The Carmel Arts & Design District showcases the works of many talented glass artists. Learn more about the glass artists of the Carmel Arts & Design District and visit the studios displaying their work. They are a few of the many artists featured on The Indiana Glass Trail featuring talented Hoosier artisans and glass blowers.
Lisa Pelo of Hot Blown Glass, Ltd, Clayton, creates blown glass, slumped and fused glass, cast glass, and metal sculpture for home and business. Her glass sculptures are in permanent collections from museums to hospitals and private homes, to name a few. Her beautiful pieces can be seen at the CCA Gallery and Gifts at 111 West Main Street, Suite 135, Carmel, Indiana and Indiana Artisan Gifts & Gallery, 22 N. Range Line Road, Carmel, Indiana.
Contemporary mosaic artist, Nancy Keating’s works include both 3D and 2d mixed media creations which include an array of hand cut art glasses. Her mosaic style is marked by the festive use of vibrant colors, reflective textures and an occasional touch of whimsy. She works in her Carmel studio and has created countless mosaic pieces over the years, including public works of art and architectural residential installations. See Ms. Keating’s mosaics at Carmel Art on Main Gallery located at 111 West Main Street, juried fine art shows and exhibits, and her website, MosaicsGarden.com.
Mosaics art classes are offered by Ms. Keating in the Carmel Arts and Design District. For more info see: MosaicsandWine.com
After taking a glass-blowing class together, Dave Lee and his son, Bryan, opened Hot Shop Valpo glass-blowing studio in Valparaiso, IN. Today, the father-son duo’s diverse glasswork ranges from small, affordable paperweights and functional goblets, mugs and drinkware to unique statement pieces, including “Dune Prairie,” a series of glass vases and vessels depicting the beauty of the Lake Michigan shoreline, and “Skin Deep,” a series of glass vases with stark, black-and-white on the outside, but with an explosion of color on the inside. The Lees’ open studio encourages visitors to experience the art of glass blowing and also offers classes, ranging from beginner to advanced. The artists’ work is on display at Indiana Artisan Gifts & Gallery, 22 N. Range Line Road, Carmel, IN, and in various northwest Indiana and Michigan galleries.
Ron Schuster, a self-taught glass artist working in stained glass and blown glass, turned his hobby into a career more than 40 years ago when he and his wife, Penny, moved to Brown County, Indiana, and opened Schuster Glass Studio and Sweetwater Gallery in the Nashville artist colony. Schuster specializes in creating unique, multilayered paperweights, as well as mosaic mirrors, jewelry and custom stained-glass artwork. Schuster says creating glass art continues to feed his imagination with infinite possibilities to shape, blow, grind and polish it. His dichroic glass paperweights may be found in Indiana Artisan Gifts & Gallery, 22 N. Range Line Road, Carmel, IN.
As a mixed media mosaic artist for over 20 years, Cappi Phillips often starts her creative process by reclaiming everyday objects, many destined for the landfill, and reinventing them using both traditional and innovative mosaic techniques. With a love for breathing new life into old things, the Bloomington resident shares her humorous, one-of-a-kind pieces via Moe’s Ache Studio on Facebook. While many of her creations evoke a smile (just like her studio name), Phillips also hopes creating artwork with recycled and re-used materials becomes a vehicle for positive social change. Her work is available at Indiana Artisan Gifts & Gallery, 22 N. Range Line Road, Carmel, IN; Indiana Artisan, French Lick Resort; Orchard Gallery, Fort Wayne, IN; and Spears Gallery, Nashville, IN.
Born out of an obsession with all things glass, My Glass Fix in Greenfield, IN, features the beautiful fused glass artwork of Liz Perr-McColm, who taught herself the intricacies of the artform after taking an introductory fused-glass course at the Garfield Arts Center. She was inspired to pursue her dream of becoming a full-time fused-glass artist after being diagnosed with small cell lung cancer, and then beating the disease. The former graphic designer likes to experiment with different techniques and color combinations to capture the most eye-catching color and composition in her works. She hopes her artwork evokes a special memory in anyone who admires it. Her work is available on her website and at Indiana Artisan Gifts & Gallery, 22 N. Range Line Road, Carmel, IN.
I have been an artist all of my life. While I know this sounds cliché, I think it is true. As far back as I can recall, I remember creatively organizing, transforming and redirecting.
Most of my career was spent working in 2D-graphic design and Realist paintings and drawings. I took an intro to glass workshop and was hooked. While it seems that there would be no connection to my previous work, glass has many similarities. Good design is good design-regardless of medium.
My glass studio-Shattered Dreamz Glass-utilizes traditional and contemporary techniques in fused and stained glass to create functional and non-functional fine art. I continue to learn and apply new techniques to create innovative work. I hope to draw a new audience to this centuries-old material.
