“I’ve always been interested in beer, wine and coffee,” says stained glass maker and barista Maria Milton. “With all of those beverages comes really cool art.”
Born and raised in Atlanta, Milton grew up in a family that made stained glass as a hobby. She fondly recalls making glass apples for her teachers and suncatchers for classmates’ birthdays with guidance from her artistic parents.
After moving to Arlington in 2014, she continued making glass designs as a stress reliever in between restaurant shifts. The pandemic is what finally prompted her to leave her career in hospitality to make art full time under the name MarzDM Studio (it’s a nickname she had in school, plus her middle and last initials).
Milton revels in the unpredictability of glass. She sources materials with unusual markings, and while she does create templates for her works, she also embraces the moments when things don’t go as planned—like the time she was designing a series of stars that ended up not being stars.
“It was an accident,” says the artist, who sells her pieces online and at pop-up markets (including a recent art exhibit at Northside Social), “but I made beautiful snowflakes instead.”
Her wares include geometric suncatchers ($47-$150), plant propagators ($125-$250) and triangular glass earrings ($28-$32) in vivid hyaline hues, some with nature-inspired motifs such as roses, cherry blossoms or feathers.
She finds inspiration in beverage containers, too—upcycling wine and glass water bottles into Art Deco etched vases ($27-$50).
And she hasn’t completely left the hospitality business. Joining forces with her sister, Randi, Milton recently launched a mobile espresso truck, Rossana, named after their beloved late mother. The truck serves light bites and coffee drinks—using beans from local roasters—at Amazon’s Met Park in National Landing and at various arts and cultural events.
“We love the counterculture of coffee,” Milton says, “and how it creates community.”