Meet Robin Fender and Cory Poland

Today we’d like to introduce you to Robin Fender and Cory Poland. They and their team shared their story with us below:

Glass Half Full was created as a hobby and a love for using glass as a medium to create meaningful decor and gift art. In 2001, Robin moved into a 1910 bungalow-style house in the heart of Denver in which the stained glass on either side of the fireplace was missing. She wanted to replace the window but didn’t know how. Being creatively inclined, she convinced a glass artist to give her a quick tutorial and so the adventure began!

In fixing the house windows she found a hobby she enjoyed. Robin started making little gifts and enlisted her school colleagues to help her make them. They began making several retirements and going away gifts using a stained glass technique. Cory Poland stuck with Robin throughout the years and has become a creative artist in the world of glass making. Over the years they dabbled in a glass fusing class and decided that was their preferred glass technique. Together they have produced a collection called “Glass Half Full”.

Throughout the years, Robin and Cory have used their roles as educators to influence the business side of the art. Cory is a Speech Language Pathologist, teaching at the Middle School level, and Robin is a retired Dean of Students and Assistant Principal. Our roles as educators influenced us to understand that each student has a backstory with their unique history and experiences that make them who they are today. We have integrated that philosophy into our glass creations. We initially toyed with the idea of being called “Glass With A Past” but decided with our positive outlook on life and how we live our lives “Glass Half Full Colorado”. was the perfect fit for our business name.

We try to repurpose items to frame our glass, like bicycle parts antique clocks, and other upcycled items we find to be unique and can complement our glass. This all started because we wanted to honor our retiring colleagues and wanted to find a fitting tribute to the career and dedication of their tireless work in education. We were asked by some of our colleagues to create a symbolic piece to capture a 35+ career in education. Our glass came together with the view from our school, symbolizing the creek, flowers, mountains, and windmill, tying the impact of the influence she had on students, staff, and parents.

We always try to capture a story in our pieces and that has led to other commissioned work. For example, we created a memorial piece for a client that captured the essence of their loved one. He was an avid biker living in the heart of Pittsburgh. The family was honored with our creation of a road bike heading to the heart of the Pittsburgh skyline all framed in an actual repurposed bike chain.

It has stunned us to hear that our glass has been given to so many. We take pride in the fact that our glass is appreciated in homes across the globe – India, Germany, Japan, and throughout the United States – just to name a few in the short life of our little business. We look forward to learning new techniques and filling people’s hearts with our art.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Well, we always find the silver lining in everything we do; however, we do say that we are the traveling show that should not travel. (Heavy glass coupled with 15mph wind gusts is not usually a recipe for success). As a way for us to get our products out to more customers, we sign up for six to eight outdoor shows per year. The wind is our biggest stressor, as you can imagine.

Several of our favorite pieces have been sacrificed to the wind over the years. We also have created a website and social media. That said, we are glass artists first and foremost. Social media and updating the website rank low on the list. We like personal connections and prefer if people reach out to us directly to let us know what they are looking for.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Our process is to uniquely design and create glass by cutting the glass, sprinkling shards of glass, and layering them into our desired arrangements.

We then fuse it in a kiln at temperatures up to 1500 degrees to achieve a vibrantly positive look. This is called “Fused Glass” Our philosophy is that we hope our glass continually fills your glass as we work in our small workshop in the Denver area.

What’s next?
We plan to keep learning new techniques and expanding our knowledge of the very versatile medium of glass. Many of our customers and friends ask if we will be giving classes and tutorials. We have thought about this idea and are considering moving in that direction.

We both work out of our homes so finding a space, finding time, and organizing the class to make it fun and meaningful for each person has kept us from doing this so far. It’s in the works! Until then we will keep using our creativity for our therapy and hope to continue to bring a smile to others.

Contact Info:

• Website: Glasshalffullcolorado.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/glasshalffullco/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GlassHalfFullColorado
• Other: https://glass-half-full-847173.square.site/