet, as silly as it sounds, was taking the information that was there that no one had ever put together. So I could tell you in the data center which server, piece of equipment, whatever it was, what it was doing, how much memory it had, what business lines was it serving, and what was the software that was on it. So if we were going to, you know, end using one particular manufacturer and had to load another, did we have the right amount of memory? Did we have the capabilities, storage, all those kinds of things? And let's make sure we cancel that. You know, that licensing that we were using, to me, that was. That was just organizational skills. It never occurred to me that that was actually a really creative way of looking at things. It sounds like such a lot. Like, wow, that just seems like such a lot to. To have to think about. And that's really interesting. So when this is happening and your career is burgeoning and you're learning all these things in work, what about the life surrounding work, whether it's family or. And also like any hobbies or other stuff that Doing for yourself. I wasn't doing much for myself. I became a single parent when my daughter was just almost three years old. And she was my life. I mean, she was my joy, she was my hobby, she was everything. I loved playing with her and doing things with her. I love travel. And I got that travel bug from my parents. So we did travel, we did go places, we did explore things. If we ever got lost, we were never lost. We were just exploring another town, you know, that kind of thing. But I really didn't have a lot for me, I didn't really have a place to decompress, unwind. I did ask my daughter very early on in her life that when mommy comes home from work, I need 15 minutes to turn off being a businesswoman and turn. Turned back into being mommy. And she figured that out and understood that pretty quickly, which was, again, pretty amazing. And then I could. I would Turn off work for the most part until she went to bed. And then there was always work I still had to do. I. I never had enough hours in the day. Yeah. Tell me, then how and why was there a change that means that now creativity takes up so much of your life. Well, I worked from Sony Pictures. I moved around to a lot of technology companies. As I was learning so much about the equipment, I really started to understand what the equipment did as well and the capabilities and why one server was better than another and why one firewall might be better than another or a switch. So all of that totally made sense to me. And it was more important understanding for me why it does what it does and how it can do it versus, you know, oh, gee, this is a shiny thing from XYZ Company. The company name didn't mean a thing to me. It was the capabilities. So when I moved around, I moved to different companies like Toshiba and IBM and a distributor for technology. And I just, I absorbed information. I just loved learning even more about these things. And ultimately I met husband number two, and he had his own technology company. It was an infrastructure technology company. Yes, I met him during a business meeting. So he was selling infrastructure, which is all the stuff in the walls that makes your computers work together and protect you from the Internet and make all the software work. So, so much of what I understood already. So he said, you know, rather than working for some major big corporation who doesn't really recognize you, you should be working with me and helping grow our business. And of course, first thoughts were, do I really want to work with my husband? But I said, you know what, he's right. We need to make this work. So we kind of divvied up the responsibilities, and I ultimately became the chief operating officer. And I worked small business at this point versus what I was used to with big corporations. And I really learned how to run a small business. Speed forward. And now he's ready to retire. And so we're talking about, what are we going to do with the company? What are we both going to do? And I really didn't know what it was going to be. So I started taking classes. I loved massage therapy, so I went and got certified. And my chiropractor was just an adorable person who supported that and would offer, when I got to a certain level, his clientele a free massage to give me my more experience and my hours. And so I got all kinds of experience. But I learned very quickly I didn't do well. Sitting around in between appointments was not Pleasant for me. So, okay, what can I do that I'll be busier? So then I looked at. I love to travel, and I have helped so many friends create trips just as a. As a hobby. So I thought, well, maybe I'll become a travel advisor. So I went through certification training for a lot of that. And I learned you should niche down because you can't understand everything about everything as an individual. So I niched down to being cruise ships, which was very easy for me to comprehend the differences. Who was the best client for them, you know, what kind of activities for kids, different ages. And then I could help people find the right cruise for them. Not only location, but the right cruise ship. And so that was really nice. And then he finally was able to sell the company. It was like, okay, we have to go work for the other people for a little bit for transition. And about the same time, my parents are now at an assisted living facility here in the Thousand Oaks area, so I could be closer to them and help them out more. And my mom learned about a thing called fused glass. I'd never heard of it, but she was so excited. So I said, you know what? I'm gonna take a class on that. I know nothing about glass. I know nothing about any of this. But you know what? I'm doing it for mom. And I truly didn't feel like I had a creative bone in my body. I didn't think I was creative because I couldn't find anything. I mean, I've tried sewing and cooking and music and singing, writing, ceramics, painting. But none of them really excited me. None of them, really. So I took the class, and, oh, my gosh, I was hooked. So I started going to a new studio that was opened up