Thursday, locals will have an opportunity to see how one artist transforms bits of glass into works of art as she conducts a cracked and beaded glass workshop at the Lower Alabama Arts Coalition in Andalusia.

Taught by formally trained artist Kathy Grantham, the class will show participants how to create a stained-glass piece without the difficulty associated with the stained glass process.

“With stained glass, you have be very precise, cut your own glass and have at least two to three days to dedicate to a project,” Grantham said. “This is a two-hour class and you leave with your project. What we are going to do is used cracked glass to create a butterfly using an 8 x 10 picture frame.”

There will be two butterfly scenes from which to choose, she said.

“The way I started with this process is that I had a lot of things laying around the house that I got tired of dusting,” Grantham said. “They were all beautiful colors, so I started cracking them.”

And just what the term “cracking” brings to mind is exactly the process she used, Grantham said.

“Usually it’s a vase of some sort. I roll it up in a covering then pound it with a hammer,” she said. “You’d be surprised what’s hard to crack.”

Those pieces of cracked glass, as well as flat glass beads, will be used to create a picture-type project that is transparent like stained glass and is suitable for hanging.

“They’re just gorgeous in a window,” she said.

Cost is $35 per person and the class will be held from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. Thurs., March 4, at the LAAC. To register, call 334-222-3205.