GLASS and JEWELRY
Allyson Biondo
Hello! My name is Allyson Biondo and I am the woman behind Rainrose Glass. I am a mother of four and a stained-glass artist living in Hancock, Vermont. When I am not creating in my studio or actively mothering, I am working at a small and from scratch catering kitchen in Waitsfield, preparing food to nurture the people around me. These are the things that fill my days. I revel in the moments I am allowed the freedom of my creative process. I have spent most of my life moved by the act of creating…. sculpting, painting, crafting, and now working with glass…
The magic that happens when sunlight filters through glass seems to touch most everyone. My earrings are a way to wear and capture that magic! I am happy to recycle small pieces of glass from my windows and share the beauty of this craft with all.
In this busy life of mine, I am grateful to still be moving. I am grateful to still be moved…..
Elga Gemst
Elga Gemst has been playing with glass, literally, since she was a little Latvian kid growing up in Montreal amid the family picture framing and art supply business. A brief decade or two as an architect convinced her that true happiness for her was in working directly with her hands, either renovating old buildings or making something with glass in her attic studio in downtown Moretown Village. You can see her downstairs showroom and get a guided visit to her attic by appointment or during Open Studio weekends organized by the Vermont Crafts Council every spring and fall. Mad Women in the Attic is the studio where she cuts, breaks, shapes, fuses, paints, melts...and otherwise plays with amazing glass from all over the world.
madwomenintheattic.com
802.496.4614
Michael Egan
I was only eight years old, during the American Bicentennial year, when I came across an old, faded clapboard shed just south of Waitsfield village in Central Vermont. Centered in that room on the dirt floor was a small glass-melting furnace, roaring brilliantly orange. It was incredibly hot. It hurt to look directly into the flame but that's what I did, fascinated by the power and majesty of glass. This was the domain of two local glassblowers, and their world of manipulating glass, one of the oldest and most basic craft materials.
Thirty-two years later, I am manipulating glass to manifest my creative vision. With only a few basic elements, silica sand, soda ash, and limestone, I use intense heat to melt a clear base glass, which I then weave into a tapestry of art and objects from the simplest vase to the most complex sculpture.
Sharon Truman Kelly
Tree Jewelry is jewelry for your trees! Created by Sharon Truman Kelly, this unique variety of yard art is made with glass beads and tin or brass bells. These works are designed to be enjoyed outdoors, where the glass can be illuminated by sunlight and the bells can chime in the wind.
Sharon holds an MFA from Texas Tech University and a BFA from Stephen F. Austin University.
Dave and Melanie Leppla
David has been working in glass for the past 25 years. Professional awards include a Fulbright Award to Sweden, a Creative Glass Center of America Fellowship, and two New Jersey Council for the Arts Awards (including the distinguished artist award). Museum Collections of his work inculde the Renwick Gallery (Smithsonian), New Orleans Museum of Art, Museum of American Glass, and the Musee Des Artes Decoratif (Lausanne).
Melanie has been working professionally with glass since graduating from Rochester Institute of Technology with a BFA in 1986. Her professional career includes shows internationally as well as across the United States. Honors include two fellowship grants from The Creative Glass Center of America and a fellowship grant from the New Jersey Counsel for the Arts. Her work is included in the Museum of American Craft and the Museum of American Glass as well as numerous important private collections.
Fernwood Arts, Beth McDowell
Beth E McDowell is an eclectic artist, metalsmith and lover of all things crafty. Born and raised in an old farmhouse in Huntington Vermont her love of art was evident from a young age. Not having access to traditional art supplies, she made do with what she had and continues to do so today. Focusing on using recycled materials she transforms the ordinary into extraordinary works of art. After taking one silversmithing class Beth’s love of metalsmithing took off. Her work showcases her love of nature and whimsy. Using silver spoons, pennies and other reclaimed metal objects, Beth creates jewelry for those who have a story to tell. Today she lives in Colchester Vermont and has a small studio in her home where she designs and makes unique jewelry creations. She happily invites everyone to enter her world where imagination comes alive.