near my home, and it was a branch of another one, and it was terrific. I learned so much. And then they decided to close this location. I was devastated. I'm like, what am I going to do at this point? We're already working for the new owners, and it's like, oh, gosh, I can't believe I can't find what I want to do in retirement. This is supposed to be the best time of my life, and I am still not sure what to do. Cruise lines, I didn't know how to market. So as I was getting business, and that was great. It wasn't really enough. It didn't keep me busy enough. Again, in between times, I was kind of bored. So I learned more about fuse glass. And then when they decided to close, my husband said I went to him and I said, oh my God, what am I going to do? And he looked at me and immediately said, you cannot have the garage. How did he know what I was thinking? So we talked about it a little bit and he goes, hey, you know how to run a business? Why don't you just open your own now? My logical brain was, okay, I know how to run a business, but am I enough of a fused glass artist yet to actually run a business? And I told myself I can, I can handle introductory classes. I'm good at training and teaching, and I love working with people. So that all that is really great. So I talked to my friends and several of them said, hey, I'll help you teach the more advanced classes. You don't have to do it all yourself. And I'm like, you're right, I don't have to do it all myself. And so I went to the leasing company and questioned about a new lease and looked what it took to make, you know, to get my own business going and the business name and any kind of regulations, and Glass Arts Collective was born. That's a way to go to take it to someone, the business. And we actually have classes in stained glass and mosaic as well. I liked the idea of having multiple types of, of glass art because you can make something in fused glass and use it in stained glass or mosaic. So I thought that was really pretty cool. Just to give people an idea of what fused glass is, because probably most people don't know what it is. And I talk about it like everybody does. I was going to ask, what is the process? How do you work? So you take a piece of glass, this is special glass that can go to high temperature. Glass blowing, which most people know goes up to about 2,000 degrees and it's really molten at that time. It's very fluid. And stained glass is room temperature made and is either put in lead came or it's put into foil. And we do copper foiling here. Fused glasses in between those. It hasn't been around anywhere near as long as they have. And what happens is you take glass and you build pieces on top. In our classes, you learn safety and how to properly break glass. And then you take the different colors because the glass comes from. We buy bullseye glass from Portland, Oregon, and the sheets come in a 20 by 35 inch. I break them down into smaller pieces for people, but then people can break them down even further and they can take the pieces and arrange them the way they'd like. And I have them put just a little dab of Glue on it so I can carry it to the kiln without destroying the design they created. I put it into a kiln similar to a ceramics kiln, and I heat it up to 14, 1500 degrees. And that gives me two different firing schedules that change the way the glass looks. So one makes it perfectly flat. No matter how many pieces you pile up, it all goes down to being a quarter of an inch or 6 millimeter. The other one, it's enough of a temperature difference, a little over 100 degree difference, but it leaves texture. So if you piled it three high, it's still three high, but the edges are all softened. There are certain colors that come out in the heat and become more brilliant. And so when you open the kiln, it's always going to be kind of a surprise. What are you going to look at? And then I have open studio program as well. So I have my artists in residence here. I now have 13 people, which is amazing. They all do different techniques, styles, color palettes, and they all do one of a kind, handcrafted and truly with love. I mean, this isn't just throwing stuff together because you want to throw it together. This is people who are really passionate about what they make. They're my board of directors. You know, I asked them about changes we should make or things we should do. But we'll all gather around the kiln when I have to open it. And it's like Christmas morning, you know, you open the kiln. Oh. Oh, my gosh. Look, look. Oh, that looks great. Yeah. Are you making. Can you make shaped work as well as flat? Yes. So I have to fire it a second time at a lower temperature. And I have molds that will lay it flat on top and it slumps into the mold. And we have bowls, platters, trays, wine rack. Oh, gosh. So many different things in the way of molds. Or I can lay it on top and it goes over. So that would be a draping over a mold. And we can fire the glass multiple times so we can give it additional shape. We can maybe make something that's flat first, fire it again with a few things that have texture. Most of the glass is food safe. If it isn't, we will give you a heads up. So we always try to understand what people want to do and what they want the end result to be, so we can help direct and give guidance. Oh, it sounds such fun. As well as the studio, then. What about yourself? Do you still get time to create your own fused art? Absolutely, absolutely. So there's Just times I feel like it or someone saying, hey, let's have a challenge. Everyone try to do xyz. Maybe it's using up some of our leftover pieces so we'll have little challenges. But there's other times where, you know what, I just feel stressed out about something and I will go make something and it does exactly what it's supposed to do. It helps relax me, it helps me to decompress and bring the joy back in and I can go back and finish that project that there was just something that was holding me up that I couldn't figure out. I step away, I make something, I come back and it's a no brainer. Oh, duh. How come I didn't think of that before? That's so beautiful. How do you