Unleashing Creativity: Nancy Marks on Transformative Glass Art

In this episode of “Conversations with Rich Bennett,” we delve into the inspiring journey of Nancy Marks, a distinguished glass artist who discovered her passion at the age of 60. Nancy shares how she transitioned from a career in corporate technology to mastering the art of fused glass, highlighting the therapeutic benefits it offers. She recounts heartwarming stories of individuals finding healing and expression through her art classes, including the profound impact of her studio's supportive community. Despite opening her studio just five weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic, Nancy embraced the challenge, using the time to improve her craft and operations. Join us as Nancy discusses her creative process, the significance of personalized art, and her dedication to giving back to the community. This episode is a testament to the transformative power of creativity and resilience.

Don’t miss this captivating conversation with Nancy Marks, proudly sponsored by Harford County Living.

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Transcript

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Rich Bennett 0:00
Thanks for joining the conversation where we explore the stories and experiences that shape our world. I'm your host, Rich Bennett, and today I am thrilled to welcome Nancy Mark, a distinguished figure in the world of glass Art. You heard me right. Glass Art. Nancy is renowned for her dedication to the craft, exploring and mastering various techniques to create stunning pieces. Beyond her artistic power, she champions glass art as a form of therapy, helping individuals find healing and expression through the transformative power of creating. And so just to let you all know, I'm recording this through squad cast. Nancy's out in California, right, Nancy? Of course, I'm here in Maryland and she's in her studio, so I could see a lot of this beautiful art behind her. And Naji, you have to send me some photos so I can include them in the show notes, because it's all very, very amazing. I just love it. Should I should have flown out there and recorded it in person? No, never mind. Because I'd be coming back broke and buying all the art. So, hey, do doing the head. See? 

Nancy Marks 1:12
I'm great, Rich. Hey, but you know what I can do for you? My art is on the website. You can order from our website. We ship throughout the United States now. 

Rich Bennett 1:22
Oh, really? 

Nancy Marks 1:23
So I can save you the cost of the airplane ticket. You could still go broke. 

Rich Bennett 1:29
That's glass arts collective dot com right. 

Nancy Marks 1:31
Correct. And it's arts. So just so I mean, there's a tendency of want to leave off the arts in art. So it's Glass Arts collective. You said it correctly, but I just like to emphasize it. 

Rich Bennett 1:41
I'm glad. Yeah, I'm glad you said that, because a lot of people want to know if my Baltimore accent. 

But hey, my wife tells me all the time. So I want to I want to ask you before we get really get into it. Because you in the corporate world for 

Nancy Marks 1:58
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 1:58
a while. 

Nancy Marks 2:00
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 2:00
But have you always been into art doing art? 

Nancy Marks 2:04
Actually, no, I haven't. I am one of those people who used to tell myself that I'm not creative. I can't draw a stick figure. I can't color within the icons. You know, if I tried something and I didn't really like the way it went, I just gave up on it. I didn't even try because it didn't inspire me. It didn't enlighten me at all. And so I have not used that side of my brain, as they say. I mean, I know that the the medical world will tell you there really isn't two sides of your brain that in that division. But no, art was not a thing for me. 

Rich Bennett 2:42
Really? 

Nancy Marks 2:42
Till I was 60. 

Rich Bennett 2:46
Oh, come on. 

Nancy Marks 2:47
I'm serious. I'm serious. I learned about and I learned about it because of my mom. So I love this story. My mom and dad moved from Calif, from Massachusetts to California to be closer to me so I could help out more. And the assisted living facility there at has a different act. It's like a docked cruise ship. It's got activities all day long in food and they take excursions and there's entertainment. It's it's phenomenal. And they had someone coming on site teaching first class. And my mom was excited about it. She lit up and I didn't know anything about it. I'd never heard of it. I've heard of blown glass, I've heard of stained glass mosaics, but never fumes glass. So I begrudgingly I like a child dragging her feet. I took a class because in my head, mom doesn't care if I'm good at this or not. It's. 

Rich Bennett 3:45
Right. 

Nancy Marks 3:46
Do with mom. So that was my motivation to take the class. And after my first class, I enjoyed it. So not too long after my mom's 85th birthday. And so I talked to my dad and said, you know, for her birthday, let's do something totally different, because we always try to find something special for there's a new studio for Fuse Glass that just opened up in town. Why don't we take her over there for a birthday party? 

And he's like, That's a great idea. So I actually even bought her little invitations that she could pass out for her birthday party. And we figured out how to get X number of people from their facility to the studio. And then the facility actually volunteered because it was a day they didn't have a lot of deliveries or pick ups of people that they would block off that time slot and drive people over in their van. 

Rich Bennett 4:43
Really? 

Nancy Marks 4:44
Little buzz. 

Rich Bennett 4:45
That. Wow. 

Nancy Marks 4:47
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 4:47
Wow. 

Nancy Marks 4:49
And I have to tell you, this particular location lit my fire. Yes. 

Rich Bennett 4:55
Right. 

Nancy Marks 4:56
The it was a different instructor. It was a different atmosphere in the studio. And I opened up the floodgate to creativity in art. And I haven't let go yet. 

Rich Bennett 5:11
You started that when you said 60. 

Nancy Marks 5:13
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 5:14
All right, So if you don't mind me asking, what what was it you were doing in the corporate world? 

Nancy Marks 5:19
Technology. I was a tech. I did sales operations. 

Rich Bennett 5:25
Hello, sister. 

Nancy Marks 5:26
Yeah, I was. Infrastructure. Yeah, I was. I mean, I did some other things first, but the majority of my career was Sony Pictures Entertainment. I was in the IT department, director of administration. I went to Toshiba, I went to IBM, I went to a few other businesses that were all technology. I sold servers and laptops and it was an infrastructure environment, not the really to the end user. It was more to the businesses. 

Rich Bennett 5:55
Right. 

Nancy Marks 5:55
And then I met my second husband and he owned his own network infrastructure reseller. And he said, if you know you're going to be selling technology, you're the ideal wife and business partner. 

So. 

Rich Bennett 6:13
A pick up line. 

Nancy Marks 6:14
I know we'd been we were. I'd already gotten engaged at that point. So it was kind of a funny thing for him to say, which I love it and it touches my heart all the time. We've been married over 20 years already. And so I went to go work for him and through my administration background, my sales background. I ended up becoming the chief operating officer and took over accounting as well. And so I really learned how to run a business. 

Rich Bennett 6:42
Right. 

Nancy Marks 6:43
So. 

Rich Bennett 6:44
And handy now. 

Nancy Marks 6:45
Yes, it does. And in fact, what ended up happening was he decided he was ready to retire and so he wanted to sell the business. And I was like, oh, what am I going to do now? And so I was playing over at the studio here that existed, and the owner decided this was not the best location. She wanted to have her remote locations somewhere else. And so she closed. And I like, what am I going to do? And my husband's first words out of his mouth is, you can't have the garage. 

