Joi Tripp

Joi Tripp was born in Joliet, IL. She has never been in prison and considers herself to be a true child of “Chicagoland”. She received a Master of Fine Art from The Art Institute of Chicago, and a Bachelor of Arts from The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. 

As a student Joi Tripp began making clay sculpture embellished with beads and Austrian crystals. Then she discovered Smalto glass. It’s made in Murano Italy. Smalto glass is generally used in mosaic wall panels. When Smalto glass is heated again and pulled in the shop like hot taffy it becomes tiny rods called Filato. Filato looks like brightly colored spaghetti. The artist cuts and files the tiny rods into pieces averaging 2mm x 2mm. These small pieces are placed into an epoxy adhesive bed that is permanent. Traditional subjects include gardens, flowers and rural scenes. Gemstones and borosilicate glass beads frame the pendants. The trade name of borosilicate glass is Pyrex. It’s a high temperature glass not prone to breakage. 

Micro mosaic jewelry was popular among royals for centuries before the Vatican Studio opened in 1727 to maintain the Vatican’s immense mosaic collection. It’s still open. 

It was reputed to be the favorite of Queen Elizabeth I, as the largest collection of micro mosaics in the world resides in the Victoria & Albert Museum, in London.

Over the years the Vatican artists experimented with using tiny left-over glass shards to make personal works. This tiny sparkling work soared in popularity across the wealthy capitals of Europe. Micro mosaic jewelry became the great example of jewelry as art.