Local Artisans Turn Passion into Lifelong Creative Careers

SoMe Artisan Wares and Jeweler’s Studio

In a world of mass production and overnight shipping, something special is happening in workshops and studios across Pittsburgh. While algorithms decide what shows up in our online carts and machines churn out identical products by the thousands, local artisans are quietly crafting treasures one piece at a time.

Walk into any handmade market or artisan shop in the area, and you’ll find shelves lined with pottery that bears the subtle marks of human hands, jewelry that sparkles with personal stories, and glassware that captures light in ways no factory could replicate. These are more than products — they’re pieces of people’s hearts and souls, shaped by years of practice, failure, and the kind of dedication that can’t be automated.

Behind every carefully crafted piece is a story of passion, persistence, and the courage to turn dreams into reality. These are the stories of three Pittsburgh-area artisans who chose the harder path — the one that leads through burned fingers, failed attempts, and countless hours of practice to create something meaningful.

Amy McGinley

Amy McGinley has been thinking about her jewelry store since she was in high school — more than 30 years ago.

“I had the idea for the store since high school,” said McGinley, owner of SoMe Artisan Wares and Jeweler’s Studio in Pittsburgh. “I was in art class and surrounded by so many artists when I was younger. They would always have their amazing artwork leaning on their walls in their basements, and no one was seeing it.”

McGinley held onto that idea, but her father had different plans. He told her to get some experience first. So, she spent years as an apprentice, learning the jewelry trade from the ground up. “Even though it wasn’t glamorous, I enjoyed it,” McGinley said.

When her father died in 2008, McGinley decided it was time to take the leap. She opened her store in 2009, 17 years after graduating from high school. “I’m appreciative of his guidance and getting experience,” she said. “Without that hands-on experience, I don’t think I’d be where I am and be as solid.”

The store has become a true family operation. McGinley’s mother has worked alongside her every day since they opened, creating what McGinley calls a “mother-daughter duo.” She even raised her three children in the store, with her mother helping to juggle work and motherhood.

For McGinley, the most rewarding part isn’t the jewelry she creates — it’s the stories behind each piece. “The number of hugs I get when I hand something over — if it was grandma’s stone, or they remember Aunt Sue always wearing this ring, but they want to make it theirs — it’s incredible,” she said. “It’s so much more than a piece of jewelry. It’s a story. A memory.”

Jason Forck

Jason Forck never planned to become a glassblower. Growing up on a farm in Kansas, he was just a college freshman looking for an interesting class.

His roommate kept coming back from glassblowing class excited about what he’d learned. Forck thought it sounded cool and decided to give it a try. “It was really unlike anything else I’d ever done,” said Forck, who now works at the Pittsburgh Glass Center in the East End of Pittsburgh. “It was a new and exciting art form that I had never been introduced to.”

After one semester, he was hooked. But becoming skilled at glassblowing isn’t easy. Forck compares it to learning a musical instrument. “There’s a lot of physical muscle memory to establish a baseline,” he said. “When you’re first learning, you’re so focused on keeping the glass turning, but what you should be doing is thinking about the next steps.”

It took Forck two years of daily practice to feel comfortable at the furnace. Even now, after nearly 20 years, he’s always learning something new from more experienced glassblowers. What keeps him motivated is curiosity and the desire to never get bored. “I don’t want to get bored,” Forck said. “I never want to be doing what a machine could do.”

His advice for newcomers? Be prepared to fail — a lot.

“You have to go into it knowing there’s going to be a lot of failure for you to learn,” he said. “You’re not going to be good at glassblowing the first time, the 20th time, or probably even the 100th time you do it.”

Katie Petrovich

Katie Petrovich, owner of Katie’s Clay Studio, knew in high school that she wanted to turn her love of clay into a career. Her ceramics teacher at Fox Chapel High School helped foster that passion, and a graduation gift of a kiln and throwing wheel launched her journey into making and selling pottery.

After spending three and a half years in the Philadelphia area honing her skills, Petrovich returned to Pittsburgh in 2011 with a clear vision. She started by making mobile art kits for schools. However, people kept asking about having a shop. So, she opened her first studio in Hampton — just 1,200 square feet with one kiln. As her business grew, she moved to a larger space in Gibsonia in 2022. “This place has allowed me to do more stuff. I’m just more flexible in this location,” Petrovich said.

Working with ceramics requires patience. Sometimes it takes a week or longer for a clay piece to dry out enough to be fired in the kiln. From start to finish, a single piece can take up to five weeks to complete. But for Petrovich, the wait is worth it. “If I could just throw and nothing else, I’d be a happy camper,” she said.

What connects these three artisans isn’t just their skill with their materials — it’s their dedication to helping others discover their own creative spark. McGinley loves seeing first-time artists sell their work in her store. “There’s no good or bad art, ever,” she said. “It was created with hand and heart, so you can’t ever be wrong.”

Petrovich finds joy in teaching others. “That’s one of my end goals — to provide our teaching ability to someone with little to no background, and they love it so much they start a home studio.”

Their advice is simple: try. “It’s given me happiness,” Petrovich said. “If you’re not good at it, that’s okay. It’s not for everybody. But you’ll never know unless you try.”