Katya Wittenstein - The Artist

Raised along the stunning Pacific coastal environs of Santa Barbara, California the stark, subtle, and varied colors of the land and seascapes shaped Katya’s eye for design and hue early in her life.

Katya lived and traveled widely abroad, studying many forms of artistic expression and design including painting, sculpture, and glass before ultimately concentrating on glass jewelry. She is the daughter of physicians and artists in their own right who immigrated to this country from Europe. Her heritage and interest in poetry, history, ancient and modern style evolution is visible in her work today - from the shape of the sculpted metallic settings to the curve, arc, and glisten of the glass that is always the center of her work. What began as one of many forms that intrigued her has developed over the last 30 years into a passion for the colors, chemistry, metallurgy and craftsmanship that must flow into each piece. Each piece is one part Katya, and one part the natural spontaneity that take place as the glass, the metal, and the inspiration of the idea meld together in kiln and studio. Its that, almost unpredictable uniqueness and spark that Katya loves, and that represents who Katya is as an artist.

Today Katya works from a studio in the storybook, bayside village of Sausalito, California, by the famous San Francisco Bay. Her elegant cutter-rigged sailboat, which is docked within walking distance of her studio, is where she spends the rest of her time, and on which she has traveled far and wide. The many days and nights spent anchored in luminous tropical waters, or wild northern seas have further influenced her awareness of the subtle nuances of color. As she has from her earliest creative days, Katya remains physically close to the colors and forces of nature which characterize her and her art.