About Merrilee
Whether you want to express your style with beautiful jewelry, enhance your home with art, or serve food on beautiful dishes, glass is a wonderful medium. Its colors can be brilliant or subtle, it complements and magnifies light, and its configurations are endless. Silver makes a perfect companion to glass in creating one-of-a-kind fine jewelry. Joy of Glass seeks to perfect the art of glass fusing and silversmithing to bring deeply satisfying, and -- yes, joyful -- art to the world.
Merrilee Harrigan founded Joy of Glass to shine a light on the unexpected beauty and transformative properties of glass. Her innate curiosity, willingness to push boundaries, and joy of experimentation are reflected in both the glass jewelry and art pieces she creates.
Whether it is incorporating silver dust into glass in unexpected ways, igniting chemical reactions between colors, or using high temperature melts to invoke organic flows, Merrilee constructs a distinct narrative: the illusion that the glass is ever-changing and transforming, and a natural beauty that transports you somewhere.
The Joy of Glass collection is handcrafted by Merrilee from her studio in in Washington, DC. Extreme care and innovative techniques go into each piece. No two pieces are alike. Both the statement jewelry and art pieces have attracted the attention of tastemakers, creatives, and those who pride themselves for being unconventional.
I am delighted to be a featured artist on Artsyshark.
Whether it is incorporating silver dust into glass in unexpected ways, igniting chemical reactions between colors, or using high temperature melts to invoke organic flows, Merrilee constructs a distinct narrative: the illusion that the glass is ever-changing and transforming, and a natural beauty that transports you somewhere.
The Joy of Glass collection is handcrafted by Merrilee from her studio in in Washington, DC. Extreme care and innovative techniques go into each piece. No two pieces are alike. Both the statement jewelry and art pieces have attracted the attention of tastemakers, creatives, and those who pride themselves for being unconventional.
I am delighted to be a featured artist on Artsyshark.
My Values
BRING JOY THROUGH BEAUTY
We believe that beauty has the power to transport you somewhere – to make people happy.
CARE FOR THE ENVIRONMENT
Inspired by nature and a long-time career in environmental education, the Joy of Glass studio is designed with solar panels. The organic lines and free flowing patterns in the glass encourage an awareness and connectedness with the earth and environment around you.
CONNECT WITH THE COMMUNITY
Through our workshops, we love helping others experience the joy of making glass. Along with a small group of artists, we founded an organization to develop new opportunities for the Chevy Chase DC community to access art and engage in art making.
SPREAD KINDNESS
We believe in making a positive impact. We find local organizations who are giving back to their communities and support their cause. (Support the World Central Kitchen by purchasing a Ukraine Fundraiser Pendant.)
EMBRACE LEARNING AND CREATIVITY
We thrive on the creative process and experimenting with new techniques, always offering fresh design perspectives in bridging glass art with glass jewelry
BRING JOY THROUGH BEAUTY
We believe that beauty has the power to transport you somewhere – to make people happy.
CARE FOR THE ENVIRONMENT
Inspired by nature and a long-time career in environmental education, the Joy of Glass studio is designed with solar panels. The organic lines and free flowing patterns in the glass encourage an awareness and connectedness with the earth and environment around you.
CONNECT WITH THE COMMUNITY
Through our workshops, we love helping others experience the joy of making glass. Along with a small group of artists, we founded an organization to develop new opportunities for the Chevy Chase DC community to access art and engage in art making.
SPREAD KINDNESS
We believe in making a positive impact. We find local organizations who are giving back to their communities and support their cause. (Support the World Central Kitchen by purchasing a Ukraine Fundraiser Pendant.)
EMBRACE LEARNING AND CREATIVITY
We thrive on the creative process and experimenting with new techniques, always offering fresh design perspectives in bridging glass art with glass jewelry
glasswork
Some of my favorite techniques