Chihuly

Simply the finest artist in blown glass in the world, after 45 years in the craft he's achieved deserved world recognition and has no equal. His work, and the work he has done with selected teams of outstanding blown glass artists, can probably only be truly appreciated by going to view it; even so, go Google for photos and you'll still be stunned by what this man can achieve.

I was glad to be able to watch a documentary about Chihuly some time ago, in which the extreme difficulties involved in creating even simple glass forms became apparent. To create the works that he does requires not only artistic talent and manipulative skill with his medium, but considerable physical effort and the patience and good humor to overcome the frequent disasters that may befall this unpredictable material. If you've never seen photos of his works, go to Google too, and prepare to be amazed:

http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&q=chihuly