Alison Blair Studio Brings Beautiful New Designs to Spring Market

Firefly Favorite Alison Stern of Alison Blair Studio is returning for our Spring Market April 30-May 1 at Twenty Ninth Street in Boulder! Alison’s work has a minimalist, organic beauty with pieces that are delicately crafted and designed to be lived in.

We’ve watched you evolve over the years and have loved your designs at every stage…how do you see your growth?

My work has evolved tremendously over the past 20-plus years, beginning with knotting colorful gemstones on silk cord to working with silver and gold and expanding my metal smithing techniques to include etching, forging, cutting, stone setting, and cold fusion. The learning curve is vast and the wealth of knowledge and influence to tap into is endless. I love that I am motivated by the challenge of the bottomlessness of it all. I’m at a place now, as an artist, where I feel my commitment to design has been proven and my thirst for acquiring new skills is only barely quenched, with so much more to learn.

We understand that it can be difficult for artists to be confident enough with their talent to call themselves artists…is this something you experienced?

It would take 40-some years for me to call myself an artist, and to realize that often beautiful work is not about circles and straight lines…but about composition and perhaps subtlety that evokes a sentiment or an experience, without being perfect. It’s about making mistakes and turning those into design, unapologetically. Wabi-sabi…”finding beauty in every aspect of imperfection.”

What’s new for you this year?

I am launching a newly branded website that will reflect my growth and progress, but also give space for all that is to come. There will be a new look and a new tag line, but that is still evolving, as I am. Although I don’t know what I will create tomorrow or in a year, I do know one thing: I still can’t draw a straight line or a round circle, but that no longer gets in my way as an artist—it inspires me.

You come from an artistic family. Tell us more!

Growing up I was surrounded by fine arts. My father was an oil painter who worked on large canvases, experimenting with colors and abstract images that felt very ethereal but profound all at once. My older brother was a natural-born artist, experimenting with all kinds of media, from neon to performance art installations that always seemed on the cutting edge of very cool. I wasn’t that cool! Drawing a round circle or a straight line was very much beyond my skill set. So, I wrote poems and short stories and became an editor in New York.

Lucky for us, Alison Blair Studio is a Firefly fixture! What keeps you coming back?

I love Firefly for a lot of reasons. Mostly, the promoters are so tuned into the artists. A lot of shows lose sight of the customer—the artist—and produce shows that don't serve the maker. Firefly hasn't lost sight of that. Firefly buyers are also really special. They return over and over because they also appreciate the quality of Firefly artisans and the hard work put into Firefly venues. That circles back to the artists because it keeps a really nice group of our customers coming back.

Visit and shop with Alison Blair Studio at our Spring Market, April 30 & May 1, at Twenty Ninth Street in Boulder!

Connect: alisonblairstudio.com | Instagram | Facebook