smatter studio is Brooke Breyfogle, an artist and software product manager based in the Phoenix, Arizona area.

It started as a self-discovery project — dubbed “Trying to Art” — during a 6-month sabbatical from the day job. I wanted to rebuild my skills and recapture the passion I had for art during my childhood and teens, before insecurity, fear, and lack of confidence lit my path. After years of only rarely creating, my plan was to take as many art classes as possible, mainly in media that I had not tried before or that scared me, and to do as much creating as possible, every day. From that I hoped to regain my confidence, to uncover/discover where my talent and passion lay, and to emerge with a lifelong habit of creating regularly in a medium (or media) I love.

I discovered many things, including that every medium has its thrills and its flaws, but that my joy really lives in producing beautiful work that I enjoy and that others enjoy. I found great fulfillment in showing my work to people who appreciated it and wanted to have it. My greatest gifts came when I gave my work to those who loved it.

While I may continue to work in multiple media, ultimately my heart was captured by glass. I have always loved and collected glass art, so to discover I could create it myself, and was somewhat good at it, was a revelation and a thrill. And now, I shall continue to put it out into the world.