CT artisans share their stories in their handcrafted creations

Claudia Schattman and Sarah Bernhardt of ClayStory pictures working in their studio in Westport, CT.

Connecticut is bursting with talented artisans who create lovely and useful items for the home and beyond. Here are seven who make magic using clay, paper, rope, glass, wood and more. You might just find something that's perfect for that special someone this holiday season — even if that special person is you!

Ceramists Claudia Schattman and Sarah Bernhardt's handmade tableware brings high style to life's mundane moments.

Claudia Schattman studied ceramics and English at Skidmore College, and Sarah Bernhardt has a BFA in ceramics from the University of Massachusetts. They met when their daughters attended the same pre-K program, they clicked, and they began nurturing a vision for one day creating "something meaningful and beautiful together." That artistic passion and daydreaming finally coalesced in 2021 with the launch of their tableware line, ClayStoryCT.

The hand-designed, -patterned and -fired ceramic cups and saucers, mugs, plates, bowls, berry baskets, and more add salutary style that elevates everyday acts into the art of fine living. The patterns, typically impressions of forms or colorful motifs transferred via rice paper, have a recherché charm and a modern sensibility as they dance across each piece in a unique way.

Pre-fired pieces creasted by Claudia Schattman and Sarah Bernhardt of ClayStory in Westport, CT.

Schattman and Bernhardt are inspired by antiques, the ocean and the countrysides they call home, as well as their personal stories and memories. From these they draw beauty from the everyday.

As much as ClayStoryCT tableware reflects an artistic lightness of being, it's also durable and designed to be used. The pattern transfer is under the glaze so it doesn't abrade, which makes the pieces dishwasher safe; and the stoneware doesn't have iron, so temperature isn't an issue, making it microwave safe.

Pre-fired pieces created by Claudia Schattman and Sarah Bernhardt of ClayStory in Westport, CT.

Another distinction is how you acquire the timeless, everyday luxury of ClayStoryCT. Schattman and Bernhardt don't want to be production potters, so there is no online store. They sell their pieces at Terrain in Westport, at the Westport Farmers Market, which has an artisan market on Dec. 10, and by appointment at their Westport studio. They also do pop-ups and will be at the Greenwich Winter Market, Dec. 1–3, at Christ Church, 254 E. Putnam Ave.— DPC

claystoryct.com , @ClayStoryCT on Instagram

Joyful, freedom-affirming art decorates Jean Sánchez's greeting cards, totes and more.

Jean Marie Sanchez of Little Feet's Opus at work in her Orange, CT studio.

Jean Sánchez has been an artist her entire life. "I was probably an artist in the womb," she says. "Art is ingrained in me, something I’ve always done."

Even while spending 20 years working in architecture, the Hamden-based Sánchez made art on the side, creating invitations, birthday cards, and even a children's book. Eventually, she left her job to focus on her art, launching a line of greeting cards in 2019.

"Everything begins as a greeting card and then art is applied to other items like notebooks, tote bags, stickers," says Sánchez. "It's a way to make my art accessible to people at different price points so that everyone can enjoy art."

Jean Marie Sanchez of Little Feet's Opus displays a selection of holiday cards she creates in her Orange, CT studio.

Her artwork is full of relatable, uplifting messages encouraging people to celebrate big and small moments. She calls it spreading good juju, something we could all do and use more of. "All the poetry that I write comes from my interactions with the people, especially the women in my life," says Sánchez. "It's really important to me that people resonate with the poetry and find pleasure in the art."

Some of the items made by Jean Marie Sanchez, owner of Little Feet's Opus, on display in her Orange, CT studio.

A best-seller on Sánchez's online store is her "Self Love" card featuring a beautiful woman of color hugging herself. "She's just everywhere, she's really popular," says Sánchez. "She has this uplifting message and a posture of abandonment." Another popular piece of art is a black-and-white mermaid. All items can be ordered on her website.

