Washington, D.C.
My mission is to bring joy and meaning through the creation of glass art and jewelry. My inspiration starts with the forms of the natural world – circles, arcs, spirals and more -- transferred to glass and precious metals. Glass is endlessly versatile, and offers endless opportunities to push the envelope, experiment, and come up with unique styles and creations. My glass art (mostly wall art) takes two primary forms. The first uses layers of patterns and colors in a high-temperature process that creates a three-dimensional wall piece with a depth of beauty you can lose yourself in. The other style incorporates silver into certain types of clear glass that transform into tones of gold, bronze and turquoise. I love that I can infuse the silver scraps and filings from my silverwork into glass to create unique glass art. I use only Argentium Sterling silver in my jewelry, which has a higher silver content (.940), is tarnish resistant and hypo-allergic; I also use only recycled precious metals. My jewelry generally starts with the glass. I make a beautiful piece of glass, and then ponder what kind of silver settings it wants. I then create the perfect marriage, combining glass’ color, sparkle and patterns with the elegance, shine and textures of silver and gold. I especially enjoy designing pieces with creative elements such as tubes that carry the chain through the piece such as in my pendant Blue Crown. Making art doesn’t take place in isolation, but rather with the neighbors, customers and businesses who make up my community. After a career promoting and teaching renewable energy and energy efficiency, I was chagrined that I use four electricity-using kilns – so I covered all my available roof space with solar panels. Missing my environmental education work, I started teaching glass workshops. To support our friends in Ukraine, I made glass flag pendants and earrings as a fundraiser for the World Central Kitchen’s work in Ukraine. We are stronger together, and those connections also bring me joy. Merrilee Harrigan has been making glass art and jewelry in Washington DC since the early 2000s. She studied fused glass at Vitrum Studio, Bullseye Glass, the Art Glass Center at Glen Echo, and Helios Studio in Austin Texas. When she decided to craft silver settings to add to her fused glass jewelry, she studied silversmithing at Silverworks at Glen Echo and with Ronda Coryell in New Mexico. Her work has been exhibited at art shows and exhibitions around the region, and her piece “We Are All Beautiful 2” was awarded first prize at the Workhouse 6th Annual National Glass Exhibition in 2021.
