Fran Carrico

Fran Carrico grew up in Winchester, where the whistle at Anchor Hocking Glass Factory blew loudly three times a day and the big claw-shaped heat vent dominated the landscape.

After attending college and working more than 30 years as a chemistry teacher, Fran received one of the coveted Lilly Teacher Creativity Grants.

“That let me explore glass blowing, flameworking and factory furnace glass,” she says. “Flameworking’s scope and scale spoke to me, and I acquired a torch and materials and started playing.”

Following retirement, Fran refined her “playing” into the serious glass art of flamework.

“Even as a child, I was mesmerized by glass objects,” she says. “And as a chemistry teacher for more than a couple decades, I played a little with shaping glass for very simple laboratory uses. Glass has such intrinsic beauty as a material; I love its fluidity and range.

Much more than a chemistry teacher, Fran is very much aware of Indiana’s long history in glass work. She’s also attuned to Indiana’s natural beauty.

“I try to capture themes of nature in my pieces, as well as that range of glass color,” she says. “We are surrounded by nature’s beauty in our Indiana countryside and I try to interpret that in glass.”

Married to her college lab partner for nearly 50 years, the duo has two children and six grandchildren.

About Indiana Artisan, Fran says, “I wanted the authentication of the brand and to be part of the lovely shows. I tried several times to become an Indiana Artisan; to me it is a validation of my journey into glass art.”

A journey that she appropriately began under the whistle of Anchor Hocking Glass.