While most of the women featured in her artwork are women of color, all of them, no matter their skin tone, have an Afro, which represents self-determination to Sánchez. "The Afro is a statement of freedom, that you’re free to be you, unapologetically," says Sánchez. — BS

littlefeetsopus.com , @littlefeetsopus on Instagram

Rediscovering macramé, Erika Burling creates beautiful, functional rope forms.

Erika Burling of Knots on Euclid in her Fairfield, CT studio.

Like many "reborn" artisans, Erika Burling reignited a love affair with macramé — the fiber art of making decorative knots to create rope patterns — while quarantining during the pandemic.

"I’d always been a crafter — sewing, knitting and embroidery," the Fairfield resident says. "I grew bored with these crafts, though, and hit a point where I was no longer excelling." Then, a memory from childhood overnight camp struck her. "I remembered my old friend macramé, so I ordered a kit and made a very bad plant hanger." Despite such an outcome, the spark had been lit. "I fell in love with macramé."

Erika Burling of Knots on Euclid in her Fairfield, CT studio.

To perfect the art, Burling undertook more and more projects, and experimented with different types of rope, choosing recycled, 100 percent cotton fibers from the garment industry as her favorite. "I love the colors and texture."

Another element of the macramé love affair is its no-tool requirement. "Everything's done with your hands," Burling says. "It's just a simple series of knots that can be transformed into endless, functional items." The art also provides stress relief and brings with it an onslaught of new ideas. "I don't think I go a day without knotting."

Wall hangings from Knots on Euclid hanging in Erika Burling's studio in Fairfield, CT.

Encouraged to join a neighborhood "Shop & Stroll," Burling took the leap and was stunned by the response. "I was flabbergasted and excited that people were buying my stuff," she says. "Something I’ll never take for granted."

Spurred by the neighborhood sale's success, Burling reached out to other artisan friends who’d started small businesses during COVID. Her next stop: craft markets, where Burling's handbags were a huge hit. Further steps included "getting myself physically out there, launching an Instagram page, learning what customers liked, and selling."

Handbags from Knots on Euclid in Fairfield, CT.

Information garnered led Burling to revamp her business with a focus on a boho-chic style with muted hues and earth tones taking center stage. Now, joining those popular handbags at her online store and Fairfield County craft markets and festivals are wood-handled purses, wood and fiber earrings, small home accessories, market bags, coasters, baskets and holiday garlands. As the 2023 shopping season approaches, Burling says, "I’m already thinking about where I want to take the business next year." — BW

knotsoneuclid.com , @knotsoneuclid on Instagram

With nightlights, jewelry boxes and more, Anne Malone's stained-glass creations are made to light up spaces.

Anne Malone, owner/artisan of Creative Spirit Glass in Greenwich, CT.

Anne Malone had long been attracted to glass. As the owner of a bookstore in New Haven called Elements, which also sold a variety of gift items, she was fascinated by the glass objects that always seemed to sell well.

"I said, ‘I could do this,’ and I took classes at the Guilford Art Center and started to sell it in the shop," says Malone. "Once I started selling glass, that's all I wanted to do."

A sunflower stained glass panel hangs in the kitchen of owner/artisan Anne Malone in Greenwich, CT.

Drawn by the color and light of the glass objects and the way creating new designs challenged her creativity, Malone sold her bookshop and started doing craft shows up and down the East Coast. She creates decorative stained-glass items, including night lights, suncatchers and more. "I think glass is beautiful, and it spurs me on to come up with new ideas," says Malone.

Panels hang next to the entrance in the home of owner/artisan Anne Malone of Creative Spirit Glass in Greenwich, CT.

Anne Malone, owner/artisan of Creative Spirit Glass holds some of the materials used in her pieces in her Greenwich studio.

Rainbow stained glass art panel pictured in the home of Anne Malone owner/artisan of Creative Spirit Glass in Greenwich, CT.

After her Etsy shop took off, she eventually stopped going to craft shows, finding it easier to sell online and work from her Greenwich home, where her studio is the same one her grandfather, a carpenter, used to use. "I can do many night lights and the smaller boxes in a day," Malone says, adding that she is often multitasking and switching between designs. She also takes custom requests and recently did an antique glass tie-back in the shape of a flower.