Okay. Well, he knows me so well. I said, Well, what am I going to do? And he said, Well, why don't you open your own, you know, how to run a business? And I said, Well, I'm not that experienced yet. And as the words came out of my mouth, I laughed at myself. I said, Hey, my ego's big, but it's not that big. I can hire other people to do the stuff I can't do. Most artists can't run a business. So what a great partnership. So timing wise, that was for a little over four years ago. COVID hit five weeks after I opened the doors for business. 

Rich Bennett 7:53
Five weeks. 

Oh, God. Has. 

Nancy Marks 7:59
So. 

Rich Bennett 8:00
Through that. 

Nancy Marks 8:02
So mental health is a great starting point for that part of the conversation. So 

I went into just quite a tizzy and then I just sort of sat back, took several deep breaths and said, okay, this is the time you have asked for all your life. If I only had more time, there's not enough hours in the day. How am I going to get everything done? And, you know, a bit of how can I open a business when I'm not that good at what I'm doing? I mean, I'm good, don't get me wrong, but I'm not that what I'm doing. So I said, you know what? This is a gift. 

COVID, as dumb as it sounds and as horrific as it was for me, it was a gift. And I ended up doing a lot of things to improve the operations of the studio. I got to know some of the software I needed better and I played and I was happy through COVID and as retail opened because I have a retail shop in the front, I was able to open. So people who already knew the skills and a few people that I knew I was comfortable with that we spread everybody out. They each had their own six foot or eight foot table, everybody. 

Rich Bennett 9:19
Right. 

Nancy Marks 9:19
Tools. I sprayed down the tools with alcohol. It was more secure and clean than a restaurant. 

So people started coming in and we'd all talk and laugh and tell stories. And after a while, one of the women came up to me and she goes, I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't opened. And I was like, What are you talking about? And she goes, I lost my husband. He passed from age not because of COVID, but because of COVID. They couldn't do the proper services. They couldn't get together as a family. And so she had to handle so much more of it on her own. Well, she came in and she was making art, and she ultimately decided on this. And I wish I had a picture of it. I'll have to send it to you. So you have it in your your notes. This beautiful sunset that goes above her sliding glass door. And every morning her husband is shining it on her. 

Rich Bennett 10:20
I love. 

Nancy Marks 10:21
Sorry. It still gets me every time I say it to. 

And I have a lot of different types of stories. When I was able to actually open up more, I had a woman come in all stressed out with her daughter and her daughter's friend, and she said, They're going to do it. The class. I'm going to go over to the set a table and I'm just going to sit and work. You have wi fi, right? And I said, Yeah, I do. You can. And she looked at me and I said, But you have to come over and you have to at least break glass. You have to understand what your daughter and her friend are doing you. 

Rich Bennett 10:53
Right. 

Nancy Marks 10:53
It's just 

Rich Bennett 10:54
I. 

Nancy Marks 10:54
a few minutes because I don't have the time. I said just a few minutes. Just step away for a few minutes. I said, do me a favor. Come on. You know, and and so she said, okay, I'll do it. She she broke one piece of glass, which is what we do in a demo. 

Rich Bennett 11:10
Uh huh. 

Nancy Marks 11:11
She said, I'm taking the whole class. 

He called me the next day to tell me that when she got home, it took her no time at all to finish this big project that was scaring her and overwhelming her because it was so much. 

Rich Bennett 11:25
Stressed in or out. 

Nancy Marks 11:27
Stressing her out. And so when she got home, she was relaxed and it was clear as could be, what to do and boom, boom, boom, it was done. And she's been such an advocate to telling her friends who are stressed out about something. You know, come on over. We'll do it together. It's so much fun. You have a great time. Nancy's got the worst jokes and she is proud of it, brags about it and. 

Yeah, it's you know, it's kind of one of those things where, you know, you have to like bad jokes. I have been judged against other people's dads, and sometimes. 

Rich Bennett 12:00
I was going to ask you about that. 

Nancy Marks 12:03
Ad still wins. But, you know, for the most part, I'm right up there. 

Rich Bennett 12:08
Now, Nancy, you know what you got to do now, right? Do you have to tell one of these jokes? 

Nancy Marks 12:14
A glass is all it's cracked up to be, after all. So if you don't remember anything else, you're going to remember that. And I have to tell you, we had a senator for this area who would come through and the the Chamber of Commerce had brought him around with a couple of the other city council members. And so I had them sit. I knew they were coming. I had like 13 minutes. So I was going to have them break glass because they can see the studio. But if you don't understand what fuze glass is and you don't understand how any of this works. 

Rich Bennett 12:47
Right. 

Nancy Marks 12:48
You sort of still leave with? Oh, it's pretty you know, it's really pretty. So I had them sit down and he couldn't stop. He kept wanting to break it in smaller and smaller pieces. We all laughed and as they were getting ready to leave, they said, Well, do you have any final words? And, you know, when he before he was coming, my thoughts were you will, you know, talk about how business is so critical and everything else. And I thought, you know what, that's he's on a tour. They're all telling him that. I just told if there's nothing else you remember. I remember the last is all cracked up to be. And they laughed. And I got calls from the Chamber of Commerce, said he couldn't stop laughing. He just kept repeating it to himself and saying, I can't believe that's what she said. It's the most important thing to tell me. 

But you know what? It stuck. And so. 

Rich Bennett 13:36
Yeah. 

Nancy Marks 13:37
You know, when all these other businesses, we all struggled through COVID and we still struggle and it's hard to compete with mass production. Handcrafted gifts aren't the cheapest thing. Glass is not that inexpensive to begin with, but there's something so special about making something that is beautiful colors. And even if you make it abstract or you make it with a design, knowing you crafted it or your friend crafted it, that was a gift from them. And if you know a story behind it, like the sunset, it goes with you forever. 

Rich Bennett 14:15
Yeah. 

Nancy Marks 14:16
And so I have given. Yeah, go ahead. I'm sorry. 

Rich Bennett 14:19
I was just going to say it's like getting that first ashtray from from one of your, ah, mug or whatever, from one of your kids. 

Nancy Marks 14:26
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 14:27
Elementary school. It's something you never forget and you want to hold on to forever. 

Nancy Marks 14:32
Exactly. Exactly. And I've given gifts of a lot of our glass. Is food safe? So we do a lot of bowls and trays and platters. And so I've given several gifts knowing my friend's color palette. I made the glass accordingly. And, you know, I'll tell the little story about how I couldn't decide which colours for this or this or this or this because I knew they liked this and he liked this and 

Rich Bennett 14:55
But. 

Nancy Marks 14:56
what should I use? And I tell him the story as well. And they said, their friends are so sick of hearing that story because every time they come over, they tell it again. They said, You told us that last time. Yeah, but it's such a great story. 

Rich Bennett 15:08
They're seeing through you now. I. I'm sorry. I had to get a glass stuck in there somewhere. 

Nancy Marks 15:14
Course you did. And I love it. It was absolutely clearly, clearly what you had to do. 

