I am intrigued with how layers of pigment, ink and water can connect with memories of a time and place from the past. Specifically, memories of my mission trips to Nicaragua or to our cabin up north.

Almost any day of the week you can find me at my torch blowing glass ornaments or making glass beads. I start making ornaments in September and stop by Christmas, so every year it is new and fresh to me. When I work I love using non-traditional colors and, because there are endless combinations and outcomes, the process always keeps my interest. After 15 years I still find that there is so much to learn and to improve onI still feel like I am just beginning.

Woodworking has been a part of my life since I was young. I grew up on a farm and my dad ran a metal fabrication shop with a small wood shop in the corner. With a little help here and there I figured out how to turn a pile of boards into something. When I first started building furniture to sell to other people...

I have been making lamp work beads for several years now. I find the process a release from the everyday work world. It is a creative outlet with no schedule or deadlines. The time at the torch passes all too quickly. What started as a leisure activity has become somewhat of an obsession.

I am inspired by the color and shape of natural stones. I love enhancing them with the limitless selection of beads, whether they are handmade, recycled or found. It is not only the jewelry components that inspire me, but the process by which I wire wrap them together. I find gratification in bringing together unexpected components to construct a finished piece.

I am a jewelry artist and mother of two amazing little boys, Tomasito and Mateo. I studied art at the College of St. Catherine hoping to pursue a future as a painter. Life's journey, as it often does, led me down a different path. It all started with a gift from an amazing artist...

Spotty Mcdotty is collaboration by Amy Merrit, Meredith Fierke, and Annie Larson. Since we all learned the lampworking and jewelry making process together in 2006 it was a logical, and seemingly effortless, step to a partnership. It is always fun for the three of us to bring forth our individual styles and feed off of each others creativity.

I am co-owner of an artist gallery in Northfield (Eclectic Goat), have raised 4 boys and still find time to create colorful jewelry. I love all mediums of art, and so appreciate what people are able to create. I feel blessed to have the gift of creating pieces of work that others enjoy. I live in Hastings, grew up in Marine on the St. Croix.

I began wood-turning a few years ago and enjoy it more than anything else I have done. I hope that I am on the cusp of the change from amateur to journeyman. As with most skills, one of the main distinctions between amateurs and professionals is the time needed to successfully complete a project. By this measure, I am getting better. Others can tell me if my product is satisfactory.

19 years ago, I took an evening pottery class at the Northern Clay Center and was hooked. Life has taken a few twists and turns since then, but through the years I became more and more committed to clay. Now I find myself 'living the dream' on 14 acres just north of Northfield, working full-time in a studio adjacent to the house, with a talented husband and two wonderful dogs.

Hi Everyone! My name is Leigh Schrader and I'm a native born Minnesotan. I've been handcrafting wearable art since the 1970s and have been adding to my craft ever since. I specialize in fine and sterling silver, lampworking, fused glass, semi-precious stones as well as gold bonding and different kinds of metal wire work.

I was born and raised in Northfield, Minnesota, and currently have a home and studio in St. Paul. I earned a BA in Art and English from the College of St. Catherine, where I now make my living doing math. In addition to creating jewelry and crunching numbers, I also do some graphic design and occasionally venture into small-scale sculpture.

I believe in locally produced goods and the people who make them. I believe that there's a price point, a need and a place for art in everyone's life. I try to make the best possible art for my customers. I make jewelry because I'm compelled--

I am inspired by simple things in life. Casual conversations, animals, people, trees, sky, humor.what is NOT inspiring? The drive from my home to the studio is filled with images of rolling hills, farms and scenes that show up frequently in my paintings.

I've been making things for as long as I can remember. I learned to sew from my great-grandmother, to draw and paint from my mother, and to be handy in a variety of other ways from my dad, who, to my delight, is also in the Craft Collective this year. Craft and art (I am never clear on the distinction) have been a vocation and an avocation at various times in my life.

I am a plain vanilla Midwesterner with a work history in production engineering and an art degree. I am interested in working with the vocabulary that is the result of mechanical or chemical processes. I have learned that if you can give up your preconceived idea of the outcome and put yourself at risk you will find better stuff than you could have planned.