Along with nightlights and suncatchers, glass boxes that often incorporate gemstones and crystals are some of Malone's most popular items. She's also built up a reputation for her framed wedding invitations with pressed flowers. — BS

etsy.com/shop/CreativeSpiritGlass

With her watercolor-printed silk scarves, Inma Medina creates wearable art.

Artist Inma Medina in her Orange, CT studio.

A native of the Dominican Republic, Inma Medina earned a bachelor's degree from the Fashion Institute of Technology and went on to spend more than a quarter-century working in the New York City fashion industry for the likes of Carolina Herrera, Diane Von Furstenberg and Jason Wu. "I worked with Oscar de la Renta. We dressed first ladies," Medina says while describing her journey in fashion design.

There was a home in Orange waiting for her, and after returning, Medina launched a pattern-development service in 2015, serving the same corps of distinguished designers, as well as the New York City fashion label Monse and others. At the same time, her creativity was calling her in another direction, and in 2017 she began teaching herself how to paint in watercolors as part of a vision of translating her paintings into luxury silk scarves.

Artist Inma Medina works on a botanical watercolor painting in her Orange studio.

Artist Inma Medina holds the watercolor paintings that she makes into designs to be printed on fabric and made into scarves, in her Orange, CT studio.

A self-professed perfectionist, Medina embraced the rigorous strictures of botanical art, which demands fidelity to each subject's form, colors and scientific qualities — to the point of having her work accepted into many international juried exhibitions of the American Society of Botanical Artists, as well as Northeast Watercolor Society juried exhibits.

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Glass items from Riverfire Glass in Deep River, CT.

Glass items from Riverfire Glass in Deep River, CT.

Various objects made by Richard Heys of Richard Heys Woodturning in Litchfield, CT.

Glass items from Riverfire Glass in Deep River, CT.

A moth made from various woods at the Richard Heys Woodturning workshop in Litchfield, CT.

Artist Inma Medina holds the watercolor paintings that she makes into designs to be printed on fabric and made into scarves, in her Orange, CT studio.

Glass boxes created by owner/artisan Anne Malone pictured in her home in Greenwich.

Artist Inma Medina works on a botanical watercolor painting in her Orange studio.

Anne Malone, owner/artisan of Creative Spirit Glass holds some of the materials used in her pieces in her Greenwich studio.

Rainbow stained glass art panel pictured in the home of Anne Malone owner/artisan of Creative Spirit Glass in Greenwich, CT.

Panels hang next to the entrance in the home of owner/artisan Anne Malone of Creative Spirit Glass in Greenwich, CT.

In the summer of 2021, she launched an online shop featuring her original watercolors and silk and cashmere scarves. She gravitates toward large, bright flowers, and her most striking paintings, such as Amarylis Bogota, achieve the impact of visual chamber music, delicate and beautiful with an undercurrent of depth and complexity. When the botanicals translate into scarves, produced one at a time, more magic happens. While high-fashion scarves often favor the geometries of repeating patterns, Medina's devotion to depicting a single large flower, or organic groupings of images, creates an interplay of bold colors that transforms each scarf into a work of abstract art when folded and worn. The result is modern feminine flair that heightens the style signature of the person wearing it. — DPC

203-645-2444, inmamedina.com , @inma_medina_studio on Instagram, @inmamedinastudio on Facebook

Former chemist Richard Heys’ experiments turn discarded pieces of wood into works of art.

Richard Heys of Richard Heys Woodturning in his Litchfield, CT workshop.

Even in the winter, visitors come to Litchfield to walk around Little Pond on the White Memorial Conservation Center's boardwalk trail. Those lucky enough to learn what insiders know will also visit the center for its nature museum and the little gift shop that features simple, exquisite bowls handcrafted by woodturner Richard Heys.