Rich Bennett 15:22
Starbucks. I'm all shattered now. I can't. 

All right, Stop, Rich. You suck at jokes. 

Nancy Marks 15:29
Oh, you're doing very well. I appreciate it. 

Rich Bennett 15:31
Oh, God. Hey. What exactly is fused glass? Because you mentioned the glass blowing, which is to me, is just phenomenal. The mosaic. It was at Mosaic. 

Nancy Marks 15:44
Mosaic and stained glass. Yes. What's in most churches. Those big. 

Rich Bennett 15:48
Right. 

Nancy Marks 15:49
Beautiful, colorful wind. 

Rich Bennett 15:49
Mm hmm. 

Nancy Marks 15:50
Fuze Glass is making everything at room temperature. Unlike blown glass, where you're in front of a 2000 degree furnace. We make everything at room temperature comfortable. Music's go in. We're laughing. We're joking. And then in the evening, because I'm trying to save electricity for our community, 

Rich Bennett 16:09
Right. 

Nancy Marks 16:10
that's when the rates go down and the demand goes down. And I put it in a big furnace kiln similar to a ceramics kiln. The heating elements are a little bit different, and it heats up to between 14 or 1500 degrees. It's about an 18 hour cycle 

Rich Bennett 16:24
Wow. 

Nancy Marks 16:24
because I use it. I use a conservative cycle. The shorter ones, a smaller kiln, you can run a little faster. And in that time frame, the it's similar to almost safety stops of a scuba diver. You have to stop at different points and let the whole piece of glass be the same temperature. 

Rich Bennett 16:44
Okay. 

Nancy Marks 16:45
You're not going to have thermal shock. So you'd like a cake. The outer edge fuses first or coats first, and you want the whole thing to be even. So through that process, we have safety stops along the way, and then it gets up to a really hot molten state, but not fluid. It's still very, very thick, honey. 

Rich Bennett 17:05
Okay. 

Nancy Marks 17:06
Fuses together, the glass and any little flaws in your cut gets smoothed out quite a bit. The edges are rounded and smoothed out, and many times there's certain glass where the colors come out even more. 

Rich Bennett 17:22
More 

Nancy Marks 17:22
It. 

Rich Bennett 17:22
vibrant. 

Nancy Marks 17:23
More vibrant in the heat. 

Rich Bennett 17:24
Yeah. 

Nancy Marks 17:26
And then it slowly comes back down again. Because again, you don't want thermal shock where the outside all school in the hot inside. So it slowly comes down again. And I opened the kiln. Once room temperature goes into room, temperature comes out at room temperature. So nobody's dealing with the heat. 

Rich Bennett 17:43
But you said you do bowls and everything as well, right? 

Nancy Marks 17:47
Yes. So it's fired twice for a bowl. The first time everything is fired flat. 

Rich Bennett 17:53
Okay. 

Nancy Marks 17:54
A lower temperature. I have molds that I put the balls into and they slump into the bowl. 

Or I can have them drape over a device. 

Rich Bennett 18:08
Ah, 

interesting. We need one of them. At least. I don't even think we have one out here. Guess 

Nancy Marks 18:16
I. 

Rich Bennett 18:16
I'm going to be having to come to California. 

Nancy Marks 18:19
But first off, yes, because there's nobody like me out there. But I 

Rich Bennett 18:23
Well, 

Nancy Marks 18:23
have. 

Rich Bennett 18:23
this is true. 

Nancy Marks 18:25
I have to tell you, there's very talented artists in fused glass all around the world and. 

Rich Bennett 18:30
Right. 

Nancy Marks 18:31
There will probably be a fuse glass studio not that far from you. And sometimes they're doing more than one thing. So sometimes Stained Glass studios also do fuse glass and vice versa. So we also do fuse glass stained glass and mosaic, which includes painting on glass. We don't do the torch work. Safety reasons I choose not to have a hot torch going off in the studio. 

Rich Bennett 18:56
Which. 

Nancy Marks 18:57
Oh, a torch is where you're basically you have safety glasses on as well. Then we do everything with safety. But there's a hot flame in front of you and you're pulling or you're manipulating glass in a flame in front of you. That's it's almost like a torch a. 

Rich Bennett 19:11
It's like the blown glass, but you're not blowing it. You're using your hands. Yeah. Are there any for me? 

Nancy Marks 19:18
It's not for me either. 

Rich Bennett 19:19
No. 

Nancy Marks 19:19
And, you know, it's it's I have all these safety things that I teach everybody and I laugh because we women more than anybody else, have a tendency of cleaning up counters with a side of our hands, you know, sweep up those crumbs. 

Rich Bennett 19:33
All. 

Nancy Marks 19:34
You don't do that with glass. 

Rich Bennett 19:36
No. 

Nancy Marks 19:38
So as soon as I say, you know, we women have a tendency and they start showing. They all start laughing. Yeah, we do. You know, so it's just it's bringing the humor into to the whole conversation so that it's easier to remember versus somebody talking at a monotone voice. 

Rich Bennett 19:54
Right. 

Nancy Marks 19:55
I had one boss do that to me once. He gave me a two and a half hour dissertation what it was about. And I did tell him I took computer programming in college and that I understood it. And he still monotone gave me that speech and I thought, I'm never going to survive here. But I did. And I had a few conversations and he didn't even realize he had done that. And that happens frequently. People don't understand how they come across. They don't understand when they're being a little on the more aggressive side with their tone or whatever. And sometimes it's just somebody pointing it out that helps to like, Oh, I'm so sorry. That's not what my intent was. But I actually have a therapist come here for themselves. I have therapists that send their clients, and I don't know when that's happening. 

Rich Bennett 20:51
Right. 

Nancy Marks 20:52
I had a mom tell me one day, probably two years after her son had started coming, she goes, You know, our therapist sending him to you was one of the best things that she could have done. And I was like, Oh, I had no idea. And he's actually being considered for Juilliard. They're waiting for the. 

Rich Bennett 21:15
Really? 

Nancy Marks 21:18
So there is. So much talent in different areas that crosses over it. You know, people who pay to come in here and bring some of that. I have someone who does textiles. She brings it and it's all for relaxation. It's just different ways of finding how to release some of the stress and frustration that builds up. 

Rich Bennett 21:41
Yeah. So it's it's almost like you're starting to see some of these things pop up. Now. The what do they call them? Not a break room. 

It's like 

Nancy Marks 21:53
There. There's like, an 

Rich Bennett 21:54
go 

Nancy Marks 21:54
entertainment 

Rich Bennett 21:55
in a. 

Nancy Marks 21:55
area. Yeah. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 21:56
Yeah. Are you just going to break? 

Nancy Marks 21:58
Breaking. Yeah, There's. And then there's. I'm sorry. I cannot do the idea of throwing a hatchet. 

Rich Bennett 22:06
Oh, no. You know what scares me about that, though? Because we have a couple of those axe throwing things around here. And I think they serve alcohol through do things. 