Joy Oxley
Luminous Moose
Andy O’Brien of Waitsfield creates stained glass works in the Traditional Leaded style, Tiffany style, and most amazingly, the Luminous Moose style. Stained glass windows, panels, lamps, terrariums, chimes, sun catchers, mobiles and more.
Irene Pluntky-Goedecke
Swedish born, European educated, jewelry designer, Irene Pluntky-Goedecke produces mostly one of a kind pieces. Her metal choice is sterling silver, a metal Irene loves working with that is often accented with highlights of high karat gold and/or stones. Nature is a great source of inspiration, therefore, the word organic comes to mind when describing her work. The jewelry or other pieces such as spoons or boxes are often incorporate with found or natural and materials objects. Her jewelry is very wearable as well as timeless.
Charlotte Potter
Charlotte Potter is an artist who lives in Fayston Vermont and comes from a family of seekers, makers and designers. She received a BFA from Alfred University in 2003 and an MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2010. Charlotte Potter Designs (CPD) was founded in 2006 while Charlotte was teaching glass fusing at the Art Association in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Noticing the large amount of usable scraps from student’s projects, Charlotte began saving and producing glass earrings with sterling silver wires out of the small leftovers. She uses her attune aesthetic eye to marry clean design with bold colors to create this body of work for the everyday and everyone. Charlotte Potter Designs is available in locations nationwide and each pair of earrings is completely hand crafted and assembled by dedicated and skilled makers.
Carly Sargent
Born and raised in the Mad River Valley, I've been fortunate to have grown up surrounded by a community that values artistic expression and is home to many skilled artists. It is this community that helped generate my love for mosaics. I've been creating mosaics since I was young, collecting broken pieces of pottery from friends, artists, studios, and even restaurants, and repurposing them to produce unique and functional art pieces. From coat hooks and key hooks, to bottle openers and wall planters, I'm constantly learning how to skillfully incorporate the art form into everyday items, while also giving a second life to the beautiful pieces I've found and utilize.
Terry Zigmund
When I began making art, metals were my medium of choice. After learning to work with stained glass, employing the copper foil method of construction, I began incorporating metals into my work. Drawing on inspiration from the natural world lead me to create trees from copper wire and incorporate those into very geometric and simple stained glass pieces. I am able to create bold and unique pieces using the enormous array of colors and textures found in stained glass.
Krista Auger-Mitchell
Sandra Brown
Sandra’s earrings are made of a metallic coated lightweight plastic. Each piece is hand-cut, creatively
arranged and fused together for a one of a kind creation. At first glance, admirers will think it is
dichroic glass with its gorgeous colors, but will be quickly amazed of its sleek size and feather-weight.
These earrings are fun and unique, and a great way to pull colors together in your outfits.
Cravn Jewelry, Meredith White
Marie Davis
Some of my earliest memories are of heading out into the woods and fields with a magnifying glass and a sack lunch. I spent days fascinated by discoveries of the micro world. Today I’m drawn into my work in a similar way. I love the challenge of creating a piece that 'works' from a distance as well as up close; ideally rewarding the viewer who takes a closer look. My medium of choice is polymer clay. With its wide color palate and ability to create fine detail, I believe we are well matched.
Sierra Eilers
My work is the embodiment of my childhood in Vermont and a testament to the prized possession of jewelry. The Northeast landscape where I was raised informs my color palette of blue and green stones, as well as my line-centric designs. Both the rivers and the mountains of Vermont create a vast variety of topography, these geographical formations weave throughout my home, and I’ve taken what I’ve found to be the most inspiring aspects of these landscapes and have incorporated them into my work. From a young age, I was aware that my mother’s jewelry had an incredible amount of sentimental value to her. Because of that, it has always felt natural to me to emotionally invest myself in the jewelry I chose to wear, to allow myself to form an attachment with each piece and what it stood for. I believe that over time what we adorn ourselves with becomes a part of who we are and our self-identity, it joins us in our journey through life and becomes a reflection of the passing years.
