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Nothing Half-Glassed When It Comes To Lansing Artist

Lansing native Craig Mitchell Smith began making glass artwork in 2006. Because of serendipitous timing and a few TV cameras that made for a surprising launch, what started as a hobby became a full-fledged career.
"I was in touch with HGTV and they were interested in doing a little six-minute segment on my kitchen," Smith says. "When they found out about some of the glass I was doing, they flew a crew out from California to film that. It never occurred to me that this was going to be my career. Then, all of a sudden, I was contacted by galleries and I began making glass for sale."
Over the next couple of years, his profile and brand began to grow. In 2010, he was sourced to make the ornament for the State of Michigan to be displayed on the national Christmas tree. In 2012, Disney hired him to create a field of glass poppies for the Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival in promotion of 2013's "The Great and Powerful Oz," which was filmed in Pontiac.
While Smith has also made more message-centric art, his nature-based pieces are his bread and butter.
"My favorite work is my philosophical, allegorical work, but no one buys it," Smith says. "When I'm dead, that's what they'll want! The personal and more artistic work sustains your soul, but it does not pay the mortgage."
Smith has also pioneered a unique glass-making technique.
"No one makes glass in the way I make glass," he says. "I cut glass in the shape of brush strokes and then, in the bottom of the kiln, I draw with shards of glass. I feel we're on the cutting-edge of making a new art form."
It's his passion for the art of glass that has kept him from using his skills to make more practical pieces like stemware, decanters or other kitchen tools.
"I have refused commissions that were of a practical nature, that's not art," Smith says. "Art is supposed to make you feel something. You're not supposed to put lemons in it."

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