Cut & Paste

Tucked inside a tiny ivy-covered storefront in NYC’s West Village, behind a painted green door and under a pressed tin ceiling, Kaas Glassworks brims with an intoxicating mix of high-end, handmade decoupage plates, trays, coasters, and paperweights. Artist and former Minnesotan Carol Kaas creates all the designs in a tiny workspace below the shop.

Growing up with parents who encouraged creativity, Kaas developed a natural passion for art and a love of antiquity. When other girls her age were following the latest trends, she was trudging around flea markets and antique stores. The creativity continued in college, where she was an art major. “But when it came time to grow up, I had a practical sensibility and thought I would never make a living as an artist,” Kaas says. “So I went to law school.”

For fifteen years Kaas practiced law, feeding her creative juices with small art projects, occasionally making decoupage pieces to give as gifts. “I loved practicing law and didn’t give too much thought to doing anything else,” she says. “But then I met my husband, fell in love, and moved to New York.” After toiling around with decoupage—collages of paper images preserved under glass and layers of epoxy—in her kitchen, Kaas decided to take a class on the ancient Chinese art form. Noticing her natural talent, her husband encouraged her to open a store.

Every piece of merchandise bearing her insignia is made by hand using high-resolution reprints of vintage or antique ephemera that Kaas has collected from frequent trips to flea markets, antiques shows, and estate sales. While the look ranges from graphic—flora, anatomical illustrations—to crafty—combinations of vintage hand lettering, botanical prints, bordering—each item combines good taste, artistic sensibility, and impeccable design with vintage, antique, and historical prints.

While much of her inspiration comes from the individual prints, Kaas also cites travel, cinema, literature, and art as muses. “When you really love art, you get stimulated by everything—the colors of a city in Europe, an old street sign, home décor, nature.” The results are both decorative and functional—modern in execution with a bit of aesthetic whimsy. Used alone, a piece will accent a modern palette with clean lines, but displayed in a grouping, the look is sentimental and gives an air of Hampton’s eccentricity. —M. C.

Find Kaas Glassworks at Gather, 4999 France Ave. S., Mpls., 612-920-1400, or at Kaas Glassworks, 117 Perry St., New York, 212-366-0322.