Not surprisingly, artists have looked to the natural world for inspiration for millennia. But
since the turn of the 20 th century through today, there have been significant moments in which
artists have sought to mimic the forms and patterns of nature in glass. In 2024, Linda Tesner was
invited to guest curate an exhibition for the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, Washington, USA, to
investigate this theme. The exhibition was called Field Notes, in reference to the practice of natural historians, professional and amateur, to record observations encountered while actually being in nature. The conference will draw on the exhibition to explore its themes and the relationship between art, glass, and nature.