Artisans’ Gallery carries Sierra’s enameled Vermont pendant. The following description is from Sierra’s website: “Hand sawn copper pendant in the shape of Vermont. I apply three layers of enamel by hand, which gives them each an individual charm when they are fired and the enamels fuse together. Once enameled, the copper is oxidized so the back and edges are black and an adjustable waxed cotton cord is added. Because each piece is handmade, there will be some variation to the enameling, this will not be the exact necklace you receive.”
https://www.arreisdesigns.com/
Tossy Garret
Tossy's own designs are inspired by antique and traditional jewelry from around the world, natural forms, and a contemporary sensibility. She has trained in Florence, Italy at the Fuji Studios, and in the States with Kate Wolf, Blaine Lewis, Dan Grandi, and others. Her travels to Italy, Turkey, Ireland, and India have provided amazing inspirations for her designs.
Tossy's chosen medium for creating her jewelry is wax carving. A sculptural form is carved out of jeweler's wax and after making a mold the form is cast in silver, gold, or platinum.
ABD Culture
Original jewelry designs inspired from Alix's travels and awareness of stewardship for our planet. Her focus is to create stunning jewelry while reducing, reusing, and recycling materials such as up-cycled bicycle inner tubes. The use of base metals and silver is another style that is handcrafted and available online. Alix's skills were honed at Pratt Institute and refined through her teaching experience and ongoing artwork.
Lori Klein
Lori Klein is a Vermont artist specializing in one-of-a-kind jewelry pieces and custom handcrafted jewelry design work. Lori uses sterling silver, gold and vermeil findings with semi-precious stones including turquoise, lapis lazuli, chalcedony, onyx, tourmaline, quartz; freshwater pearls including branch pearls, coin pearls, keshi and seed pearls; coral, amber, wood, shells, glass and Swarovski Crystal.
Malas and Mandalas by Laura Neal
Hi! I’m Laura, maker of the malas and the face behind the brand. I am a one woman show passionate about sharing the benefits of mindfulness and meditation with as many of you beautiful beings as possible. The deep fulfillment I have gained from incorporating mindfulness tools into my daily life inspired me to start a company where I can share those tools with all of you. Let’s be honest, life isn’t always smooth sailing so it’s important for us to have tangible ways to stay grounded and graceful throughout the ups and downs.
Jill Listzwan
Whimsical and fun jewelry, endlessly creative.
Erin McIntyre
Hello! I am a Burlington, Vermont artist who joined Artisans Gallery in the fall of 2023. Originally from Virginia, I fell in love with Vermont summers, and can almost call myself a native after surviving twenty-six winters here! Thanks to parents and grandparents who were architects, watercolor painters, and wood crafters, I inherited my artistic knack. I studied art history and studio art at Randolph-Macon College and have finally taken the leap to make art my career. After working mostly with oil paints, I switched to jewelry crafting in my late twenties. I am self-taught but am always learning metalsmithing techniques online. I am fascinated with how jewelry has evolved, and yet is still so elemental. It intrigues me that we use the same gemstones and metals today that the earth formed millions of years ago! I also love how jewelry can be timeless, modern, and vast in appearance and originality. I reside one block from Lake Champlain with my loving and creative family. Please enjoy my earrings and necklaces! I am focusing on my “negative space” Vermont mountain necklaces, floral and leaf earrings, as well as pendants with set gemstones and twisted tendrils.
Please follow me at: www.treelightstudio.com and on Instagram: erininvt
Thanks! Erin
Jennifer Muldoon
I grew up in New England in the land of cow pastures and orchards, running on the beaches of Cape Cod. I was the little girl who sat in my back yard smashing small rocks with a larger rock until they would crack apart hoping for a brilliant gemstone to come popping out. Sometimes I would find a treasured garnet crystal growing from the granite or a large sliver of mica shining in the sun, but the beautiful faceted jewels I dreamed of never appeared.
