ROBERT LEE FRITZ has worked with glass since 1971. When he established his studio in Lombard, he was the first Chicagoland independent hot glass artist. He specializes in creating hand-blown crystal paperweights, vases, and sculptures on which he carves silhouettes of cranes (the symbol of long life and good fortune), herons, and other Midwestern birds.

“Each piece that I create is a story that I’m telling: stories of family, stories of journeys, stories of relationships.” Fritz says.

He incorporates patterns of dichroic glass into much of his work. Every dichroic piece has a microscopic layer of a variety of materials including titanium, silicon, or magnesium, which reflects three distinct colors when viewed from different angles.

Fritz has created artwork for numerous clients, including The International Animation Festival of Ottawa Canada, Böwe Bell + Howell, Jet Blue, the Federal Reserve Bank, the De La Salle Christian Brothers, Verizon, Deloitte Consulting, American Rehabilitation Association, Chicago Foundation for Women, and Genworth Financial.

His works have been well received internationally, with exhibitions at Tokyo Crafts Expo and International Exhibition of Glass in Kanazawa. Fritz’s glass has been presented as gifts to the Prime Minister of Japan and the U.S. Ambassador to Japan.

Fritz is represented in private and public collections throughout the United States and Europe. His freeblown glass is in the permanent collection of the Glasmuseum in Ebeltoft, Denmark. He has also been featured twice in New Glass Review, a publication of the Corning Glass Museum in New York.