Unlike her parents who created objects to be used, jars, lamps and such, Lilja wanted to create things that were beautiful, and she’d add flourishes to the handles on jars, or fluted edges to the little oil lamps.
One day, when Lilja traveled to a large craft fair, she picked up a little bag of broken pieces of colored glass from one of the stalls. The pieces themselves were much too small to use to make any vessel, but she had an idea. Taking them home, she crushed them into little grains and shards. When she had heated and swirled a globe of glass onto a rod, she rolled the base of it in the shard of colored glass. As she shaped the small oil lamp, the colors melted in and expanded, swirling lightly at the base. The pattern became her trademark in Lakeshire, and some of the common folk began buying jugs, lamps and jars with the colors swirled at the bottom for special occasions.
She held on to her aspirations of making more beautiful objects, but knew she’d have to sell her wares somewhere that stood more chance of coming to the notice of nobility. Because of this, she refused to marry any of the local boys that came calling. When she was nineteen, and her family beginning to think she’d lost all chance of being married, a merchant’s son of Darfield saw her wares. Everard Tessel was fairly good looking, educated, and interested in both Lilja and her wares. He was also Darfield, and had a shop to put at her disposal.
After a short courtship, with the blessing of her parents, Lilja found herself living her dream. With a larger base of clientele as interested in the beauty of a vase as well as it’s function, she could let her imagination run free and create what she wished. As the money came in, she had more freedom to express herself, adding more colors and combinations to her trademark swirl, and expanding into more intricate patterns and frivolous vessels such as perfume bottles and goblets.
As the years of her marriage have passed, Lilja has grown to love the man who keeps the shop in order, and makes sure that people pay the best price that her work deserves. She’s grown in talent and reputation, and has an assistant to help keep up with the commissions that come in.