Anyone who has inherited an heirloom knows that objects hold memories. A fathers’ old chair, an aunties ruby ring, a friends’ jean jacket — they carry stories with them, they transform from a simple thing into a living memory. When Samara Phillips’ sister passed away unexpectedly in her prime, she was gifted something that her sister poured her talent and soul into — her art supplies. Samara’s sister was a stained glass artist. “I hated to see her glass just collecting dust,” Samara says, “so I had the idea one holiday to make all my family members a wind chime using her actual glass, in her memory.” Samara had long been an artist with a background in metalsmithing. The gift of her sister’s glass pointed her love of making in a new and meaningful direction — it pointed her to crafting the colorful chimes for which she’s known.
“For me, it’s not necessarily about the physical chimes,” Samara shares. “Creating something from scratch also creates positive energy that can heal yourself and others.” Samara’s playful, sculptural chimes are born from her own personal connection to stained glass and what her chimes have come to mean for those who bring them into their lives. When she began to sell them on her Etsy shop, the feedback was often a similar story. “I noticed a lot of them [were gifted] to friends or family that had lost a loved one.” Her chimes are given as gifts — for Mothers’ Day, birthdays, even as a gift from a surrogate to a new mother. “I hear these kind and beautiful stories over and over again — I feel so honored to be a part of their story,” Samara says.
Samara’s artful glass and found-object chimes carry memory for every hand that touches them. From the former lives of her ethically sourced materials, through the thoughtful hands of the maker herself, to the lucky recipient of these jingling gems, Samara’s windchimes are objects of beauty and of story.
