COLDWATER — Epoxy can create countertops, bathroom enclosures, furniture, and art.

Coldwater native Alissa Denning returned home this year to do all that and more at All Smiles Epoxy, located inside her parent’s glass shop at 21 South Hudson St.

“There’s a lot of artists in my family. There’s a lot of carpenters in my family. I kind of mesh the two together,” Denning said.

Denning learned the trade and art, helping a friend three years ago. “I just fell in love with it,” she said.

After two years as an apprentice, Denning took professional classes in epoxy to hone her skills.

Epoxy is a long-chain polymer created with a resin and hardener, most certainly a plastic but very hard.

Denning teaches epoxy art classes in the back of her parents’ business. Students can make coasters, plaques, or any art.

“I do a clear coat over the color coat so you can do your logos (embedded in the design),” she said. Coldwater Cardinals and Detroit Lions plaques are on local home and business walls.

Others use them on tabletops. Most any memento or picture can be preserved in epoxy.

Denning works all over Michigan. Custom countertops with the look of marble or other stone are built on-site or at the shop and shipped.

Chris Morrow, her partner, said of Alissa, “She’s a great finish carpenter.”

Denning focuses on countertops, backsplashes, showers, and furniture. Morrow explained, “She’ll come out, spec everything on site, meet with a client to come up with that vision of what the client wants.” Denning does sample boards of the finish.

An advantage of epoxy is that material can be poured over any current material from butcher block, laminate, granite, or wood.

Morrow explained that the cost is higher than laminate but a half or third less than granite or quartz.

Stone materials chip and scratch. “Epoxy countertops resist heat and chipping. You can hit them with a hammer. They’re going stand the test of time, and you have customizability,” Morrow said.

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Alissa puts fiberglass mesh in bathrooms over foam board for shower stall walls. “Epoxy goes on top to make them really hard.” The look can mimic stone or other material, she said.

For any of her work, “it’s custom to what you want, your colors, your design, what matches your space. Design potential is unlimited,” Denning said. All the work is guaranteed.

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You can contact Denning at (517) 227-0241, allsmilesepoxy@gmail.com, or her website, allsmilesepoxy.com.

— Contact Don Reid: dReid@Gannett.com. 

This article originally appeared on Coldwater Daily Reporter: Alissa Denning turned epoxy art interest into a commercial business