In this episode, I sit down with Amy Lemaire, a multidisciplinary artist and educator based in Brooklyn, NY, who currently teaches at Salem Community College in New Jersey.

Amy shares how she grew up immersed in creativity—playing with plants, painting, and exploring art from a young age. She earned her BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, focusing on painting, but along the way picked up a hot head torch and began experimenting with glass through bead making.

She talks about traveling while using her beads as currency, before eventually landing in New York to pursue her Master’s degree. We dive into how she balances making her own work, teaching, and earning income through other creative paths—like working as a high-end floral designer—the “trifecta” that helped support her life goals.

Amy also shares how developing an allergy unexpectedly gave her the opportunity to step back and fully focus on glass, reshaping her creative journey.

This is such an important conversation about making space for creativity, adapting as life shifts, and making meaningful waves in glass education to help build a better future for emerging artists.

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In Episode 19, I talk with multimedia artist Amanda Nardone about her creative journey from being an imaginative kid encouraged by her godmother, to discovering glass at summer art camp, to building a career that blends art and fitness.

Amanda shares how drawing in high school gives her a foundation in the design process, her time studying art and fitness at Temple University, and the winding path that led to glass jobs, conceptual sculpture, and eventually her signature chainmaille work.

She opens up about creating powerful pieces like her recycled-phone-glass lingerie project inspired by the Me Too movement, and about the life-changing diagnosis of a connective tissue disorder at age 28. Amanda talks honestly about how it shifted her relationship with glass, how she adapts her practice to protect her body, and how her background in fitness helps her in all aspects of life.From the studio to the rock-climbing gym, Amanda brings resilience and creativity to everything she does.

To support Amanda and all that she does, please find her on Instagram @fluidst8

You can find @shapingstoriespod on Youtube, Spotify & all the podcast platforms as well as Instagram and Facebook.

Please 'follow' to support this passion project.

You can find me, Dominique Caissie on Facebook, Instagram & TikTok @dominiquecaissiseglass and my business, Terrapin Glassblowing Studio located in the Monadnock Region of New Hampshire, USA.

Rebecca Silverman of Dreaming Tree Glass always knew she needed to create, she just hadn’t found the right medium yet. While studying elementary education in college, she discovered glass by accident through getting a job at a campus head shop, where she was trying to sell her drawings on consignment. That job led her into the flame shop at Global Glassworks, making borosilicate pendants, and glass quickly became the thing she couldn’t let go of.After graduating in 2011, Rebecca moved home, lost her glass connections, and began teaching, but she was miserable. Determined to stay connected to glass, she took a furnace class, which led to work at studios like the Glass Academy and eventually to freelancing and renting studio time as she built her skills.In this episode, we talk about the Detroit glass scene, the Russell Industrial Center, and the Michigan Glass Project, along with the slow, foundational work of learning furnace skills. Rebecca shares how exploring color and making cohesive sets helped her work take off, and how she balances parenthood and studio time with the support of her family.She opens up about choosing happiness, stepping away from teaching, and trusting her passion. Rebecca’s story is a powerful reminder that if you are lucky enough to find your thing, you owe it to yourself to follow it.