FSS Gallery

Michael Oates

“I have been working with stained glass for over 45 years. I started big, my first piece was a stained glass lamp shade that we still have hanging in our dining room. Since that time, I have created and restored a number of glass panels, traditional and contemporary lamps, wall/window hangings, mosaics, and have incorporated my hand-built porcelain flowers into the few glass panels creating a three dimensional look. My newer pieces incorporate glass etching to provide an additional layer and depth to the glass. Much of the inspiration for my larger panels comes from a desire to recreate the works of the Great Masters through the medium of stained glass. My process breaks down paintings into their essential forms and colors then translating those elements into glass designs. My work is inspired by the visionaries who broke the visual world apart from the rhythmic turbulence of Van Gogh’s Starry Night, to the classical grace of the Botticelli’s Birth of Venus, or the radical Cubist creations of Picasso and Emilio Pettoruti. Bridging a gap between fine art and stained glass. With these pieces, my goal is to see the icons of the past in a different light, honoring the traditions of the masters while celebrating a unique shifting brilliance that only stained glass can provide.” -Michael Oates, artist