Meet Jewelry Maker and South Loop Resident, Dobrila Pintar

Dobrila Pintar

Dreaming in the South Loop

Twenty-one years ago, Dobrila Pintar came to the United States from Croatia, formerly part of Yugoslavia. She didn’t speak English, but Dobrila studied hard and learned it quickly. In her native country, Dobrila had earned an art degree with a focus on painting. Once she had settled in Chicago, specifically, the South Loop, Dobrila set about fulfilling a dream. She wants to bring more art and culture to the Southside of the city.

Jewelry Maker

About five years ago, Dobrila became interested in making jewelry. That interest lead her to rent a studio in the Bridgeport Art Center at 1200 W. 35th St. where she designs and makes original creations for her business, Eleven Eleven Jewelry. Dobrila’s jewelry work involves glass sculpting. In glass sculpting, glass rods are heated and molded. It’s a precise and painstaking process, but the results are extraordinary. By carefully heating the glass rods, you can create vibrant colors and patterns in the molded glass. Dobrila makes glass beads that are incorporated in jewelry pieces that may include silver and other metals that she forges herself.

One of Dobrila’s original pieces

Artist in Residence

Dobrila’s interest in glass work took off after she enrolled in a class at Lillstreet Art Center at 4401 N. Ravenswood Ave. Now she is a teaching artist in residence there, sharing her expertise in glass flameworking and fusing. Dobrila loves teaching students, especially teens. “My goal and dream is to show and teach students what they can do with jewelry.” Another dream she has is to see more artistic and cultural opportunities available in the South Loop. As Dobrila says, “Why should everything only be on the Northside?”