Wendy Ellsworth in Kenya, photo courtesy of the artist

"I like the meditative aspects of playing with beads, with bits of color and light. For me, beadwork is spiritually based; it allows me to access my creative center." Wendy Ellsworth to Kathlyn Moss, "Circles of Light," Button & Bead, 1996

Reverend Wendy Ellsworth calls herself a color artist, drawn to the different shades of light and shade captured in the beads she uses to create free form pieces. She began working with embroidered bead designs on leather before experimenting with beaded vessel forms, which are sometimes free floating and sometimes anchored in blown glass. Her series "Sea Forms" received much attention as the genre of glasswork gained recognition in the 1990s and exemplifies both the skill and the whimsy that goes into Ellsworth's pieces. Ellsworth has long been involved in the glasswork community, teaching and exhibiting at such staples as the Arrowmont School for Crafts, in Gatlinburg, Tennessee; the International Bead and Button Show in Houston, Texas; and the American Craft Museum in New York, New York, as well as writing pieces for craft magazines on particular methods and projects. Ellsworth was awarded a fellowship grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts in 2003 and continues to create vibrantly colorful and meticulously crafted pieces.