Our Story

We have created a revolutionary portable, all-in-one compact palette system for selecting the perfect colors in fused glass. I (Melanie, on the left) designed and developed our system out of personal frustration trying to manage over a hundred different transparent glass samples. Our beautiful palettes are organized horizontally by value, vertically by saturation, and incorporate the very color schemes designers, artists and clients depend on for professional results.

Together we have decades of color and design experience:

  • Melanie in design industry and in University and College art education.
  • Shaundra a senior consultant with Pantone and Kodak specializing in color management and frameworks for global brands.

Since 2018 Shaundra and I have been exploring fused glass, our studio currently has grown to include 8 kilns. Since 2022 I have been hosting a Saturday morning call for glass artists around the world - originally we met while studying under Narcissus Quagliata.

it's been more than a joy, but Shaundra and I ready to bring our color specific knowledge and skills to the glass industry in an even more meaningful way with the glass palette system and a Color Club that we hope will evolve into a cadre - or a think tank for fused glass colorists.

Melanie's Bio:

Melanie Stewart has a BFA in fine art and an MFA in digital arts and new media. Stewart is an innovative conceptual artist currently concentrating on adventures in modern fused glass. 

Melanie Stewart is a conceptual artist, educator, and creative director specializing in modern and emerging kiln-formed glass and color systems inherent to the opportunities in glass arts. As co-founder of Shangri-La Art Glass, she has created physical tools and a platform for community to grow through discovery and education specific to color in glass. She combines advanced color theory with hands-on material practice to create refined glass artwork and innovative color-decision tools for studios, architects, and designers.

Holding both a BFA in Fine Art and an MFA in Digital Arts & New Media, Melanie has taught color and design at FIDM and UC Santa Cruz and brings decades of experience in visual communication, scenic art, and new-media processes. Her work is driven by a belief that color is not just visual—it is emotional, intuitive, and deeply human.

Shaundra's Bio

Shaundra Toy is the Technical Color Director at Shangri-La Art Glass, bringing rigorous training, advanced certifications, and decades of hands-on leadership in color, print, and emerging technology. She holds a Bachelor of Arts and is a Project Management Professional (PMP).  She holds multiple Change Management & Strategy certifications, grounding her visionary work in disciplined UX methodology and strategic execution.

Over the course of her career, Shaundra navigated the tumultuous waters of the print industry during the shift from analog to digital, working with Fortune 100 clients from the C-suite to the shop floor to translate vision into material reality. At both Pantone and Kodak, she held multiple color-centric leadership roles, where she helped manufacturers, printers, and designers align color standards, quality systems, and visual intent across global supply chains. A G7 certified color expert for nearly two decades, she has been trusted as a technical authority on color management, color communication, and the psychological and perceptual impact of hue and light. 

At Shangri-La Art Glass she integrates her deep color science background with creative exploration, developing educational tools and frameworks that empower artists and designers to truly “see” and deploy color with confidence. Always at the forefront of innovation and opportunity, she also wears a technical hat in the world of AI, engaging with large language models and applied artificial intelligence in the rapidly changing startup space handling enterprise deployments, and exploring how next-generation tools can extend color visualization, creative decision-making, and material experimentation. Her career reflects a rare fusion of visionary thinking, technical mastery, and project leadership—bringing color from theory into vivid, tangible experience.

About Shangri-La Art Glass

Shangri-La Art Glass was developed out a merger between glass-art practices, a community that emerged from a now 4 year long international glass  education and program,  and the blood sweat and tears of a 3 year long construction process (swimming pool, fountains and outdoor Californian art gallery). This conscious and deliberate action of creation of beauty and peace is backdrop for the people in her life: wife and co-conspirator Shaundra, birth family and friends (both  professional and personal). Our home is our studio-playground and provides the right atmosphere for think-tanking with other artists, designers, architects and trendy sorts. Our studio sprawls into 5 main areas: indoor arts with 7 glass kilns, outdoor dirty zone (viva- la concret, sculpture, welding and general construction), outdoor wet and finishing zone, pool/spa/patios/gallery and  guest quarters for visiting artists.