Artist / Studio
StudioChina-Blue Glassworks
Hamilton, Michigan
Birth Year: 1955
Opening Date:1979
Designers:
Rife, Jamie
Description: Jamie Rife grew up in Kalamazoo where his father Corwin Rife was on the staff of the Kalamazoo Public Museum. His parents were both musicians and Rife trained as a flutist in classical music. He received extensive art training as well. In 1975 he began working in stained glass at the Columbine Stained Glass Studio in Boulder, CO. He also studied under Narcissus Quagliada and Paul Marioni, prominent flat glass artists. Rife returned to Kalamazoo in 1979 and opened his own Chinablue Glassworks, where he taught the art of stained glass for eight years. Since receiving his teaching degree in art and music from Western Michigan University, he has taught art at Holland High School in Holland, MI. His studio is now located at Hamilton, MI. In his stained glass work, Rife often employs special effects, such as triple glazing, three-dimensional objects, and inscribing of prose and poetry into the glass. His other windows in Kalamazoo include several at the Ladies Library Association and at Bell's Brewery.

Window Name: Tall Small Alice
Building Name and City: Kalamazoo Public Library
Window Name: Mother Goose and Friends
Building Name and City: Kalamazoo Public Library
Window Name: First Glimpse of the Prince
Building Name and City: Kalamazoo Public Library
Window Name: Rip's Deep Sleep
Building Name and City: Kalamazoo Public Library
Window Name: Aurora
Building Name and City: Ladies Library Association