Handblown glass artist Sharon Owens studied with master glass artists all over the world before opening her own Inspired Fire Studio and Gallery in Lafayette, IN. Her unique glass art uses vivid colors of cane and dichroic glass and the Murrine process. She creates her flame-work pieces in her Inspired Fire studio, where visitors oftentimes visit to observe her technique, and her furnace work at a studio near Indianapolis. Inspired Fire offers classes for beginners to advanced, as well as one-of-a-kind gifts featuring Indiana’s wildflowers, crimson tulips, yellow daffodils and blushes of dogwood. In 1995, President Clinton chose her Christmas ornament to represent Indiana on the White House Christmas tree, and her work is part of many private collections, including Grammy-winning artist Graham Nash. Her work is available at Indiana Artisan Gifts & Gallery, 22 N. Range Line Road, Carmel, IN.
Glass art maker Anna Lee Chalos-McAleese relies on the intricate patterns of every plowed farm field in Indiana to help shape her glass art designs. Moved by the geometry that surrounds us every day, the Terre Haute, IN, resident says she enjoys the simplicity of minimal art. After earning a master’s degree in fine arts with a focus on sculpture from Indiana State University, she received instruction in the fine art of custom glass design at the Indianapolis Art Center. She pursued further training in glass art at the prestigious Corning Studio in New York City, and later at the Bullseye Glass Center in Portland, Oregon. Her work is available at Indiana Artisan Gifts & Gallery, 22 N. Range Line Road, Carmel, IN; The Station Floral & Hair Design Studio, Terre Haute, IN; and By Hand Gallery, Bloomington, IN.
Lampwork artist Carol Watson loves to create beads from hot glass and turn them into one-of-a-kind jewelry. She also makes “beadable objects,” like bottle openers, salad servers and kaleidoscopes, in her Zionsville, IN, studio. After taking a glass bead-making class as an adult and learning the art of silversmithing, she now combines those skills to create handmade sterling and fine silver jewelry featuring her lampwork beads. Recognizable for its unique style and quality, her handmade kaleidoscopes are sold at Indiana Artisan Gifts & Gallery, 22 N. Range Line Road, Carmel, IN, and at Art IN Hand Gallery in Zionsville, IN.
Yuri Okamoto’s blown glass sculpture seamlessly combines the traditions and aesthetics of two distinct cultures, demonstrating both a deep reverence for long-standing Italian glass making techniques and a profound respect for Japanese culture and design.
Inspired by the beauty of Japanese gardens, the forms and textures of Okamoto’s sculptures are simple, designed to be reminiscent of stones, ponds, or raked sand. The surface of each of her graceful, modest forms is adorned by delicate, intricately sculpted flowers, with cherry blossoms, camellias, and water lilies each conveying a different mood. You can find her work at Carmel Art on Main at 111 West Main Street and online at Art on Main Gallery
Deb is an Indiana native who lives in Lafayette, IN. Deb became interested in the glass medium after observing a demonstration of fusing and slumping of glass, forming a shallow dish. She followed up by taking an introductory fused glass class. She continued to work and experiment on her designs and technique on her own. She applied and was accepted to several art shows in Lafayette and Indianapolis where her art caught the eye of many people who now display her art in their home. Deb spends a lot of time comparing colors and different patterns of glass to get a sense of what might look pleasing when displayed with other forms of artwork. Deb loves to work with dichroic and iridescent glass, which gives the piece a sort of magical appearance when viewed from different angles. Deb’s glass pieces can be functional as well as decorative. Deb was accepted into Indiana Artisan in November 2014. You can find her artwork at CCA Gallery located at 111 West main Street, Suite 135.
I grew up in a musical home in New Jersey and went on to a piano performance degree. After spending most of my life as a computer programmer in northern Indiana, I left my job and started my journey with stained glass, awakening my artistic side. My father also did stained glass as a hobby so I had always wanted to do it.
I started learning in 2012 with a week-long class and have continued taking classes and asking lots of questions as I go. I like to go back and forth between larger and small pieces as well as leaded and foiled ones. My analogy is how playing different genres of music gives you different feelings. I get a lot of satisfaction creating mountain and lake scenes since I love hiking, but also enjoy some abstract geometric patterns.
I started selling in 2015 on Etsy and have gradually increased the number of items I sell there as well as doing several art shows a year. I moved to Carmel from Elkhart in July of 2018.
I spend a lot of time picking out glass. Besides the colors, the textures have to work together and there are structural realities that need to be figured out when creating a design. The moment of truth only comes after every piece is cut out, ground to fit, foiled or leaded and soldered together when I can hold it to the light. Always looking forward to how the next piece will turn out.
I enjoy doing custom work. You can reach me at my email or see more of my work at my Etsy shop Downriver Glass (I was a canoe and kayak racer).
Kelly has been fascinated by glass since she was a child. After doing some stained glass, she realized that this fit wasn’t quite right. She was introduced to fused glass and this has filled her soul with happiness and the need to create. Many pieces are finished with roller printed sterling or copper that is riveted to the glass. You can find her artwork at CCA Gallery located at 111 West main Street, Suite 135.
Karen Stewart is a figurative mixed media artist working in ink, watercolor, acrylic paint, and collage. After 28 years of teaching high school art, she left to make her own art, study energy medicine, and travel.
