Cliff Lewis

Cliff Lewis works with milled and scavenged wood, blown glass, and found objects, exploring themes of ancestry, mortality, and transformation. A descendant of carpenters, clockmakers, and windmill builders, his creative life is grounded in a deep lineage of craftsmanship. Over a long and eclectic career, Cliff has pursued mastery in cabinet making, carpentry, wooden boat building, and kitchen and bath design.    

Living with incurable cancer, Cliff brings urgency and clarity to his making, creating pieces that grapple with impermanence while celebrating connection and resilience. Humor and collaboration, particularly through the communal nature of glassblowing, infuse his process with vitality. His constructions often echo mythic and architectural forms, like his sculptural piece, the Tower of Babel, that addresses fragmentation, communication, and the longing for shared meaning. 

Lewis holds a B.F.A. in Glass from The Ohio State University and returned to the studio and hot shop after 37 years to work in glass and sculpture. He studied glass blowing and assemblage with Einar and Jamex De la Torre at the Penland School of Crafts in 2024. His sculpture, The Tower of Babel, was recognized by receiving the Wild Goose Creative Art Show Award at the Ohio State Fair Professional Division Art Competition. Cliff recently had work in the Ohio Arts Council Biennial Show at the Riffe Gallery in 2025. 

Cliff lives and shares a studio with his wife in a rural area in Union County, Ohio.  He enjoys woodworking, gardening, literature, historical study, model railroading, cooking and down time spent with his many cats.

Selected Works

The Air We Shared

2026

Blown glass, wood, metal, bone, steel wool, and found objects

14" x 14" x 24"

$6,000