Katie Backus
Lampwork beads (Jewelry)
72 Willingham Rd.
Lakeview, AR 72642
870-431-3884 (home)
870-405-1171(cell)
katiebeth14@gmail.com
Directions: From the intersection of AR62B and AR5N in Mountain Home, turn onto AR5N and travel 6.2 miles to Midway and turn left onto AR178W. Travel 4.8 miles and turn left just past Grover Township Fire Station onto Trimble Flats Lane. Continue for 1 mile, around a sharp right curve, and turn left onto Willingham Road to the third house on the left. There are 2 driveways to the house. Walk up the first driveway to the sidewalk along the back of the house. Katie’s studio is inside the garage on your right, before the entrance to the house. Allie’s studio is through the kitchen. (Someone will be there to guide you.) Park in the driveways or along Willingham Rd. There is a pond on the property. Please do not leave children unattended.
Biography
Katie Backus is an up-and-coming artist who works primarily as a glass bead maker and a painter. Her lifelong home is in Bull Shoals, where she was home-schooled as a child. She attends college at Arkansas State University Mountain Home.
Katie finds inspiration from all types of flowers. “When I see the magnificent colors, I just have to capture the beauty on canvas,” she says. She also claims Tom and Sage Holland as inspirational role models after visiting their studio in Mountain View during Off the Beaten Path Studio Tour.
Katie started taking art classes from Cheryl Blasdel, ranging from pencil drawing and pastels to watercolors and oil paints. When she began working with oil paints, she discovered she loved the medium and would continue working with it for a long time to come. Katie found her love for glass work the first time she visited Silver Dollar City and watched the glass artisans work their magic. At 13, she was given the opportunity to take a lamp-work class at Morning Star Studio. That following Christmas, Katie’s parents gave her a glass bead making set, and she has pursued beading ever since.
All of Backus’ art can be purchased at her art studio.