Oldman has been etching and kiln-forming glass for more than 35 years. Her work is found in many homes and offices on windows, room dividers, and sculptures. When she began her artistic journey, there were no formal classes available in the arts she was drawn to, so, through trial and error, and through trials by fire, Oldman taught herself the techniques and skills of glass etching and kiln forming. She says “I love to reinvent the wheel through experimentation, for good or for bad. My love of natural forms goes back to my childhood explorations in the woods of New England.”

After years of etching botanical illustrations in glass, she started collecting leaves, ferns, and flower petals. One day, Oldman discovered a way to preserve in such a way she could sew them to paper and fabric, without tearing them with the sewing machine. Simultaneously, she began putting D’Arches paper out in the rain in the garden to see what would happen. It took a few years of pursuing these forms separately before it occurred to Oldman to put these two sets of explorations together, and to add colored glass beads, copper sheeting and fabric to the mix. She fell in love with both the process and the results.

“The beauty inherent in gathered leaves, flower petals, bark, and such intrigues me endlessly, especially in combination with paper, fabric, and copper. My work as an artist is to bring attention to magical combinations of materials to please and inspire our hearts,” says Oldman.