Meet the Maker: Get to know Katie of Katie Kismet

Hi friends! I’d like to (re)introduce myself to you all. My name is Katie and I create modern glass jewelry and home accessories. I believe passionately that exploring personal creativity and working with one’s hands are enriching to our collective experience as well as our individual lives.

I’m a life-long “creative explorer”, which is my rebrand of “a mile wide but inch deep and don’t stick w/ anything”. ⬅️ That was a genuine and important shift for me. I used to beat myself up with “why can’t I just focus on one thing?!” It took me almost four decades of life to find peace with, and even celebrate, my curious, seeking nature. The good news is I got there. 🌱🌿🌷🌸

And you know what? It’s *that* very trait that led me into yet another arts-related workshop back in 2018. The medium? Glass. For reasons I’ll probably never fully grasp, I walked out of the workshop bursting with ideas, hungry to learn more, and weirdly confident it could and should be a business.

Why do I love glass? I love that it's all around us, yet we hardly give a thought to it. I love that it's a natural 🌍 material and is neither a liquid nor a solid. 🤓 I love glass for its luminosity ☀️ and thrive on its creative restraints.

And my aesthetic? Well, if you haven't picked up on it yet, it's modern and minimal. I love modern art and architecture and playing with bold colorways. My influences include Marimekko, the Memphis Group, Alexander Calder, the Bauhaus, Scandinavia and Japan.

Much like the constraints of glass, I find the challenge of modern minimalism energizing. Landing on the most powerful color combination, the right line, the best dimensions, or most compelling use of contrast. The bewitching character of modern art is that while the end result may look "easy", countless careful decisions lead up to the final state. 

So here I am. 👋 Two years into working with glass, about 18 months into my efforts to share and sell that work, and honored every day to have you guys (at least marginally) interested in hearing from me. 🥰

Other things about me:

• I’ve lived in Chicago 🌬, Moscow 🇷🇺 and Hong Kong 🇭🇰
• I 💜 dancing, classes or at clubs (the latter requiring confidence juice)
• I have a 7-yr old daughter who is equal parts sunshine, curls, quirk and nerdiness
• I 💚 pickles and have a personal ranking of every brand HEB offers (Claussen wins!)
• I’m an ex-advertising gal and worked at major agencies on awesome accounts for 10 yrs (Kelloggs, GM and Coca-Cola to name a few)
• I’m also a graphic designer (who isn’t, I mean, really… 🙃)
• I lost my last two baby teeth at age 40. (A treat for anyone who read this far. 😆🦷)

Thanks for being here...

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