Local stained glass art studio closing after 17 years of business
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ST. ANTHONY – For most of her life, Laura Ellis has felt most at home making stained glass art for customers.
The 67-year-old Rexburg woman is the face behind Wooden Nickel Stained Glass at 555 West Main Street in St. Anthony. For the last 17 years, she’s made and sold art in her shop and taught classes for the community.
Now she’s closing the store for good.
“I’ve been doing this for more than 30 years,” Ellis tells EastIdahoNews.com. “I’ll continue to do it as a hobby, but I’m ready to slow down.”
Her last day of business will be Dec. 22.
As she prepares for retirement, Ellis says it’s her students she’s going to miss most.
“We have a lot of fun,” says Ellis. “Everybody’s creating. It’s a really nice environment, and I’m going to miss that very much.”
Ellis inherited her artistic gene from her grandmother. Ellis grew up in Michigan and spent every summer with her grandmother as a kid. One of her happiest memories is going outside with her to observe the color and veins of a leaf.
Her grandma taught her how to draw it, and she’s been fascinated with art ever since.
Ellis was introduced to stained glass art by her father years later. He was a carpenter, but there was one occasion when she helped him make some silver pieces for her mom. She was hooked instantly and went on to take stained glass art classes.
After college, she opened a shop in Michigan, where she made stained glass lamps for corporate offices.
She and her husband came to Rexburg in the 1970s because his brother worked at what was then Ricks College. That was enough for them to make eastern Idaho their permanent home.
After raising four kids together, they’ve accumulated many friends over the years. And alhough she’s retiring, Ellis says she’s not going anywhere and plans to use art to continue those friendships.
“I have a studio in my barn, so I’ll always create and have friends over and we’ll just play,” she says.
It just won’t be commissioned work with a deadline, which is an aspect of the business she’s not going to miss.
The entire creative process is too enjoyable to give up, she says.
A client once asked Ellis to create a memory panel of her husband who had passed away. He raised race horses and Ellis was tasked with capturing an image of him with his favorite race horse on stained glass.
It was “nerve-wracking” for her because she was worried she wouldn’t be able to do it adequately.
“When she saw it, she started crying. She said, ‘This embodies his personality and who he is,'” says Ellis. “When I’m finished and the client is happy with the result — that is so rewarding.”
