Kathleen Plate, the talented artist behind Smart Glass Jewelry, has always loved to create beautiful things. Her creative passion was inspired in part by a childhood spent working on projects with her mother who taught her how to solder and work with stained glass. Smart Glass Jewelry was born while Kathleen was in graduate school working on a Master’s in American Literature. Kathleen needed a gift for a friend’s birthday so she made a pair of earrings out of glass. Her friends raved so she decided to take her product to local festivals and craft shows. The move proved to be a promising start for the unknown artist.
"Creating art from empty bottles is the ultimate alchemy and way to combine my love of ecology with my love of art , fashion, and architecture. I love finding beauty in the unexpected, and breaking what others' call "rules." This led me to combine processes from different mediums (glass, ceramics, stone work) and develop a new material derived from recycled glass bottles that I was able to patent and use as the building blocks of jewelry designs."
The entire process, from dumpster diving for empties to styling the perfect piece of jewelry for a night out on the town is part of Kathleen's art. Pieces are created from empty beer bottles, wine, champagne, gin and sake bottles, or Coca-Cola bottles. Keeping a bottle in its original shape, color, and size, yet transforming it so radically leaves people stunned by its beauty. Everything is made by hand in Kathleen's Atlanta, GA studio. She says it looks like a frat party blew up in the studio with empty bottles everywhere, but promises that she did not drink them all herself. She collects bottles from local bars, restaurants, friends, and dumpsters to make your beautiful Smart Glass Recycled Jewelry.