Fresh Inspiration
Photos by: JOHN BURNS
Like many others, the stay-at-home order in 2020 made owner of Prairie Glass, Kymm Ledbetter, re-evaluate things. Her business was about to turn eight years old, and she had trained her staff to be able to run things without her. So, when the pandemic slowed things down, Ledbetter found herself wondering what it was she really wanted to do.
“My soul wasn’t being fed,” Ledbetter said. “I needed to feed that part of me again.”
Through her new jewelry line, Fresh Squeezed, and the large glass installations she creates for clients, Ledbetter has recharged her inner artist and fallen in love with fused glass all over again.
Inspiration struck while Ledbetter was scrolling Facebook and stumbled upon videos of artists using the “pressed glass” method: a two-step way of firing glass that produces round pieces of glass with swirls of color which Ledbetter calls “squishies.”
Watching video after video of people using the technique to create dishes and bowls, Ledbetter was hooked.
“They captured my spirit,” Ledbetter said. “I hadn’t been obsessed with anything glass for a long time.”
Back to Her Roots
Before Ledbetter founded Prairie Glass, she was a passionate maker. As a young girl, she spent her allowance on craft supplies, cultivating a love for taking things apart and making them into something new. One of her earliest hobbies was disassembling old jewelry from garage sales and finding ways to create one-of-a-kind pieces.
“To me, that’s what art is about,” Ledbetter said. “It’s a problem you want to solve.”
As an adult, Ledbetter worked at Nordstrom, where her eye for color helped her excel at styling customers. A piece of jewelry often pulled a look together.
“You can touch someone’s heart by giving them encouragement and helping them pick out what looks good on them,” Ledbetter said. “It’s not rocket science, but when someone puts jewelry on, it makes their day.”
Years later, Ledbetter enrolled at Washburn to try to learn how to master digital design. But it was at a fused glass demonstration where things clicked.
“A light bulb just went on,” Ledbetter said. “I knew that’s what I wanted to do the rest of my life.”
As she mastered her craft, she taught kids at summer art camps she ran from her basement. She brought her love of teaching with her when she opened Prairie Glass years later.
Relighting The Fire
Ledbetter has no plans to walk away from Prairie Glass, but her new ventures have helped her rediscover her inspiration.
“Each time I do a fire load, the pieces just kind of talk to me,” Ledbetter said.
Ledbetter currently sells her Fresh Squeezed collection at Prairie Glass. She plans to expand her reach but first wants to figure out her niche.
“Where are the people who are going to wear earrings that don’t match?” said Ledbetter. “I can make and make and make, but I want my pieces to reflect who my customer is.”
Ledbetter plans to explore Etsy as a channel, but in the meantime is having fun exploring how other entrepreneurs sell on Instagram and TikTok to reach a whole new type of consumer.
“I always say, ‘Just Jump,’” Ledbetter said. “There’s a net somewhere.”
A Larger Venture
Much of her remaining working hours are spent on large-scale installations for businesses and clients who want a splash of color in their homes. Ledbetter has designed, created and installed large glass installations for local businesses like Security Benefit, Hills Pet Food, Washburn Rural Middle School, and, most recently, the counter for Restore Physical Therapy’s new space. She’s traveled to other states for clients and has created more custom kitchen backsplashes than she can remember.
While the process for Fresh Squeezed is organic and natural, her large installations require a more structured process, often requiring measurements, equations and even science to figure out how to fire the glass to achieve particular colors.
The Many Sides of an Artist
Ledbetter enjoys having a variety of projects that stretch different creative muscles. On days when her inner artist is silent, she enjoys having more structured projects.
“Creativity is just like writer’s block. It doesn’t always just come,” Ledbetter said. “Sometimes, I just want to cut glass.”
On the other hand, making jewelry is where she allows herself to be the most self-indulgent.
“I ask people for their honest opinions, but if I really want to make something, I’ll do it no matter what,” she said. “It’s what I need to do for me.”
Through all her many ventures, past and present, Ledbetter has found a deeper sense of who she is as an artist. Her rekindled passion has also made her less concerned about creating things purely to sell them.
“Being an artist is a humbling life. One person may love what you make, and another might think it’s awful,” Ledbetter said. “I’m not worried about that as much with Fresh Squeezed as I was with Prairie Glass.”
Even now, Ledbetter knows her career as an artist will continue to bring challenges—but that’s exactly why she loves it.
“When I wake up, I can’t wait to run downstairs to my basement and figure something new out,” Ledbetter said. “I’m not thinking about the past. I’m thinking about where to go.”