Nancy Marks 22:20
Whoa. 

Rich Bennett 22:21
Yeah. That's not a I don't think that's a good mix. I mean, I've seen alcohol in bars where they had dart boards and a dart dart ends up at somebody's head, I mean. 

Nancy Marks 22:33
Oh. I get the point. I get the point. 

You know I can't stop at glass, you know. 

Rich Bennett 22:43
I love it, though. 

I love especially when it comes to the kids, because we know a lot of the kids suffered really bad during COVID. 

Nancy Marks 22:56
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 22:56
You know, being put out there, the social atmosphere and everything and are just stuck at home. But now that they're able to come to you and do this amazing work and yeah, you're right, when you're breaking something, it feels good. Well provided it's something you're allowed to break it. Not like your computer. They like that. 

Nancy Marks 23:23
If 

Rich Bennett 23:23
But 

Nancy Marks 23:23
you're 

Rich Bennett 23:23
then 

Nancy Marks 23:23
allowed 

Rich Bennett 23:24
when you. 

Nancy Marks 23:24
to break it properly. 

Rich Bennett 23:26
Right. But then when you put it back, it's almost like a jigsaw puzzle and you're putting it together and creating this beautiful art and that right there. When you do that, it triggers something in your mind. It just makes you feel so good. 

And, you know, and there's. And you mentioned it before before I can't remember is in the beginning or before we started recording about the different types of art. And you'll see that with whether it's somebody that's writing music, painting an author, a chef. 

Nancy Marks 24:03
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 24:03
You know, with me when I was in the I.T. field. One of the things that made me feel so good is if I would get a call to fix a printer that was not work out, mean something simple. I just need to replace the toner. No. So the were I had to take that whole thing apart like an engine and put it back together. And when it gets back up and running, it just makes you feel so good. And then to see the smile on the user's face makes it even better. Speaking of which, with your art, I'm not talking about somebody that came to your studio and met you. I'm talking about yours. Is there piece that that when you finish it made you feel so good, but then either somebody purchased it or you gave it to somebody. 

Oh, what is that back there? 

Nancy Marks 24:57
It is a flower pot that's three dimensional on a backdrop and the flowers are three dimensional. I don't think I can easily put it in a position that you can see it super well, 

Rich Bennett 25:09
Right. 

Nancy Marks 25:10
but. 

Rich Bennett 25:11
Well, you're going to have to send me a picture of it. 

Nancy Marks 25:12
I will definitely send a picture. That is the very first thing that I made that made me feel so incredible because most of the glass art I'd seen in fused glass. Sorry to cut you off, but I was so excited to 

Rich Bennett 25:25
Oh, 

Nancy Marks 25:25
be. 

Rich Bennett 25:25
no, no, that's fine. 

Nancy Marks 25:26
It 

is. So I have a multicolor background on it of strips of different colors, and there's a butterfly on there that's three dimensional. And then I have basically a base that's a 

glass that has been bent to be half of a vase that is attached to the glass. And out of that are 

five different flowers. Could remember how many flowers and leaves that are sticking out of 

Rich Bennett 25:56
Wow. 

Nancy Marks 25:56
it. And what I did was I actually put Styrofoam on the inside so that I could pull them out and change them every season if I wanted to. 

Rich Bennett 26:06
Oh. 

Nancy Marks 26:07
Honestly, I haven't wanted to change them. I just love it so much and people admire it and I can't sell it. I just can't. I have been given many lovely offers for it. I told them I would make something else, but I cannot sell my my very favorite piece I've ever made. 

Rich Bennett 26:25
Right. You made it for yourself. 

Nancy Marks 26:28
Yes, I did. And I hung it in the studio as an inspirational piece for myself and for others, because that was early on in my career. That was before I even decided to open the studio. And I was so proud of it. And so it was like that was the first thing that went on the wall when I got my own studio. 

Rich Bennett 26:48
And it's it's three dimensional. You say you put your. Correct me if I'm wrong. Did you say you're putting real flowers in there? 

Nancy Marks 26:56
I'm putting. 

Rich Bennett 26:56
Used flowers. 

Nancy Marks 26:58
You use glass flowers? Sorry, I can tell I. 

Rich Bennett 27:00
Wow. 

Nancy Marks 27:00
It's fused glass flowers. So they're bright and cheerful all the time. And I picked the colors I wanted, and I built it with the idea that if I wanted to change it, those flowers out, I can. 

Rich Bennett 27:14
Have you. Because I know not everybody can get to you to learn how to do this stuff. Have you thought of and if you're doing it now, then wow, that's even better. But have you thought about doing this 

virtually, or whether it's teaching classes virtually or doing like videos as you guys are in there doing it so you could post them or, you know, just so other people everywhere else can learn how to do it. 

Nancy Marks 27:44
I don't do the classes. I have to be honest. I have. There's a couple of artists that I follow, and they have full studios that they do to create the environments to teach how to do it. And they some of them do it for free, Some of them charge and. I have to tell you, it's worth every penny to pay for it, because the 

Rich Bennett 28:04
Right. 

Nancy Marks 28:04
work we put into doing that is phenomenal. I don't have the infrastructure to do all of that. So we do do some videos of pieces being put together and share those. I have a gallery of art on my website that shows a lot of different types of art that's been done. That usually is not the stuff for sale. And then we have our gift shop actually on our website, because I understood if I used one of those other programs, which I'll leave nameless, that you still have to do the marketing for it. You know, it's not just build it. They'll come. You have to market for it. So I said, Why would I market for someone else's organization to pay them so I can do the hard part? So I incorporated it all here. And so it's part of my website and all of my open studio members can put their art on in my gift shop, in brick and mortar, as well as on the website. We're just shy of 500 pieces on the website right now, and we ship 

Rich Bennett 29:04
Wow. 

Nancy Marks 29:05
through. Red states. And so we have a broken down by if you want to look at bowls or trays or platters or Father's Day or Mother's Day. Coming up, we have what's on sale, what's for a holiday. But then we also have it so that when you in the description, it tells you who the artist is. So if you see a particular artist you really like, you can also sort just by that artist. Not bad. Who does infrastructure. 

Rich Bennett 29:33
Hello. 

I am online looking at. So those of you listening, if you get a chance, if you're not looking at the Web site as you're listening to this, make sure you do. I can see what Nancy has in the studio. And there's this one piece that's been hanging up behind her, which is been grabbing my eye. It's called Sunset Mirage. That thing is beautiful. So which leak? I'm just looking at all these. All this art, and it's just amazing. Play with it. Okay. Oh, earrings, too. 

Nancy Marks 30:19
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 30:19
My daughter would love them. And my wife. Oh. Oh, in that lavender. Okay. Yeah. Stop. Bridge before you go broke. Oh. 

Broke. Huh? I just realize I made another funny there. 

Nancy Marks 30:35
Yes, you did. You did. And I just kept my mouth shut this time. But I did smile. 