Heys, an organic chemist who had a career as a pharmaceutical researcher before retiring in 2005, donates the small bowls to the nonprofit that oversees 4,000 acres of preserves with 40 miles of trails. With their Shaker-style purity, the bowls represent a point of entry to Heys’ work, which also includes wooden vases, natural-edge vessels, platters, lidded vessels, hollow forms, and more purely sculptural pieces.

Various objects made by Richard Heys of Richard Heys Woodturning in Litchfield, CT.

A moth made from various woods at the Richard Heys Woodturning workshop in Litchfield, CT.

Always interested in wood, Heys once built furniture as a hobby, from simple to elaborate, but never sold any of it. Then he attended an auction for a woodworking shop and went home with a lathe and set of tools. "I put a piece of firewood on the lathe and had a great time with it," he says. That was the beginning.

A sense of frugality compels Heys to scavenge for his wood, which often meant trailing firewood hunters to sites where utility companies cut down trees and finding only the gnarly bits left behind. "To me those were the most interesting," Heys says.

Wooden bowls made by Richard Heys of Richard Heys Woodturning in his Litchfield, CT workshop.

Bowls are his most popular item, and his hollow forms represent a bit of woodturning showmanship; these vessels are hollowed out through a small opening, resulting in pieces that might look massive but have very thin walls and are light as a feather. The more carved, sculptural pieces are his favorites.

Heys participates in the holiday gift show and annual members exhibit at the Washington Art Association, and his pieces can also be purchased at the Hen's Nest Gallery in Washington Depot and by appointment at his Litchfield studio. — DPC

860-806-8322, richardheyswoodturning.com

Jeni GrayRoberts creates fused-glass treasures for the home and the body.

Jeni GrayRoberts of Riverfire Glass pictured in her studio in Deep River, CT.

Growing up with a mother who was an artist and a grandfather a painter, Jeni GrayRoberts’ youth was shaped by the value of art and culture. But her own artistic pursuits were hampered by insecurities. Instead of pursuing art, she earned a degree in journalism and marketing. Careers in radio, marketing, fashion, art events and gallery management followed. Still, art was tugging at her heart. Returning to school, GrayRoberts studied art, design, drawing, painting, sculpture, metalsmithing, silversmithing, welding … "I dabbled in everything and loved it all."

While working in New York City, GrayRoberts caught sight of a glass-fusing class underway at Midtown's Craft Students League. "Different from most art where you can adjust as you go, with fused glass, you give your project to someone who puts it in a kiln," she says. "All the magic happens when you’re not touching, can't see, or affect it."

Besotted with fusing glass, GrayRoberts dropped all other art forms. Then life got in the way — she gave birth twice, and her family moved to Connecticut. A seven-year fight with breast cancer changed things, too. Eyeing the conclusion of treatments, GrayRoberts was determined never to return to a cubicle, declaring, "I want to create a legacy. I wanna do glass."

Glass items from Riverfire Glass in Deep River, CT.

Glass items from Riverfire Glass in Deep River, CT.

The family garage was converted into a studio, and she learned how to use a kiln. Selling at local craft markets and exhibiting at art galleries followed. She also joined River Valley Artists of Chester, Essex and Deep River, through which she moved into the new SoMA South of Main studio (500 Main St., Suite 5, Deep River) in summer 2021 along with two other women-led art businesses, Shell & Bee Studio and River Valley Dance Project.

GrayRoberts’ works are available at her online store and at the SoMA studio. Bestsellers include necklaces, sun catchers, and phone stands. Glass trees and dancing stars are holiday go-tos. Dazzling blues are showcased in her Swirling Waters set of earrings, bracelet and pendant, and Blue Reflections and Hearts of Hope pendants. Not to be left out: cuff links and hair clips.

Vibrantly colored home decor pieces include Seascape standing panels and wall art. And GrayRoberts’ Little Big Holes Bowl in blue, trays in sea greens and ocean stripes bring a bit of whimsy. — BW

860-864-5004, riverfireglass.com , @riverfireglass on Instagram and Facebook