TORONTO -- An Ottawa mother who ran a glassblowing shop for nearly a decade before it shuttered is getting a second chance to follow her passion.
In an interview with CTV News, Melody Jewitt joked, “I feel like I married glass before I married my husband.”
For eight years, she ran an Ottawa glassblowing shop until she gave birth to her son, Myles, who was born with Down syndrome. Jewitt said she couldn’t juggle both running her business and raising her child, so she shuttered the business last spring.
“I was completely drained (of) energy like any new mother. I just didn't have any more to give,” Jewitt said.
But then, a group of local artists came together with the idea to set up a co-operative to keep their craft and Jewitt’s dream alive.
The Ottawa Glassblowing Co-op (OGC) is able to “democratically provide” its members with access to a studio where they can practice their art, making it much more cost-effective.
The OGC also follows a non-profit model, “with all funds being used to support the facility and to maintain the glass and equipment at high quality,” according to its website.
Members have received support and advice from the first such glassblowing co-operative in Canada -- Vancouver’s Terminal City Glass Co-op, which formed in 2012 to counter that city’s high rent costs.
OGC glassblower Yvonne Avis said the gesture “gives us hope. In a way, they've worked out the bugs on a lot of things, we've been able to benefit from their experience.”
Jewitt agrees and said, “I'm finally in that state where I can be the artist, be the mother. I have all my pieces in place -- finally.”
