One of my favorite artists who make unique Jewish gifts is Sara Beames of Beames Designs. From the studio attached to her home tucked into New York’s Catskill Mountains, she crafts beautiful, handmade fused glass Judaica and home accessories. Sara’s pieces are extraordinary creations that our customers love to give as gifts to commemorate a Jewish holiday or special occasion. Her mezuzahs, menorahs, Shabbat accessories, tzedakah boxes, and picture frames are among the most popular.
An artist through and through, Sara says she can’t remember a time when she didn’t feel a creative spark. A native New Yorker, she began working in pottery at the age of 11 and apprenticed with a potter in her senior year of high school. In college, she discovered glass as a medium and knew she had found her passion the first time she sandwiched a design between two pieces of glass and fired it in a kiln. She finished her degree in art at San Francisco State University and became active in a large Bay Area community of artists working in glass.
Sara’s first commercial pieces were home accessories, but once her work began to appear at the various retail and wholesale craft shows around the country, she began getting requests for Jewish gifts. So she put her creativity to work to develop unique, fused-glass pieces that celebrate Jewish traditions.
The great thing about Sara’s work is that it’s not only beautiful but also functional and reasonably priced. Her designs incorporate iconic Jewish images such as the 12 Tribes and the Tree of Life, and she’s always experimenting with new elements to add color and effect such as paper confetti, ground glass, fibers, or dichroic glass, a material originally created for NASA space shuttles that reflect light in interesting ways.
I also like Sara’s commitment to using products made in the U.S. and local craftspeople such as metalworkers who make the casts she needs for various items.
Known for its quality and originality, Sara’s work can be found in homes around the world. She has three nominations for Niche Awards, a program that honors excellence and innovation in American and Canadian fine craft.
While Sara is the creative genius behind Beames Designs, it’s her Aussie husband, Michael, who runs the business and is in charge of final quality control. The two of them make a great team.
All of us at Traditions Jewish Gifts love Sara’s work and like to recommend it to customers who need a Jewish gift that’s functional, memorable, and beautifully out of the ordinary.