Dale Chihuly
Growing up as a child in the Tacoma area, I was always surrounded by Chihuly glass and art work. From hospital buildings to restaurants to museums, his work would follow me everywhere. Something about it catches my mind as he uses nature as an inspiration, bringing his sculptures to life. His work speaks to me because you can sense the pure passion in what he creates and most of all, its not always easy for him to create these amazing pieces. At a young age Chihuly's brother and father all passed away which then pushed him to follow a path of creating art work. On top of his struggles in the past Chihuly has not actually been able to blow glass for a few decades, due to injuries to his shoulder that has caused him to be unable to lift up a blow pipe and a blind left eye. None the less, Chihuly has never let that stop him when those injuries took place in the middle of his career. Still regarded as one of the top glass artist and a strong activist for nature and all that it has to offer, Chihuly found a way to work around his injuries and continues to create truly amazing works of art. Seeing this dedication to an art form like this and all for the purpose of creating works of art that make me smile is why the work of Dale Chihuly, never fails to make me smile.
A good starting point into looking into "who is chihuly". Obviously, a personal site, however is a nice introduction to some of his pieces and his inspirations
A description of some of his work at the Chihuly garden and glass located at Seattle Center. This link includes some more insights into Chihuly's life, as well as the artwork and venue.
An interesting New York Times article into his injuries and how he works around that in his artistic career. This gives a more deeper look into who he is and what goes through that brilliant mind.