“ I have no ru les,” she said.“ If you don’ t have somebody to teach you, you just go for it.”
representing wyoming art stor-y by ESTHER NOE
In the little town of Upton, Wyo., where cowboys ride and wildlife roams, one of the world’ s artistic masters in glass is quietly creating custom jewelry.
In the little town of Upton, Wyo., where cowboys ride and wildlife roams, one of the world’ s artistic masters in glass is quietly creating custom jewelry.
Growing up, Jill Hendrix did not have her heart set on being an artist. Instead, her creative journey started in her 20s when an artistic opportunity arose.
“ I was working at the hardware store across the street, and some guy saw me doodling and asked me to paint some buffalo skulls for him. And that was pretty much the beginning,” said Jill.
That was in 1984. Around the same time, Jill had to quit her job due to health restraints and thu s needed to create a new avenue to make a living. With a high school background in art and online tutorials, Jill began selling her artwork through marketing representatives throughout the nation under the name Wyoming Silvers.
At first, she did pen and ink designs on buffalo skulls. From there, she started doing beadwork along with sculpting and painting Native American masks, with her husband doing the fur work.
“ In the very beginning, Prairie Edge taught me how to finish the buffalo skulls, do mandalas. They were one of my first wholesale orders,” said Jill.“ These are showing up in galleries and museums now, and I haven’ t made one since the 1990s, which amazes me.”
Also in the 1990s, Jill switched to direct sales through art fairs and craft shows, traveling all over the country. From there, her interests switched from Native American art to glasswork.
“ My sister was an art teacher, and I used her for a reference a lot. So that was pretty cool. I’ ve had somebody that’ s not in the business that will say,‘ Okay, this is how you do that,’” said Jill.
Overall, though, Jill learned her craft through trial and error.
“ I have no ru les,” she said.“ If you don’ t have somebody to teach you, you just go for it.”
With glass purchased from Italy, Jill works in the open flame of an oxygen-propane torch, pulling glass rods into long stringers. The pieces are built around a steel rod rolled in bentonite mud, which keeps the rod from sticking. This creates a small hole in the pendant to later be attached to a necklace with wire fixtures.
Once she has a flat surface to work on, Jill uses tools to outline where she wants her features. Then, with the stringers she pulled, Jill builds up the image and adds small details with her tools. Jill often uses reference photos to create her pieces, and sometimes she makes the design in clay first as a reference.
“ I’ ll do the image in clay so I know what angles to practice
6 Down Country Roads September / October 2025