Amber Bechtol uses recycled glass to make items such as serving dishes made out of used wine bottles.[/caption]

Leander resident and glass artist Amber Bechtol works with fused and traditional leaded glass to make sunflakes, as well as jewelry, bowls, plates and other glass items. The Austin native offers items for $20-$200, depending on the piece, and also makes custom items by request.

“It’s all about gift-giving for me,” she said. “The little touches are important to me—the details and the quality. I try to make my work a perfect gift for people to give.”

Bechtol said her sister Angel taught her about generosity when they were children and frequently gave “happy nothing-at-all gifts.”

She first experimented with glass art in college at Texas A&M University, where she earned a degree in landscape architecture.

She started working on large-scale stained glass but found the frames surrounding the art to be too confining for her work and began to make smaller pieces, she said.

“I wanted to take all of that glory of the big stained-glass pieces and shrink it down to something everyone can afford and everyone can enjoy even if it’s just in the kitchen window,” she said.

Bechtol’s work can be purchased on her website, www.naturalcurvecreations.us.

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