complete chaos and clusters of beauty.” The piece from the
series that is part of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
collection has the magic of a genie’s lamp; a blown-glass
vase has an amber glow and holds coral of sculpted glass.
That same graduation year, Mariel and Alexi moved to
Kingston to become partners with Susan Belyea at her
Fireworks Glass Blowing Studio at 56 Queen Street. “Alexi
has family in the Napanee area. He has a lot of roots here,”
says Mariel, explaining the decision. “When this
opportunity came up... we just thought it’s a win-win
situation. Very risky, because we literally were jumping into
it. The month I graduated was the first month we paid rent
at the studio.”
Susan, currently the director of the Ban Righ Centre at
Queen’s University, clearly remembers the first time she met
Mariel: “While I thought she was very sweet, enthusiastic
and had a terrific eye for colour in glass, I wasn’t convinced
that she would have the stamina (stubbornness?) to make
the studio work. Boy, was I wrong — as long as I’ve known
Mariel, I have been impressed by her tenacity and talent and
her willingness to jump in with both feet.”
Friend and fellow artist local potter Jane Thelwell, agrees:
“You have no idea how hard that woman works. She is an
inspiration to all of us.” Those guys work their butts off,
absolutely. And they take on a lot of apprentices; they hire all
kinds of students. They’re really contributing in more ways
than just their own creative work.”
Mariel recalls that difficult transition from student to an
artist who needs to earn a living: “I literally threw myself
into it very fast. We worked night and day for a long time,
because we didn’t have solid designs to sell. We had to
create everything from scratch.”
Then came another difficult transition for Mariel and
Alexi — from the relative security of a shared partnership to
becoming sole owners. “Alexi and I were terrified, but we
decided let’s try and do it on our own,” says Mariel, “and
hiring the first person was terrifying. We just took that leap
and did it.”
That “it” encompassed changes to business and family.
Alexi and Mariel completely renovated their gallery, including
the name change to Kingston Glass Studio & Gallery. A couple
of years later, they took some time off to get married in
Trinidad. And now they have two young daughters: Bella,
who is four years old, and Audrey, who is one.
“I don’t even know how I’m doing it,” says Mariel,
referring to keeping family and business going. “It’s hard to
juggle kids at this age. It’s a lot. We’re always tired. We
hustle. You have to in the art field. You don’t give up. You
just keep going.”
And they are always together. “24/7. We have our
moments, that’s for sure, as every couple would have their
moments,” she says. “I think the glass really unites us in
many ways as well.”
Alexi wishes that they didn’t have to focus so much on
earning a living. “Ninety-nine percent of what I make is to
pay the bills. It’s the same thing with Mariel,” he says.30 JULY 17, 2019