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.

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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.

Shayne and I met in the most modern glass-artist way possible — on Instagram.

At the time, we were both working in New England and both running “blow-your-own” style classes out of hot shops. He happened to visit my studio on his birthday, and with the help of a few friends, I surprised him by having him make his own glass cupcake. We kicked off a friendship and creative connection that’s continued ever since.

Right now, Shayne is in a really unique chapter of his life. After more than 13 years of working full-time with soft glass and Borosilicate he’s stepped away from glass as an income and has transitioned into a career as a middle school teacher.

Even so, his years in glass have laid a foundation that he carries with him, and he’s far from done exploring what glassmaking means to him.

In this episode, Shayne talks about his early years in theater and martial arts, and how he first discovered glass in college at Salem State. He shares the story of cold-calling every studio he could find until one finally agreed to teach him in exchange for work — an opportunity he stuck with for years until that studio eventually dissolved. From there, he built a home torch setup and hustled his way into selling his work, mostly through networking, persistence, and calling shops directly.

He also walks us through how rock climbing eventually led him to finding a new hot shop, where he transitioned into working for someone else. Shayne opens up about the grind of being a production spoon maker, and the very real differences between working independently at the torch for yourself versus working in a hot shop environment as an employee.

We dig into the big feelings of identity shifts that come with leaving the glass world as a full-time career and how he found his path into teaching middle school. He reflects on the importance of having passions, stability, and community outside of your work, to avoid burnout. He also talks about how stepping away from glass as his main income has actually opened the door to bigger creative ideas. Pieces to make that don’t need to sell, and concepts that he wants to explore.

Of course, he wraps it all up with some truly incredible words of wisdom, so make sure to listen until the very end.