feel then with this latest retirement plan? Then you know what? I am living the retirement dream because I am doing something I am so passionate about and I really love and I'm helping other people. And I still, I don't work seven days a week, I work five. And I can have other people cover the studio for me for short periods of time. I really don't like being away from the studio very long and I don't like closing the studio because so many people want to be here and doing what I love to do, which is to make the glass and to decompress and to relax and to clear their head. So I try to be very, you know, aware of that and it gives me such pleasure. I mean, I am having the time of my life. What about some of the people that come into your class? And especially maybe beginners, how do you find their confidence? Do you find that they sometimes need a bit of persuading or a bit of hand holding that they might be a bit perfectionist when they're getting started? All the above. And there's people who come in and say, I don't have a creative bone in my body and I'm not an artist. And I laugh and I go, I felt that way too. So talk to me after you're done. And what I actually do is when they come to pick up their piece, I ask them to open it. I put everything in a bag and have it wrapped up in, you know, bubble wrap to protect it. And I asked them to open it here at the studio and they're excited to do it. And they're like, oh, my gosh, I made this. Are you sure this is mine? You didn't give me somebody else's? And I have everybody take a picture of theirs so they can see what it looked like prior, and then they can see it afterwards. And I said, pull out your phone. Let's see your picture. And everything lines up. Yep, it's yours. And I said, see? Now you are the same place I was. We can never say we're not creative, and we can never say we don't have an artistic bone in our body, because we did. And we just had to find the right medium to pull it out. And THEY LAUGH we have so much laughter in here. I mean, we really do. Between bad jokes and just joy in general. And we have become such a community. Everybody knows each other's names. The customers come in and they want to look at everybody's work and see what everybody's working on. And for the people who are apprehensive, I just say, give me a chance. You'll be surprised. I opened up my doors five weeks before COVID hit, and so I had a lot of time to reflect. And the biggest thing that Covid did for me is learned I could control my mindset. So instead of the furious about, how could this happen to me? Why is this happening? Did I make a mistake? I look back and, you know, all those times when I got home from work and had to wait till my daughter went to bed before I had enough hours to try to get the work done, and I still didn't have enough hours. Suddenly I have been gifted all of this time. So I was in here challenging those things I'd heard. I was in here learning new techniques and learning new products to work with. And by the time Covid ended, I was a much stronger and much more confident fused glass artist. I have so much confidence, and I am so honored to be able to help them learn it. And I am just bubbling over, and everybody feels the energy that I have. And sharing my passion is an incredible gift that I can give. I'm bubbling over, too. This is so joyful. You said how super your life is now. Do you have any thoughts or aspirations for the future? Well, since I first opened, which is almost five years now, I have a small gift shop in the front, and it was originally the things I'd made. I have grown it already to include my open Studio members, so they now put their art in the gift shop. I've gotten the gift shop online. There's over 700 items now online. With these artists all making so much, they're here on a regular basis. They make a lot of stuff, too. And so we now ship throughout the United States. One of my aspirations is to be able to go international. I also created after opening a art exhibit for my artists in residence. So you can go in the gift shop and you can look around and you're kind of like, oh, I really like this. Ooh, I really like this. And I'm recognizing they're picking a particular style from a particular artist. Well, the gift shop is not broken down by artist. It is broken down by color. And so I created a artist in resident month of an art gallery. And then we have a reception once a month for that particular artist and sometimes two do it together. But then they get to show their work and have a table where their their favorite pieces are all laid out and people can come meet them and hear their stories and get to know all of us a little better. So I've done a lot already. I'm doing podcast and I will be starting my own podcast called Artistic Exchange Podcast where I'm going to be interviewing artists of all mediums and sharing their stories. Because I so enjoy listening to these artists share their stories. I want to learn more from other artists. Thank you so much. Nancy. How can people connect with you? Glass Arts Collective. So it is arts with an S in the middle of there.com and I'm on Instagram, I'm on Facebook. My website is glassartscollective.com where you can see our gallery. Our gift shop is part of our website as well as scheduling for the classes. So all the registration for the classes is online as well. And then you come in the studio to actually take the classes. There are glass art studios around the world with fantastic instructors and I highly recommend that you check it out with any of them. And I'm on YouTube as well. Fantastic. Thank you so much. That was so much fun. Thank you so much. I am so excited to share. If you couldn't tell. Thank you. I hope you enjoyed this episode. If you did, perhaps you'd like to financially contribute to future episodes at buymeacoffee.com Creativity found. There's a link in the show notes. If you are listening on a value for value enabled app such as Fountain TrueFans or Podcast Guru, feel free to send a few sats my way. And if you have no idea of what I'm talking about, you can find out more by listening to my sister podcast called Podcasting 2.0 in Practice.