I thought I wanted to be a geologist, but I didn’t. I really just wanted to play with the pretty stones. Fortunately many years later, after studying jewelry design in college and beyond, I found the art of lapidary. I apprenticed with a lapidary artist & learned the magic of turning a dull rock into a polished stone. I loved these finished works of art. I loved them so much that I had a hard time setting them into jewelry. They were just too magnificent all by themselves. This was a dilemma I had for many years until I learned the technique of wire crochet. Finally, it’s all about the stones!
My line of wire crochet necklaces, bracelets & barrettes mix natural gemstones, dyed freshwater pearls and crystal accent beads into a magical blend of earth & ocean. It’s all about the colors and the organic blending of all the elements for me… and, of course, the stones.
Gina Petteys
Gina's jewelry is as unique as the women who wear it. As a native Vermonter, born and raised in the the Northeast Kingdom, Gina still views the natural beauty of the Green Mountains as if seeing it for the first time. This beauty inspires her to create; giving a blank metal canvas new texture, color and form with an organic feel and rustic charm.
Courtney Reckord
My body and mind love being outdoors. The mountains and the woods are where I experience genuine freedom and joy. Hiking is a way that I honor myself by exploring our beautiful, wide world. The outdoors and nature bring me a sense of calmness and stillness.
Creating jewelry is the other part of my life that feeds my soul. I feel a deep longing to create running through my blood like wind gliding through the trees.
Working with my hands, inspired by mountains and rivers, I find ways to bring the innate and timeless beauty of the natural world to others.
I know that each individual person responds to nature uniquely and I love hearing their stories of connection to place. When I am asked to create a ring or a pendant, as a couple of examples, I make the effort to understand their personal story. I listen, feel inspired, and try to bring the passion and love of a specific place or experience alive in whatever I create.
If you relate to this, and to me, please reach out. I’d love to make you something to recall a place special to you, to bring you joy, using recycled metals, responsibly sourced stones and working with small manufacturers.
"It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves." - Edmund Hillary
Lochlin Smith
Lochlin Smith is an accomplished artist who has been designing distinctive and timeless bronze and silver wearable art jewelry for over 35 years.
You can feel the connection between the contemporary and the ancient in his designs. When you wear a piece of Lochlin's, it seems to complete you in such a unique way, becoming a part of you. This imaginative work is a staple in the jewelry collections of those who are fortunate enough to own it.
Each piece of Lochlin’s sculptural jewelry is created in bronze, which is hand worked employing a variety of techniques. Lochlin then uses a palette of rich surface finishes, including natural bronze, antique silver, verdigris, ocean blue and dark copper. Semiprecious stones also show up on some pieces.
Sarah Sprague
Sarah has been working with art of all mediums for as long as she can remember. She holds a degree in fine arts from the University of Vermont and later went back to school to achieve a MFA in Education from Northern Vermont University (Johnson State College). Sarah is certified k-12 art education and teaches classes on a variety of mediums including metal arts, stained glass, ceramics, photography, digital media and more to all ages including Elementary, college and adult. She also teaches workshops to teachers on integrating art into their classroom or home childcare facility. When not teaching, Sarah has a studio at her home in Hinesburg, VT which overlooks Lake Champlain and the Adirondacks, where her work is created.
Sue Leppla
Sue Stone, Jeweler
Suzanne’s work is classical in design but with a conservative style and she adds that her jewelry is wearable. Many of her pieces feature colored gemstones.
Nicole Tessier
Nicole’s earrings are created from paper ‘beads’ and traditional glass beads. She crafts her paper beads by combining 6 sheets of paper and then folding the stack 96 times per bead…192 folds per pair! They’re lightweight and so stylish. Each pair is unique.