'It’s a glorious job' - Rhode-based stained glass artist

From working on fishing boats in the Channel Islands to showing her stained glass designs to prospective buyers in Dallas, Texas, to opening her own studios in North Offaly, Michelle O’Donnell has certainly had an interesting life.

The Donegal-born stained glass artist is proof positive that location is no barrier to showcasing her talent all over the world, as she has been happily living and working from her Glasshammer Studio in the idyllic rural townsland of Fahy, Rhode, for over 21 years now.

With her magnificent stained glass installations hanging in galleries, private homes and public buildings both at home and abroad, Michelle O’Donnell says she has “a glorious job” and adores what she does.

Immersing herself in creativity every day comes easy to the mother-of-three who ended up moving to Rhode when she met, fell in love and married “a lovely Offaly man” when she was working from a studio in Dublin.

“I was looking for an accountant when I was in Dublin and I met this lovely Offaly man, and the rest is history,” she laughs, adding that her husband is a very private man and would “not like to see his name in the local paper.”

The couple has three children, all of whom appear to have inherited the creative gene from their mother, particularly their youngest son, 14-year old Charlie, who is already an accomplished playwright and also designs theatre sets. 18-year old Seán is studying aerospace engineering and 21-year old Emer also has a very creative streak.

Even as a child growing up in Lifford, Michelle O’Donnell says she was also very creative, a trait she feels she inherited from both her parents, Rosaleen and Al. “Both of them are very creative in their own right, and my Dad in particular, has been a huge help to me in my career as he helps me with my big installations and is always coming up with very inventive ideas,” she says.

After attending Art College in Limerick and pursuing a Degree in Fine Art Design in Belfast, Michelle spent a few years working on fishing boats in the Channel Islands and then moved to the US and based herself in New York.

“It was only really after I left college that I began working with glass, and when I was in New York I was working on a brilliant programme that had a link-up with Irish companies so I got to showcase a lot of my work to buyers in different parts of the US like Dallas in Texas, and I suppose that gave me the confidence to come back to Ireland and set up my own studio,” she says.

When she moved home, Michelle says the Irish stained glass scene was “quite traditional” and very few artists were “pushing the boundaries and creating innovative and different pieces” so she set about creating a niche market.

In the intervening years she has certainly created a very niche market for her colourful and innovative glasswork, so much so that her highly-coveted designs now feature in such prestigious places as the White House art collection in Washington and even in Queen Elizabeth’s personal art collection!

Michelle O’Donnell works to commission from Glasshammer Studios and counts Shell Oil and Coca Cola among her many corporate clients. However, she says the corporate market has “really taken a battering” since Covid, so she is now concentrating on individual commissions.

“A huge amount of design work goes into every piece before I ever even touch a piece of glass,” she points out “so it is slow and painstaking work, but it is just a glorious job to have.”

All the specialised glass that Michelle O’Donnell uses is imported from the US, and it can be cut up, broken into dust particles and re-shaped from “little crumbs” into her own unique creations.

She loves colour and vibrancy and that shines through in every aspect of her work. “I can create literally anything as all my creations stem from my own imagination and from my surroundings, and I love the interplay of light, colour and form.”

As well as creating one-off commissions, Michelle also has a gallery, a workshop and a visitor space at her studios in Rhode, and she loves to give workshops to young people in order to foster their creativity. “It is very important to nurture talent in our youth and to get them off their phones,” she says.

She also points out that she has some smaller pieces, starting at €180, which would make lovely and very unique gifts for a wedding or other special occasion or for garden installations.

As well as designing a stained glass piece for a prayer room in Dublin at the moment, Michelle O’Donnell is working on a very specialised project highlighting the end of an era of bog cutting in the Midlands.

“This will involve creating a huge portrait of images that will be placed in the bog with accompanying audio, and we are hoping to bring out a book as well, so it is a big project, but hopefully a worthwhile one for future generations,” she says.