C.Helbie Hunger Glassworks and Harper Made Revived Vintage Goods, previously on display at community markets, quaint boutiques and pizzerias across Wasatch, recently expanded.
In June, the small business owners moved into a joint studio in the Monarch, which they doused with a fresh coat of white, where they will create and present their nostalgically inspired works of art all year round.
It was a natural next step for the artist friends who make new out of the old.
For Hunger, it was an old stained glass window that caught her eye in a thrift store that kicked off her art career. Enchanted, she bought a stained glass set on a whim and spent hours studying YouTube tutorials, learning the tools and how to use the glass. “It’s a pretty unforgiving art form,” said Hunger. “You have to learn by practicing and understanding how glass behaves when you work with it.”
It’s hard to believe that she has only been working with glass since 2018, with her stylized work and her success in selling on locally run markets and the Salt Lake Shops Atelier and Salt and Honey. Sun catchers, plant stakes, mirrors and card holders are some of the products she designs in soft shapes and warm amber tones that are inspired by the deserts of Utah.
The desert is also influential to Plain City born Jamie and Jess Harper, who now live in Ogden and sell pizza at Atelier and Lucky Slice. Western culture, the Utah deserts, and the outdoor industries all play a role in the “revived vintage” clothing and the goods they make, namely t-shirts, jeans, boots, and bags.
Jamie Harper, who teaches at Weber State University’s photography department, uses old textiles and materials they find into clothing, jewelry, and furniture, while Jess, a full-time student at Crossroads, makes the inventory and spaces perfect.
“I think the art of it all is just showing yourself,” said Jamie Harper. “We brake for the yard sale.”
As they grew up, their grandfather took them to the “DI”, Deseret Industries, every morning at 10 am, where they waited for the doors to open and find “treasure”. “Our abilities have really only been built on this foundation of appreciating old things,” said Jamie Harper, “especially when they are tied to a story.”
Hunger finds satisfaction in creating bright objects with new stories “in the hope that they will bring joy to the rooms in which we spend our precious time”. She is looking forward to having her own space to create and present her work and is looking forward to holding workshops this fall.
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