Born in Tacoma, Wash., Chihuly studied his craft throughout the '60s in the United States and other parts of the world, including a year-long stint as the first American apprentice of ancient glass blowing techniques at the Venini Fabrica on the island of Murano in Italy.

In 1971, while he was teaching at the Rhode Island School of Design, Chihuly founded the now world-renowned Pilchuck Glass School on a small donated tree farm outside of Seattle. In 1975, he began a series of glass "Navajo Blanket Cylinders" designed with detailed thread drawings, executed by Kate Elliott.

By 1976, however, Chihuly's work changed dramatically. A car accident that year resulted in the loss of vision in his left eye. With his depth perception destroyed, Chihuly was suddenly unable to work with molten glass without putting himself and his collaborators at risk of injury.

Fortunately, the methods of glass production that Chihuly had uncovered in Italy included the tradition of "hotshop teamwork," led by a designer. He redirected his energy toward making paintings that could be used as the inspiration or concept for glass pieces, then working with a group to see them into their final form. Uncovering techniques employed the world's master glass artisans also widened the possibilities for design in the medium.

"Glass was never really out there for individuals to use and understand," says Chihuly. "It was always created in seclusion in factories where these secrets were hidden. When they started to finally come out of the closet in the '60s, we could do things with glass that had never been done before, and our objectives were different."