Biography

Originally from Jericho and later Roslyn in Long Island, New York, Stephanie Jaffe Werner received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Temple University Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1980. She started out as a painting major, but was lured to hot glass, the studio glass community and movement in her junior year. She also studied Italian.

She grew up in the family business that her parents started over 50 years ago; a manufacturing company producing formed wire component parts. She and her sisters grew up around talk of the business, fascinating talk, as her parents made all sorts of interesting components—hooks, hangers, and bucket handles. It is this early exposure that instilled in Stephanie an entrepreneurial spirit and wonderful business acumen.

In spring 1979, Stephanie studied with the Tyler School of Art in Rome, Italy at the villa Caproni, located along the Tiber River. It was during this time that she began to delve into the art of mixed media sculpture.

After college Stephanie moved to New York City where she worked for her aunt, a sweater designer, in the garment district. By day she worked in the design room knitting sweater samples. At night she blew glass at NY Experimental Glass Studio which was located in the Bowery on Great Jones Street and later moved to Mulberry Street in Little Italy.

At lunch and after work she pounded the pavement of the garment district, fascinated by the abundance of trim shops. Beautiful notions and findings—beads, buttons, trims—were as diverse as the imagination and manufactured locally (before moving offshore to Asia in later years).

In 1987, Stephanie moved to Philadelphia to start Germantown Glassworks with a former classmate. At the height of production they employed other classmates who worked in the production of studio glass pieces.

Stephanie moved to Florida in 1988. It was a good move as she was forced to move away from the glass furnace. She is by nature, very susceptible to the cold and the furnace was the only thing hot enough to keep her comfortable during the long, northern winters.

She now maintains her studio in Miami. Her work of the past decade has evolved to include mosaic painting and sculpture that use collectables and appealing found objects such as doll parts, gems, fur and candy wrappers, combined with her background in blown glass and ceramics. Her work has been displayed and sold in galleries across the country. She has been commissioned for both private and public art projects.

A Collection of her mosaic paintings can be seen installed throughout The Franklin Hotel on East 87th Street in New York City.