Meet the Artist Behind Carrot Top Studio
Hi! I’m Jenny Gallo, the artist and founder of Carrot Top Studio, a small art studio creating handmade clergy stoles, liturgical art, Christian gifts, and creative faith resources.
Carrot Top Studio began in 2004, but my story as an artist started much earlier. I trained as an art educator and taught art in Chicago, Houston, and Pittsburgh before eventually making my way to the studio full time. Today, I create from the Madison, Wisconsin area, surrounded by fabric, thread, sketches, books, and usually a cup of coffee.
An Artist Who Notices Things
A lot of my work begins with noticing.
I find inspiration in gardens, churches, libraries, art museums, architecture, walking trails, and the ordinary details we sometimes hurry past. A flower might become the starting point for an Ordinary Time clergy stole. A detail in an old church could inspire a new piece of liturgical art. A familiar Christian symbol might lead to a card, sticker, tea towel, or downloadable faith resource.
That’s where our studio motto: Notice | Wonder | Remember, comes from.
I believe art can help us pay attention. It can help us remember a story, understand a symbol, celebrate a season, or see something familiar in a new way.
Story-Rich Clergy Stoles
Clergy stoles remain at the heart of Carrot Top Studio. I design stoles for the seasons of the church year, including Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter, Pentecost, and Ordinary Time, as well as stoles for ordinations, baptisms, communion, weddings, and other meaningful moments in ministry.
Symbols are an important part of those designs. Water, flowers, trees, birds, bread, flames, and other familiar images can carry layers of meaning. I love considering how color, fabric, and imagery can come together to tell a story without saying a word.
We also create custom clergy stoles and one-of-a-kind commissioned stoles for pastors who have a particular scripture, symbol, place, or story they want to carry into worship.
Art for Faith and Everyday Life
Over the years, Carrot Top Studio has grown beyond clergy stoles. You’ll now find Christian art prints, greeting and note cards, tea towels, stickers, labyrinth resources, children’s ministry activities, zines, and digital Christian resources in the studio.
They may be very different objects, but they’re connected by the same idea: meaningful art can accompany us in both sacred spaces and ordinary life.
Sometimes that’s a stole worn while serving communion. Sometimes it’s a note card sent to someone who needs encouragement. And sometimes it’s simply a sticker on a water bottle that makes you smile.
After more than two decades of Carrot Top Studio, I’m still curious about what I’ll notice next—and what it might become.
I’m glad you’re here. Take a look around the studio, explore our handmade clergy stoles and meaningful Christian gifts, and perhaps you’ll find a piece of art that helps you notice, wonder, and remember something, too. 🧡
