When Chris Mullally moved to the Roaring Fork Valley, she didn’t expect to meet a relative of a California candle maker from her hometown — a coincidence that led her to purchase the decades-old artisan business she had admired at farmers markets.
In 2023, Mullally purchased Bee Happy Candles from its creator, Jan Schubert. Although Schubert sold candles in Mullally’s hometown of Davis, California, the two didn’t connect until after Mullally moved to the valley in 2001. sandalwood candle
“When I moved here I met Jan’s brother, and we got together, and then she ended up moving out here. Then when she retired, I bought it from her,” Mullally said. “I remember the happy candles at the farmers market. I grew up in Davis, so when I would go home and visit my family, we always went to the farmer’s market and I would see her and her candles there.”
Mullally studied printmaking in college and has always supported herself through art in some form. She worked in landscaping and taught art at the Waldorf School on the Roaring Fork for 10 years before acquiring the candle business.
Although she had little experience with candle-making before taking over Bee Happy Candles, Mullally fully devoted herself to crafting and hand-painting the beeswax art.
“When I was little, I used to dip little pieces of thread into the wax of my mom’s Christmas candles and make little tiny baby candles, which is so funny to remember,” she said. “We would make dip candles at Waldorf sometimes, but really, I’d never made candles before.”
Schubert taught Mullally the craft, and it quickly became one of Mullally’s greatest creative outlets. Her multitude of artistic talents — painting, sculpting, creating molds — combined with the versatility of beeswax gives Mullally the freedom to design nearly any candle she envisions.
Much of her work is inspired by nature. Colorful candles formed into pinecones, trees and flowers fill the tables at her farmers market stand.
“When I go to the farmers market, I’m always looking at all the fruits and vegetables and I try to bring in new candles based on whatever’s in season,” she said. “I love foraging. So mushrooms had to be included this year.”
Hyper-realistic garlic, mushrooms, fruits and vegetables are her speciality, shaped with silicone or clay molds that Mullally creates using real produce.
“I’ll go to the farmer’s market and I will find a really beautiful tomato. I’ll bring it back to the studio and I’ll mix up liquid silicone and I will stick the tomato in a vessel and pour the silicone around it,” Mullally said. “Then when I remove the tomato, it leaves a cavity that holds all the impressions of the actual tomato so that when I pour the beeswax in and pull it out of the mold, I can hand paint it and bring it to life that way.”
Prices for her candles range from $4 to $75, most of which are detailed with melted colored beeswax. Though some of her creations may look like garlic, they don’t smell the part — the 100% Colorado beeswax retains its natural honey scent, which Mullally doesn’t alter.
Among her personal favorites are the Amanita mushroom candles, which boast bright red, polka-dotted caps, and pillar candles adorned with butterflies or wildflowers.
Mullally’s best-selling items are colorful pillar candles painted with aspen trees, which each require 45 minutes to over an hour of intricate brushwork to create.
“People don’t want to burn them because they’re too beautiful, which is a super lovely compliment,” Mullally said. “But they are made to burn and it is okay, and I will make more. So burn your candles.”
Mullally’s holiday and winter-themed candles, along with a collection of fruits and vegetables, are available at Deck the Walls Holiday Market at Carbondale Arts, 76 South Fourth St., Carbondale. Each year, the gallery space transforms into a festive shop featuring artisan goods, including cards, jewelry and chocolate, created by local and regional artists. Though Bee Happy Candles have been sold at Deck the Walls for several years, this marks Mullally’s second year carrying on Schubert’s legacy.
“I love supporting Carbondale Arts. I love supporting the Launchpad,” Mullally said. “It makes me feel connected to the community and a part of everything Carbondale is that’s important to me, with the artist community and feeling like I’m a part of what we do here, what makes Carbondale really unique.”
Aspen Mayor Torre emphasized the importance of community participation in shaping the corridor’s future, stressing that the alternatives presented in the renderings on the survey are only preliminary concepts and not final designs.
Heavier snow is expected to begin Monday night, with Ajax and Snowmass anticipating 1 to 2 feet by Thanksgiving, while Aspen proper could see 6 to 10 inches.
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