Made in West Hartford Glass art by Kelly Kelly
- Tracey Weiss
- 6 days ago
- 3 min read
WRITTEN BY Tracey Weiss Photography submitted
Looking for that perfect gift for a friend or family member? A piece of art that moves you?
You don’t have to go far to find something you’ll love. There are so many talented people right here in West Hartford that may have just what you’re looking for. Here, we bring you one of those folks.
Inspired by nature, stained glass and the desire to take a chance, Kelly Kelly has built a successful business creating her own work, teaching others and adding new types of classes to her already-full repertoire. She calls her business Art by Kelly Kelly (and yes, that is her last name).
You’ll find a theme within her work. The town resident loves the beach, sky, flowers and animals, and it shows in her style and her pieces, including stained glass suncatchers, glass panels, mosaics, and 3d glass art, which are for sale on Etsy.
“Cardinals are my Number 1 seller,” she said. “Hearts always sell. Big yellow sunflowers are popular too.
The classes and workshops that she teaches are also nods to her love of all objects in the flora and fauna world. “I’m a very feminine pink person,” she said.
For adults, Kelly offers a number of classes at venues such as The Mark Twain House, Polished Beauty & Gift Boutique and Counter Weight Brewery in Cheshire, Stafford Cidery in Stafford Springs, and more. Some of those classes and workshops include making stained glass hearts, light up mosaic hearts, mosaic butterflies, stained glass Monstera leaves, suncatchers, plant stakes, and more.
She also teaches classes for children ages 10-up at West Hartford Art League during the school year and at the summer camps they hold.
Kelly grew up in Marlborough, and in high school, her favorite thing was an art class, in high school where she learned how to make stained glass creations. “That really stuck with me,” she said.
After spending her “entire 30s having children,” she picked up her interest in stained glass again. At the same time, the Covid pandemic was keeping her home. “I still had everything from high school (to make stained glass).”
She started an Etsy shop and “got a good response.”
And then in 2022 she got a call asking her if she wanted to be a featured artist in the West Hartford Dog Walk. The event, like the popular Cow Parades, involves having an artist paint or create one of the many dog statues, exhibiting the dogs, and then auctioning them off for charity. “I had never done it before, but I thought, ‘hey, let’s try it,’” Kelly said.
“’Blossom” the dog contained thousands of pieces of stained glass and beads. “Each piece was hand cut, glued and grouted to the dog form,” she said. It earned me a lot of publicity and the chance to try other avenues, such as teaching.
The projects keep coming. Each Christmas, she contributes a handmade buoy each year to the famous Stonington Lobster Trap Tree. Last year she created a mosaic Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer ornament; this year, she is making a mosaic whale.
Her latest project includes making mosaic kits to do at home.
And of course, Kelly sells her handmade ornaments at area events. She’ll be at the Market at 1115 Main (hosted by the Firestone Art Studio + Café) on Main Street in Manchester on May 9.
She has a philosophy and sticks to it: “If I want to learn it, I will.” She taught herself how to create mosaics, which came, she said, from having so much scrap glass left over.
She’s also learned how to press flowers inside glass and teaches others how to do that now.
Next up? Fusing glass. “I bought a kiln for myself for Christmas,” she said. “I can’t wait.”
Her daughters—Nicole, Amanda, Melissa, Kimberly—often help her in classroom situations, and she is amazed to see just how much they enjoy working with people in the classes, especially the children. She’s proud to be a role model.
“They’ve seen me go from nothing and step out of my comfort zone. It’s nice to show them you can do hard things and just take the chance.” WHL