Rich Bennett 30:41
So 

I know it's the glass is fused together, and I'm sure it's all different colors. Is there any painting involved in this or is that all just from the colors of the glass? 

Nancy Marks 30:53
So we use both eyeglass company as the company that we work with there in Portland, Oregon. So everything is U.S. made and they make phenomenal patterned pieces as well. So the piece you're looking at, part of that is glass that came with those vibrant colors in it and then the artist, Abby Gardner, actually combined it with other designs that she has in her head and create that masterpiece. And for the most part, we don't have two pieces are identical. We'll have some that are similar, but we never have two pieces that are absolutely identical. No one here wants to do that. No one in this studio wants to make a commercially made thing. So if you purchase something, it truly is one of a kind. 

Rich Bennett 31:41
One of the kind. 

Nancy Marks 31:42
Handmade. 

Rich Bennett 31:43
And there's no pain involved. 

Nancy Marks 31:45
There can be. But in the pieces that you're looking at, there is no painting involved. 

Rich Bennett 31:49
That sunset mirage. There's no painting in there. 

Nancy Marks 31:52
Now. 

Rich Bennett 31:53
Oh, come on. 

Nancy Marks 31:54
A serious. 

Rich Bennett 31:56
Oh, my God. That thing is amazing. And. 

Oh, God. People, you have got to look at this thing, because I. I would swear that it was all painted. 

Nancy Marks 32:10
Yes. And she's got a lot of pieces. And I'm sorry that people don't get to see this while we're talking because it is right behind me. But I wanted Richard to be able to see it and be able to talk about it as well. But, yes, going to our Web site, you're going to see so much. And it is incredible. And there's such a difference in the patterns, the techniques, the. Color palettes for each of the artists. They all have their own style. And every now and then, someone will make something that's kind of someone else's style. And as our open studio family come in, because we really are a community, it's 

Rich Bennett 32:49
Right. 

Nancy Marks 32:49
an incredible supportive community here. And they'll kind of go. Did Abby make that one? It's like, Nope, that was mine or that was hers or that, you know. And it's so funny because we laugh that we wannabees. We want to be more like her. But the truth is, we have our own styles. We just like certain techniques that people do, or we like color palettes that they chose. But we couldn't duplicate anybody else's. It wouldn't be our style. But to their that unique and specialized and the love that goes into each piece, you can't duplicate that. 

Rich Bennett 33:29
Nah, not at all. All right, Nancy. 

Nancy Marks 33:32
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 33:33
I love these feel good stories. So whether it's from you making it or somebody else making it, can you share some stories with us where it just it made a difference in someone's life? 

Nancy Marks 33:48
Wow. There's so many of those stories. There was a husband who came in one day and he wanted he found something he wanted to buy for his wife. And he goes, But I don't want to put it on the credit card because I don't want to see it. So I guess I'm going to go run to get cash. And I thought he was fake. That was just his way of getting out of it. But I thought. 

Rich Bennett 34:10
Right. 

Nancy Marks 34:11
There's something very sincere about that guy, and I want to believe in him. And I would say about 15 minutes later, he came back with the cash and his wife had to come in after he gave it to her to tell me how beautiful it was, how much he loved it. Happened to have been one of my pieces. 

And I have to tell you, as an artist, when someone loves something that you've done that much and they want to be sure to be able to meet you and tell you there is no greater high that you could ever have. 

Rich Bennett 34:48
Yeah. 

Nancy Marks 34:48
And it never goes away. And this past Christmas, he actually commissioned something for her that when I had one of my other artists do, because it was more appropriate. And she contacted me separately to do a commissioned piece for him. 

Rich Bennett 35:03
Oh, wow. 

Nancy Marks 35:05
So we had to look up every time somebody walked into the door to make sure either one of us had to cover something up while we were working on the commission. And it was so much fun because they realized they had done the same thing. They both 

Rich Bennett 35:20
Right. 

Nancy Marks 35:21
loved the art so much and that they both commissioned something. And we love doing commissioned pieces. We love being able to specialize the colors of the patterns and or whatever it is. And that that story meant so much to me. And I've seen other artists have people come in and love meeting them and love hearing their story and love hearing what someone said when they sent the gift. And I had several artists who had asked for some direction of how to do something because I didn't learn that. And so we just kind of it was a minor thing. And they made a palette and a dish specifically for someone in their family. And how much they loved it. And the individual wanted to put something else in. I was like, Nope, that's not their color palette. Don't do that. You asked for the color palette. You stick to it. 

Rich Bennett 36:15
Right. 

Nancy Marks 36:16
They were so grateful because I guess they had expected him not to stick to. 

But that's, you know, it's all. It is so much joy. I laugh. This is my happy place. And. 

Rich Bennett 36:31
Yeah. 

Nancy Marks 36:32
I love sharing my passion. I love sharing my happy place with others and the fact that they're finding me and the studio and my other artists is phenomenal. 

Rich Bennett 36:46
Have I got? Figure out how to ask you this? Because, you know, when you go to art galleries and look at paintings, when you listen to songs, yeah, it sometimes it the meaning changes or you see something different in that piece of art. Has that happened with you? With some of your art? You're when you make it, you see one thing, but then over time you see something completely different. 

Nancy Marks 37:19
Absolutely. And that comes not only with the design, but with the colors. 

Rich Bennett 37:24
Yes. 

Nancy Marks 37:25
There are times where you can you can tell sometimes very clearly what my day was like before I came into the studio to make something because the the colours I chose or the style I just chose to make is either extremely abstract. Like that was what my brain was doing that day or well defined. But one of the favourite things I have is when somebody walks in the studio that's been here many times before and they look around to the gift shop, especially because it's more compact and they're going, Oh my God, when did this get put in here? And it's like. You have been in here so many times when that piece was sitting there, and I've never seen this one before. Because we're attracted to certain colors or designs in general. And so it's the same thing with music. You have a tendency of going to something that you know is your calming music or your particular. And that's what I love about art, because it's across the board. It's one of those things that's not restricted to just glass, but how it just everything touches people differently and you can go in and the menu had the same things on it. But today, for some reason, that particular dish you've never tried. Just called out to you 

Rich Bennett 38:41
Yeah. 

Nancy Marks 38:41
and you're like, Oh my God, this was so good. How come I never ordered this before? 

It just happens with everything you do. It's your mood, it's your thought process. It's where you're at in your head. It's who you're with, what was going on before you. And that's what makes art so much fun because it's not always going to be exactly the same thing that you want to see or do. 

Rich Bennett 39:02
All right. You have I mean, all these people that have been through there, all the different in and I'm not talking about just the artists, but even the people that have purchased the art. You have stories galore. 

Have you thought about writing a book? Because that could be therapeutic as well, especially when people hear the stories from these people, which is going to lead me to something else here in a minute. 

Nancy Marks 39:33
Oh, my gosh. I had never thought of that. I have laughed about writing up the comments that people make when I'm describing something. 

Rich Bennett 39:44
Mm hmm. 

