CARBONDALE – Like the mixed-media sculpture cropping up in her garden and coloring Main Street, Shannon Muse is constantly blooming with enthusiasm and ideas.She describes her finished works (a glass cabinet door, a sand-blasted mirror with words) with as much excitement as works in progress (pop art fused glass “flowers” set into a steel beam, an orb-shaped ferro-cement sculpture with glass mosaic).This childlike delight comes from the notion that, to Muse, the world is filled with creative energy.”I see energy in stuff,” she said, referring to one of her found-objects sculptures, “A Fork in the Road.” The piece has a round piece of glass with copper fused in a spiral design in the center. The glass is surrounded by a large rusted steel disc with forks stemming out from the middle like rays of light.

“There’s a lot of effort that went into making this fork,” she said of the silver utensils that were passed on to her from the late Evelyn Masters. “Someone put a lot of work into making this thing round.”There’s value in stuff. … They just talk to me; they’re just waiting to become something else.”Muse is the owner of Paradise Art Glass and has commissioned numerous stained glass and glass mosaic projects for homeowners, businesses and organizations, including the Marble Community Church. Her glass work is in homes in the Midwest, Florida, California and Mexico, and she recently was selected to do the work on the New Castle Episcopal Church.The job has special meaning for Muse, whose family has lived in the Valley for generations. Her grandfather went to the New Castle church when he was a boy.”This memorializes him in my mind. For me, it’s about my grandfather,” she said.

Self-taught in glass artistry, Muse has been working with the art form for 32 years and learned additional skills during her eight years at Crystal Glass Studio. She started Paradise 12 years ago and now does sculpture in her “down” time.She says she loves glass for its quality and color.”I’m really attracted to color. I kind of have an emotional response to color,” she said, pointing out a panel of iridescent glass that looks dramatically different in the light than when placed in the dark where it magically explodes with hues of pink and orange.Muse has been working with new materials, too, such as stone and marble and recently received a scholarship from the Carbondale Council on Arts and Humanities to attend the “Marble/marble” Symposium in July in Marble and Redstone.

She also has mentored under sculptor Steve Kentz and collaborates with him on several projects, including two pieces selected by the Public Arts Commission for public display.The pieces, “Hanging in Limbo” at Sixth and Main streets and “Larry & Lilly the Lizards” on the Centennial Building next to Peppino’s, are part of the Art aRound Town program to display and sell large works.Muse’s upcoming shows include the Wild Women exhibit opening June 1 at the Glenwood Springs Center for the Arts, “Illumination” in the fall at Carbondale Council on Arts and Humanities, and the Carbondale Community School’s fall studio tours when students can see Muse’s workspace, kiln and unique yard of sculpture.