It's elegant, unique art … that you wear.

Elegant glass jewelry, shop owners describe it, with fiery colors floating through the solid, Italian glass. Each piece a pattern different from the next.

They're describing Aleyna Jewelry, a line of jewelry intertwined with international pieces and owned by Bismarck resident Shawtee Kellar.

Kellar first fell in love with the glass when Matthew Durmaz, also a Bismarck resident, brought a piece back from his family's kiln in Istanbul, Turkey. It was Murano glass, a black circle in white, or an evil eye charm, swimming in blue glass.

Murano glass, made on the island just off of Italy, comes from a long tradition of committed glassmakers, Kellar said. In 1291, the Venetian government, concerned about the fire hazards of kilns around the wood structures of the city, banished glassmakers to Murano, Kellar said.

And the evil eye, Durmaz said, is a Mediterranean charm, supposed to keep away the bad luck that comes with envious gazes or high praise.

Kellar immediately saw the potential reflecting in that cool colored glass. The material, the Murano glass, is brought from Italy to the Durmaz kilns in Turkey. From there, Kellar said, she buys it and sells it around the state.

She began in May 2006 and opened a kiosk at Gateway Mall around Thanksgiving. It will stay open through March. Now, the jewelry also is in One World Imports and Lee's Hallmark stores in Bismarck and Fargo.

The biggest sellers:The evil eye charms and Mille Fiori, or 1,000 flower, pendants. Mille Fiori are made from small glass flowers, melted together into a pendant.

"We've only had it since the end of January,"said Susan Hendershott, manager and buyer of the Lee's in Fargo. "But we really, really like it. The prices are excellent; the designs are good."

Hendershott said that she bought about 80 pieces, splitting them up between the Bismarck and Fargo stores. And they're selling well.

"Very affordable, very elegant. It's elegant, but yet can be very casual, too. (Customers are) always surprised at how affordable it is,"Hendershott said. "They really like it, because you don't see jewelry like this at those prices."

And the fact that it's from a seller based in Bismarck was appealing, too.

"Ican find jewelry in other places, too, but the fact that it was people from Bismarck appealed to me,"Hendershott said.

Mary Schmidt, manager of One World Imports in Bismarck, said the glass is appealing to their customers, too.

The store sells evil eye charms, and the Murano glass pendants fit their customers' tastes, she said.

"We sold quite a few pieces at Christmas. They're really cool, pretty,"Schmidt said. And the price is worth it, she said.

Which, incidentally, falls right in line with the meaning of the Aleyna, Kellar said.

"Aleyna means 'something worth living,'"she said. "It's unique art in the form of jewelry. A lot of people like the concept of really unique jewelry."

(Reach reporter Crystal Reid at 250-8261 or at crystal.reid@;bismarcktribune.com.)