Nancy Marks 39:45
Hear what they actually hear me say. So I've thought about writing those things down, but I've never thought about putting all the stories together. So I'm very intrigued to see where you want to go with that next. 

Rich Bennett 39:55
Well, as you say, if you don't write a book, you mentioned before we started about starting a podcast. But talking to other artists. 

Nancy Marks 40:05
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 40:06
Talk. The people that have gotten the art, that have purchased the art as well because. 

Nancy Marks 40:12
That's a fabulous. 

Rich Bennett 40:13
People hear their stories. Oh, yeah. People hear their stories. That's going to sell the art itself right there. You know. 

Nancy Marks 40:20
It's going to be its Artistic Exchange podcast. It'll be coming out in a few months. I'm already starting to put the the initial 

list of artists. And it truly is just as you said, it's going to be artists from across the spectrum. It I mean, people you don't when you hear the word art, everyone has a tendency of thinking just specific things. Painting almost always comes up. But do you think about all the different types of painting and painting on rocks? Painting on the side of a building, tattoo artist. There is so much when it comes to the world, word of art and music and oh my gosh. So it is one of those niches that is so broad. I love it because I can talk about anything. I don't have to be inside a box. I am not someone who fits inside a box in any way, shape or form. I'm not someone who colors within the lines. I'm not someone who can draw a stick figure. I have learned all those things. But I think the most important thing that I want to make sure I say so I don't forget to say it is so much of this is a mindset. You tell yourself stories and you believe them. I believed I wasn't an artist and so even if I had done something well, I still wouldn't have believed I was an artist. It wasn't until I got out of that mindset, and I did it for a different reason, like my mom and doing something specifically for my mom that it turned the ego off and allowed reality to really get in there. And it's scary how many stories in my life I have told myself that I have believed. And it's amazing how many stories are getting erased. Debug old, you know, hey, that's a fake story. That's a fake story. And I have just exploded with so much energy and excitement and love of life more than I've ever had before. 

Rich Bennett 42:33
It's a new journey and you're enjoying 

Nancy Marks 42:35
Is. 

Rich Bennett 42:35
the ride. 

Nancy Marks 42:37
Oh, I sure am. You know, the next chapter for me has is is more phenomenal than I could have imagined when I was younger. But I do wish I had learned all of this younger. And so for those that are listening or watching any one of my any time I'm on, please, you know, really understand, stop listening to those stories that you can't do something and change it from. No, I can't to yes, I can. 

Rich Bennett 43:08
Definitely do it. That's what I was always told. Take don't edit your vocabulary, because if you if you put your mind to it, you can do it. I mean, I, I look at people with, you know, prime example, people with disabilities. 

Nancy Marks 43:26
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 43:28
And I was just watching this video the other day of this young lady that has no arms as she uses her feet to do everything. And she paints. Wow. I mean, just the art she does is it's out of this world. It's phenomenal. Yeah, she can do it. You know, I guarantee you, she didn't say, oh, I can't do do this. She said, Nope, I'm going to do it. And yeah, that's the thing. I mean, granted, I cannot draw a stick figure, which is the weird thing that I was great at art when I was younger. I love doing it and doing. I, I was I drew really great, made all kinds of things, loved it, 

got in to the corporate world, got busy, did you know, couldn't find the time to do a lot of the art that I loved. And I forget what I was doing, but I went to draw stick figures like, Oh, wow, this is my guy's got a big head and his body is all crooked. It's like he just. 

Nancy Marks 44:40
You're. You're a Picasso. 

Rich Bennett 44:42
Yeah. 

Nancy Marks 44:43
So. Yeah. Come on. Who said a stick figure has to be straight lines? 

Rich Bennett 44:49
Well, mine definitely weren't. 

Nancy Marks 44:50
My word either. 

Rich Bennett 44:52
Yeah. And it's. I would I would find myself buying things all the time. I used to love doing the wood art. I loved doing so I bought that. I even bought paint by numbers. They're still sitting there. haven't touched them. My daughter bought me a dock. A dock? Coloring books sign up. And of course, one of them was my favorite band Kiss. So I was like, I can't do this of just the standard colors. I saw about the bear box of all the different colors. I haven't even finished the first picture, and that was over a year ago. I need. I need to get this stuff. 

Nancy Marks 45:29
Yes, I was going to say. Will you promise me that you'll try to take 15 minutes once a week minimum to try to do something? 

Rich Bennett 45:40
I will promise you as long as you do me one one favour. 

Nancy Marks 45:44
Sure. 

Rich Bennett 45:45
Follow up with me to make sure I do it. And if I don't yell at me. 

Nancy Marks 45:51
Waltz. I'll make fun of you and I'll make jokes about you. That's. That's even more fun than you. 

Rich Bennett 45:55
Everybody. Everybody else does. Yes, go ahead. 

Somebody. This is one of the greatest lessons I ever learned in life. When I quit high school and I was was go into the Navy and my father's good side because I was 17, came home with the papers to go into the Marine Corps. 

Nancy Marks 46:15
Ooh. 

Rich Bennett 46:17
He told me I would never make it. I could not go into the Marine Corps. He refused to sign. He just told me, No, you'll never make it. It's too hard for you. Yea, yea, yea. So when I turned 18, I went into the Marine Corps because any and from that lesson I learned, if anybody tells me I can't do anything, I'm at least going to try. And that taught me how to love challenges as well, because I do love a challenge. You challenge really something. 

I'm going to I'm going to try to do it. 

Nancy Marks 46:50
Thank 

Rich Bennett 46:50
So, 

Nancy Marks 46:50
you. 

Rich Bennett 46:50
yes, you. 

Nancy Marks 46:51
Thank you for serving our country. 

Rich Bennett 46:53
It was my honor. So you got to follow up with me. Okay. All right. 

Nancy Marks 46:56
I will. 

Rich Bennett 46:56
Whether she now or would ever call Rich. Did you do it yet? Did you take 15 minutes every way? Man, Can you explain artistic? What do I have to do that? You just said any kind of art, right? 

Nancy Marks 47:09
Any kind of art. Woodworking works. You can go back to woodworking. You can go you can go paint rocks. But you have to do you have to do it with passion. 

Rich Bennett 47:19
Is podcasting considered an art or would that be cheating for me? 

Nancy Marks 47:25
That would be cheating for you because it's a that. 

Rich Bennett 47:28
It is my job, said everybody. 

Nancy Marks 47:31
You have to step out of the job and do something 

Rich Bennett 47:33
Okay. 

Nancy Marks 47:33
creative that's different. 

Rich Bennett 47:35
I 

Nancy Marks 47:35
Doing 

Rich Bennett 47:35
will. 

Nancy Marks 47:35
something that you do every day is not as much fun. Well, wait a minute. I do that every day. I know this. 

Self. Oh, no. How could I do that? Love 

Rich Bennett 47:46
You know what? 

Nancy Marks 47:47
what? 

