Designer Danielle Gori-Montanelli was born in Washington, D.C., and graduated from Sarah Lawrence College before moving to New York City to launch her career as a painter. A successful metalsmith, Gori-Montanelli “painted” her works with a handsaw, hammer, and blowtorch. However, she soon found herself making a living as a jeweler, and after having two children began to seek alternatives to the hazardous materials and methods involved in metalwork. That’s when she discovered felt. Imagining the tactile possibilities of a work is now as important a part of Gori-Montanelli’s creative process as envisioning what it will look like; her pieces evolve organically as she plays with the colors and forms of her accumulating layers. Gori-Montanelli and her family currently live in Middlebury, Vermont.
