By Andrea Izzo

Merideth Young is a gem in our community. She is a jeweler and a painter and an all-around art maker. She is an extremely talented local artist who has a shop called “Young at Art” located at 1042 Washington Street East that showcases the work of more than 30 artists, most of whom are West Virginians. The store is filled with jewelry, prints, cards, clocks, paintings, pottery, ornaments and much more. You can find Merideth in the shop, the Tamarack, and at various art shows, craft fairs, and festivals. She will also have a show at Carnegie Hall from October through December. Merideth grew up in Salem, New Hampshire where she delighted in shapes and colors for as long as she can remember. In school she had what they called “ants in her pants”. “Growing up I was the weirdo. I was wired differently” she recalls. She was fortunate in that she was allowed to express herself through her art and even fulfill some assignments with drawings rather than written reports. “I’ve been drawing forever. I always knew I would be an artist” she said. Her high school art teacher was an artist who ran an excellent and motivating program that included pottery making, batik, and numerous competitions. On a campus visit to the Portland School of Art in Portland, Maine, Merideth sat in on a metal smithing class and made a fibula which is a clasp made of a single piece of wire, used by the Romans to keep a cloak or toga in place. And just like that, a jeweler was born. She attended college there and developed her talents and passion. One of her professors, Tim McCreight, was a world-renowned artist and he put Merideth in some of his books including ‘Boxes and Lockets’. She earned a bachelor’s degree in metal smithing and jewelry design. 

Merideth has accolades, awards, books, articles, art – enough to fill a library. Even so, she prefers to be anonymously in the background, “But” she says, “it is kind of neat when somebody recognizes your artwork.” For aspiring artists, Merideth warns against becoming a slave to your craft – keep it fun. Don’t let it become work. Always strive to grow and evolve, she says “I created a rut for myself by doing the same thing again and again” adding It can take away your creative mind and you will have trouble expressing yourself, but if you don’t pursue your craft, you will not feel whole. Meridith also added, it is important to know how to sell your work and to make your space welcoming. In addition to creating unique and beautiful pieces of art, marketing, packaging, sizing, and displaying are all vital skills to develop. Creating an eye-catching and welcoming space will help bring people to you. When she first started doing craft shows and festivals and fairs Merideth says she was just like everybody else, creating an intimate space with her work and then her marketing mind kicked in. “I started thinking like a customer: What is going to make me go to a person’s booth? What is going to draw my attention in this sea of artists? What stands out? As an artist how do you separate yourself from the masses?” She has done talks on this very topic at Tamarack. 

When you visit Merideth’s space she wants you to feel loved. Her spaces emit joy and peace. You are surrounded by good words and bright colors. “It’s not about me anymore”, she explains “It’s not about the piece of art I created. It’s not just me with my idea trying to get people to buy it. It’s about you, it’s about how the piece makes you feel and what makes you buy it as a gift for your friend.” When you leave her space Merideth wants you to feel happier, better, enlightened. She endeavors to create an energy shift, a place where you can relax, breathe, and slow down in the midst of all the chaos. It is a warm space and if you feel that you need to take a piece of that space home with you that is a bonus. She is trying to delve deeper into sharing the gift that she was given with the world. It’s not always about money; she gives a lot of artwork away. “Sometimes I make a painting and I think ‘I wonder who this is for’ and it could be three years later that I find that person” she says. A few years ago, Merideth was doing a show at Disney Springs and a lovely girl with blonde pigtails was working nearby. She would dress up as a princess and wave to people. That should have been her job anyway but instead, she wore a drab outfit and worked in a retail store and she was miserable. So, Merideth was there carving her artwork and the girl tells her how she feels trapped and is unhappy. Merideth listens and tells the girl not to worry. Right now is fleeting and things will change. Later, Merideth wrote her a note and gave her a painting with the inscription ‘Blossom Wherever You May Be’. On Merideth’s last day there she received a handwritten note from the girl explaining how she had changed her thinking from “I’m in jail forever” to “this is just a moment in time, and I can blossom wherever I may be”. Merideth realized that she had impacted that girl tremendously with something she had painted years ago. Over the years she has taken different approaches to creating art. Sometimes, she would see something and then make something similar, but that tactic wasn’t really fulfilling because the art originated elsewhere. Art is personal, it is an extension of you. Everything Merideth makes comes from her heart. Creating art is not a job that you go to and then go home. You spend so much time and energy creating this thing that didn’t exist before and now it is here – an artifact you made – that can last forever. These days Merideth creates art, fills her spaces with good words and bright colors, and strives to ensure that her customers leave content and smiling. When she’s not working Merideth likes to sit on her porch with a mountain view and think about new things to make.

To view Merideth’s artwork and keep up with her schedule, visit her Facebook – Merideth Young or Young at Art.