Rich Bennett 47:47
No, I will do that. Here's because I'm the cook in the family. This way to this dish challenges me because 

one thing I wish I would have done was gone to culinary school because I love. Much, but I would not want to be a chef because it's just. A lot of work. Oh, yeah. But I would do that because my wife's always taught me to make something different. And this way I could be more creative. So. 

Nancy Marks 48:12
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 48:13
Thanks, Nancy. 

Nancy Marks 48:14
You will come. 

Rich Bennett 48:15
Thanks. Thanks for putting that glass boot up my tail. 

Nancy Marks 48:22
You know what? My dad was taught when he went to college. He had one professor and then my dad passed at 95 last year and he he still remembers to this day or to that day that he had a professor who said, if there's nothing else that you learn from this class, learn, you need to have hobbies because 

Rich Bennett 48:40
Mm hmm. 

Nancy Marks 48:41
throughout your life you're going to have excuses not to do things. Do not leave it until you get to retirement because you might not make it. Find something that you're really passionate about and make sure you find time to do it. You don't have to do it long periods of time, but just always make it part of your life. And my dad collected model railroads and 

Rich Bennett 49:03
All. 

Nancy Marks 49:04
mostly European, and I have about 60 years worth of trains now to inventory and figure out. I actually have someone who's going to help me do it. But it's so hard because the pleasure that I was as a child able to share with him. With that hobby. And he loved music, too. He loved symphonies. He loved watching symphonies. My dad actually had a 

wireless area network storage network in his apartment with mom. And he would download from the Internet onto his computer symphonies from the Berlin Symphony. And I forgot all the other ones or YouTube. And he would have it wirelessly stream over to the TV and the other room. And then he got into basically downloading onto a thumb drive portions of symphonies that he would take on the thumb drive over to the theater in the main building. And twice a month would play symphonies that he knew people would like at the facility. 

Rich Bennett 50:11
Oh, wow. 

Nancy Marks 50:12
People who had never seen it. Now, again, these are all people in an assisted living facility. They're all in retirement age bracket, had never seen the symphony. He did a few operas. He did a few musicals, but he would bring music and he would even write up a little program, and that would be twice a month. And he would take it over and just plug it in. It would auto start and. He was so loved for all of that as. I mean, I've talked to so many of his former students and stayed in touch with them beforehand. We did Zoom calls with some of them for special occasions. So he was a phenomenal person. 

Rich Bennett 51:00
I could have hung out with your father for every day, just for hours, because I love to listen to different symphonies. And I'm big. I was big into model railroad. 

Nancy Marks 51:13
Oh, my goodness. 

Rich Bennett 51:15
Love the my next door neighbor was, I believe he was the second largest train collector on the East Coast before he passed. 

Nancy Marks 51:23
Wow. 

Rich Bennett 51:23
He? Oh, yeah. He had an addition put on to his house. Now, he never did a a train garden. He just collected trains and had in the addition to the downstairs was all his model trains stacked from floor to ceiling in glass cases. He bought the house across the street, beat the store more, which had another full basement. 

Nancy Marks 51:48
Oh, my gosh. Wow. 

Rich Bennett 51:50
I 

Nancy Marks 51:50
That. 

Rich Bennett 51:50
was. Oh, he's a I just loved model. And actually, Dina, who's a big model train collector. 

Nancy Marks 51:58
No. 

Rich Bennett 51:58
Rod Stewart. 

Nancy Marks 52:00
Oh, my goodness. 

Rich Bennett 52:01
Oh, he has. Yeah, I saw his. He had a monorail regarding his display and I think it was Model Railroad magazine. 

Nancy Marks 52:10
Wow. 

Rich Bennett 52:11
Just amazing. Amazing 

something. Yeah. Glad you mention that, because I'm going to talk about giving back. 

How do you incorporate it? You know, because give it back. It's important to have you incorporate that into your work in life. 

Nancy Marks 52:31
Well, I'm actually really pleased because I do a lot of donations to schools and different charities here. I do either class certificates or I do art that can be auctioned off in silent auctions and stuff like that. And. 

Rich Bennett 52:50
Nice. 

Nancy Marks 52:50
All of my artists here have joined in on that as well. And we are a community, I mean. 

Rich Bennett 52:57
Mm hmm. 

Nancy Marks 52:58
We're in California, and I know everybody thinks California is so big, but we're a lot of little communities. And 

Rich Bennett 53:02
Yeah. 

Nancy Marks 53:03
being part of this community means so much to me. My daughter was actually born, built, born in this area. Well, it was Freudian slip. I was born in this area. And the hospital since been torn down. But. 

Rich Bennett 53:19
Oh, wow. 

Nancy Marks 53:20
But as I've lived in this area for quite a long time, and when I got my first divorce, I had to my only divorce, I had to move away from the immediate area just because of cost of living. But I'm so happy to be back. And so it means even more having left and coming back to it. But yeah, trying to give back as much as I can. So we do fundraisers here as well, but we also do teambuilding. So for corporations coming from that side of things, teambuilding, so important and some. 

Rich Bennett 53:48
Yes. 

Nancy Marks 53:49
People all just go out for lunch together or you end up sitting pretty much with the same people you would sit with in your office. But here everyone's going to use that part of the brain that they might not get to use during the day. And when everybody gets up and starts looking at anybody else's work, the conversation is just start flowing and the communication and you can tell who's really shy. And even they open up. And I have had so much positive feedback from managers about how much their team enjoyed doing that activity, that it was the best. They were all nervous because when you haven't done something everybody's nervous about, Oh my gosh, what is Fuze glass? What am I going to be doing when everybody comes with that same question in our head? It's kind of like, Oh, oh, okay, wow, this is really fun. And they don't want it to end. We do birthday parties. We teach first class from the age seven and up. So we have birthday parties for kids and adults. We don't just have wine nights because I don't fit inside a box. So it's not just wine. You can have great beer and I have a couple blenders, so I step outside the box. And what's so much fun? I mean, as you know, from being in corporate, it's hard to turn that boat very quickly in a corporate world. Well, here. Oh, gee, what else do we need? You know what? They need an outlet. So I'm now also an art gallery. So it's it's fun to be able to be a visionary, a problem solver and an artist and a businesswoman and a community leader. 

Rich Bennett 55:33
I love that. And giving back is important. Very important. George Warden, if you're listening to this. If you need some very, very beautiful pieces for some of your auctions. 

Nancy Marks 55:48
Ooh. 

Rich Bennett 55:49
In touch with Nancy. I'll give you her information. He's a friend of mine. He runs the number one charity fundraising company in North America. So he's always traveling the country, helping all these nonprofits. And what he does, it's it's not it's. Yeah, a lot of people do like Bruce and stuff like that. It's not that he puts on events and it's basically live auction site and auction items. And the stuff he has is amazing. 

Nancy Marks 56:21
Oh, that's. 

Rich Bennett 56:22
He needs to get in touch with you because, yes, your people will be snatching your stuff up left and right. I mean, they'd be breaking down that break in through the glass to get it. 

