Glass artist Frank Englesby and his team of creatives at Fine Art Handcrafted Lighting are proud to make art that outshines the competition. From their smallest sconce to their grandest chandelier, it’s easy to see the level of attention the company’s artisans pay to each component of a piece, something they’ve done since the company’s inception in 1940.
“When I came on board, I really wanted to make sure that the focus was always as a studio and not a mass-production factory,” says Englesby. “Every creation we put out is one-of-a-kind.”
Englesby knows studio glass. The artist began studying glassmaking in his teens with his late brother, Greg Englesby, who is considered one of the pioneers in the field. After further studies with European masters, he went on to open his studio in Seattle to much success, and then landed in Miami in 2007 to join Fine Art Handcrafted Lighting. “I had a vision for where I wanted to take glass for the company and they decided to come along for the ride,” he says. “It’s been amazing.”
As Fine Art’s director of glass design and operations, Englesby’s job is to envision, develop, and innovate in a company known for its dazzling creations, all of which are made in a 17,000-square-foot Hialeah studio. It’s tough, meticulous work if you can get it. “I always say that the best marketing Fine Art can do is to bring clients here and let them watch the artisans at work,” says Englesby. “A single fixture might have 20 people working on it at different stages.”
In addition to the bespoke pieces Fine Art crafts for designers, architects, and builders, the company is also known for its large-scale installations all over the world, as well as right here at home. Case in point: the flock of 244 ibis birds made of iridescent milk glass “flying” over the atrium of the University of Miami’s Lennar Foundation, a project that took three years to complete. “Each job has its own character,” says Englesby. “That keeps my blood pumping.”
At the start of 2024, Englesby will share a new collection, Essence, that brings his career full circle in many ways. “The forms are a throwback to some scent bottles I used to make that we’ve now turned into light fixtures,” he shares. “I dug deep into my bag of tricks for that one. They represent 44 years of my life.”
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Text by Riki Altman-Yee
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