Meet Your Artist: Mimi Huszer Fagnant
Mimi Huszer Fagnant has been a professional craft designer and craft teacher since 1977. Early on, she specialized in quilting, stenciling, For 17 years, she worked as a designer at a bead manufacturing factory where she learned the jewelry business, worked with colorists developing bead colors, worked with mold makers and model makers to create new products. Kit design, direction writing and demonstrating was a big part of her job to promote exciting new products and ideas of what to do with the beads. All along this journey, her love for glass was obvious, having a marble collection, blown glass ball collection and a paper weight collection. Well, glass and beads finally collided about in about 1994, when Mimi started making her own glass beads. This technique is called lampworking. Mimi uses a propane and oxygen torch to melt glass rods of many colors. The molten glass is coaxed into limitless shapes of beads. Mimi spends much time creating sculptural glass pieces as well as beads. These mini sculptures are used in fairy gardens, mobiles, ornaments and sun catchers. Many of her beads are used as a pendant, such as her trumpet flowers, sterling lined large beads and hearts. Mimi has found her true passion in lampworking. Every time she sits at the torch there is something new she was to try or further develop, thus her product line is ever changing. Her line also includes beads for jewelry makers to make their own jewelry, her own jewelry pieces using these one of a kind beads. She sells an assortment of kits using her beads as a component for the project. Most of the kits have been developed from the many classes she teaches locally, mostly for the North Kingstown Arts Council. Her love to share knowledge is evident in her teaching style. Most of her work is sold at bead and craft shows and a few local shops (Waves of Creation and Village Faire).