Nancy Marks 56:33
Wait a minute. That's a little much. 

Rich Bennett 56:36
I had to throw away in. 

Nancy Marks 56:38
You did. That was not one of your better ones, though. I just. Just got to be fair on. 

Rich Bennett 56:43
So. 

Nancy Marks 56:44
Actually, my niece was diagnosed with type one diabetes when she was three, and she's going to be 22 this year and doing very well, Thank God. But we got very involved in the local JD RF chapter in Los Angeles. And in fact, when they had their very first one walk, which was a rebranding of their walk, I was the volunteer chair for that and my husband was on the board for many years. And so whenever I have an opportunity to do something for JD or EF fundraiser wise, I absolutely do with all my heart because it's so much more personal when you know someone. But that doesn't stop me from supporting other organizations. And I'm grateful. I don't know someone from every single one of the charities that needs. 

Rich Bennett 57:31
Oh, God, yes. Oh, yes. That. Yeah. I'm the same way I help out as much as one of the reasons I joined the Lions Club. You know, and other. It seems like 20, but the other six boards up more. Yeah. Just to give back and and help out and for years we were. Me and my brothers and my sister, we were always huggers for the Special Olympics when they used to have huggers because we had a cousin with Down's syndrome. I don't even think they have huggers anymore, to be honest with you. Yeah. 

Nancy Marks 58:06
I'm still a hugger, though. 

Rich Bennett 58:09
Oh, yeah. Oh yeah. But yeah, always do that stuff. So before I get to my last question, is there anything you would like to add? I mean, I'm sorry, last two questions. Is there anything you would like to add? 

Nancy Marks 58:21
I'm just so excited about what we do here. And again, art is all around us, all around the world, and there's always something you can find and really changing that mindset from I Can't to yes, I can. And somebody telling you you can't. Means even more so you can unless it's something that's not safe. Like you shouldn't jump off the roof. So I'm not trying to say that that's safe, but telling you to clean your room is a good thing. And you'll find those crayons that you liked so much that you couldn't find anymore. 

Rich Bennett 58:56
Or that book you belong to read. 

Nancy Marks 58:58
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 59:00
Absolutely. So two questions. Number one, I've been dying to access the whole time because we know you make some beautiful art. Has your husband tried it? 

Nancy Marks 59:13
No. 

Rich Bennett 59:14
Why not? 

Nancy Marks 59:16
Because he doesn't want to. 

And you know what? I don't force him to. He 

Rich Bennett 59:25
Well, 

Nancy Marks 59:25
just 

Rich Bennett 59:25
that. 

Nancy Marks 59:25
got done. He is. He has just written a sequel to his first book and is working on the third one. So I'm honored that he has found something that is keeping busy and something that he's very passionate about. And so I honor that his choice is different than mine. 

Rich Bennett 59:41
How come he hasn't been on my podcast to promote his book show? 

Nancy Marks 59:45
That's an excellent question. We will work on that next. 

Rich Bennett 59:49
All right. So I guess it was more the two questions was. 

Nancy Marks 59:52
That's okay. That was only an ad on question. 

Rich Bennett 59:54
Okay. Yeah, that's true. Yeah. Seriously, tell him to. I have. I love talking to authors. You 

Nancy Marks 1:00:00
Great. 

Rich Bennett 1:00:00
know, and it's we even done authors roundtables because this way other authors are given tips that some another author may not have thought about. 

Nancy Marks 1:00:12
Absolutely. 

Rich Bennett 1:00:14
All right. So, Nancy, you've been on what's been 15 podcasts now or more than that? 

Nancy Marks 1:00:20
More than that now. 

I lost count. 

Rich Bennett 1:00:25
Oh, well, that's good. This is going to work out perfect, then. So is there anything that a host has never asked you that you wish they would have asked you? And if so, what would be that question and what would be your answer? 

Nancy Marks 1:00:40
Really great question, which of course I've never thought about. So I'm going to kill time trying to think of an answer. 

Rich Bennett 1:00:48
That's okay, because I can edit this. 

Nancy Marks 1:00:51
Oh, good. 

I have. Gosh, that's a great question. What would I want someone to ask? 

I guess why I didn't choose any of the other artists I had tried since. Obviously, I am artistic. And I would have to say, I don't think I ever gave any of them a real chance. And I don't think I was capable of understanding the fact that I told my story to myself so many years that I wasn't that I could accept that I was. 

Rich Bennett 1:01:30
Right. 

Nancy Marks 1:01:31
I think at this time in my life 

and just having the right people around me to help be mentors. Made a world of difference. And of course, my mom. But I'm sure I could have done so many things prior to this. 

And so I'm sorry I didn't try things sooner. But you know what? This is so phenomenal that I can't be anything but excited about it. 

Rich Bennett 1:02:02
This. This was your calling. 

Nancy Marks 1:02:04
Yes, absolutely. 

Rich Bennett 1:02:06
So and not just because of the the art aspect of it, but because you're helping so many people. You know, and that's 

I can't believe I'm going to say this. This is not a glass joke, but I just thought about this when as I'm still looking at the art on your website, I think I realized what art stands for because everything on your website is a realistic treasure. 

Nancy Marks 1:02:39
Excellent definition. Oh, my gosh. I love that. That's beautiful. 

Rich Bennett 1:02:43
It's a much better trade. Mark that real quick. 

Nancy Marks 1:02:47
So 

Rich Bennett 1:02:47
But it just 

Nancy Marks 1:02:48
for 

Rich Bennett 1:02:48
hit 

Nancy Marks 1:02:48
that. 

Rich Bennett 1:02:48
me. It just I just realized that and it is it is a it is a treasure. 

Nancy Marks 1:02:56
That is a boot. 

Rich Bennett 1:02:57
It is the treasure. 

Nancy Marks 1:02:59
That. Wow, you've got me speechless. And that's hard to do. 

Rich Bennett 1:03:05
Well, Nancy, I want to thank you so much. But before we end, you have to give us one more Nancy joke. 

Nancy Marks 1:03:16
Well, Chris Glass is called Frit and the true definition of frit. I don't know what it is, but I sure can tell you that frit happens here. 

Okay, One more. One more. So when you're you're going to break glass, you do a score line with a device that scratches the glass and creates a weak spot. So I have a t shirt that says I know how to score. 

Rich Bennett 1:03:45
Oh. 

Nancy Marks 1:03:49
You can't even hold me into just two jokes or one joke. 

Rich Bennett 1:03:52
Does your husband let you wear that T-shirt out in public? 

Nancy Marks 1:03:55
Yes, he does. 

Rich Bennett 1:03:57
As long as he stayed the next year, Right. 

By God they achieve. Thank you so much. It's it's been it's been fun. It's been a blast. And you got to let me know when the podcast releases until your husband get in touch with me so he can come on as well. 

Nancy Marks 1:04:14
I sure will. Thank you so much. It's been great.