Check Out Michelle Hamilton’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Michelle Hamilton.

Hi Michelle, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
When I was a kid, we were raised by a designer and business owner; at our dinner table, we discussed color theory and how to negotiate the best deal. My gifts and talents were always artistic, but connecting people and opportunities gave me energy. I pursued an undergrad degree in art with a minor in art ed.

Then I spent a gap year in Santa Fe- my idyllic 22-year-old mind had the plan to meet Georgia O’Keefe- her life and style captivated me. Then I headed back to the midwest to get an MFA in ceramics from Washington University and, while there, fell in love with glass, so I stayed for a second MFA concentration in glass.

My initial work was as a high school teacher at a private school in St. Louis. Still, after my daughter was born, I left and began working in a sales role in the commercial architecture, engineering, and design industry. As I moved through these early careers, I maintained a studio and produced work sold through small galleries and private commissions. Eventually, I developed relationships with architects, interior designers, and art consultants that began commissioning me to create work for corporate spaces.

Fast forward 30 years, and today, I continue to balance these two passions- I am Vice President of Business Development for Vessel Architecture, serving the commercial real estate industry nationwide. I also work closely with several national art consultants on projects that span large hospital systems, air force bases, public and private corporations, private collections, individual galleries, and a museum. I’ve been twice named an international Emerging Artist in Glass by Bullseye Glass Company (the largest glass product and research producer in the glass industry). My pieces are in books and magazines, have been part of retail collections, and I continue to grow and explore new ideas and creative relationships across the country. My primary focus is glass, but I continue to blend my ceramic skills to create custom forms that inform the final shape that my glass sculptures take.

I feel so lucky to blend all this in with a fantastic creative family- my excellent husband Phillip, also very creative and runs his marketing agency; my son Max a sophomore at Mizzou and my daughter Kendall (now 30) lives in Columbus, where she and her fiancé are getting married in June 2023. When we travel, it is always with food, art, and hiking in mind, and we are always looking for an adventure. My next artistic venture is taking me to large-scale work for both indoor and outdoor installations. I’m combining clay and glass and am excited to see where this next series takes me.

Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
No way, life has handed me/us plenty of unexpected tragedy and disaster- from an early divorce, illnesses, & death and a devastating fire where we lost our home and studio to economic hardship and, of course, the collective impact of COVID on all our lives. Most recently, 2022 was rough, I lost my job in a mass layoff, and we spent a week rescuing our parents & their home and a few belongings from Hurricane Ian. But all that said, we have always found a way to come out better on the back end, and I know I’m fortunate to have a close family, so we all support each other through even the worst of it.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar, what can you tell them about what you do?
I have had success in both clay and glass art. I am trained and work as a functional potter using the wheel and am classically trained as a glass blower in a hot shop. In the last 10 years, my work has been primarily glass. I need consistent access to a hot shop, so I have developed my style of fusing glass and using my ceramic skills and knowledge to inform the glass into its final shapes.

I am most known for my “Sub-Aquatic” collection. Generally, these pieces are hung on the wall in colorful groupings of translucent and opaque glass. I get most excited about the more in-depth pieces that often feature up to a thousand small pieces of glass fused into a dimensional form that almost appears to be tentacles frozen in motion.

I enjoy working with art consultants that contract directly with clients to develop art collections for their commercial spaces. The work is custom commissioned based on a palette and special needs. When producing work for me, it is more unique and experimental. I submit these to national shows and sell them privately through either the gallery or to patrons. My current excitement is on a newer idea that combines large clay infrastructures with glass appendages that can be installed inside and outside- the overall size being 6-9 feet. I enjoy the technical challenge of conceiving and building the work. Still, I am lucky to be married to a guy who understands the intricacies of installation and engineering challenges we solve together.

We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from growing up.
My mother is the oldest of six kids, and I am the most senior of many grandkids. Both sets of my grandparents lived a block from each other in south city, and I have such fun memories of leading gangs of cousins through to a small pharmacy with our change in hand to buy penny candy and then heading to my father’s parent’s house for even more love. These houses were tiny, yet we all crammed into them and played on those streets with fun and freedom.

I was also lucky to have great-grandparents into my thirties, and they lived on a farm 2 hours away. The same crew would head out there for summer holidays, and we would roam the 50 acres there too. Instead of penny candy, we collected grasshoppers and frogs.

There were so many of us that my grandmother assigned us all numbers, and as we grew and married and had kids of our own, the new family members still, to this day, receive their number. My oldest daughter is getting married this spring, and her new husband is thrilled to receive #55 double nickels and is ready to join the fun!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.zaximo.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michellehhamilton/