Lee Brady is both an artist and a craftsman. Lee earned his bachelor of fine arts, in 1977, at the University of Saskatchewan. Lee began his adventure into the world of glass, in 1980, when he opened Glass Eye Studio in Saskatoon. He has sought many opportunities for glass education and inspiration including a session at the famed Pilchuck Glass School in 1989. Lee was a founding member and president of the Saskatoon Glassworker's Guild. The Guilds primary focus is to educate glass artists through the sharing of ideas and support. He was also a founding member, supporter and volunteer of the Saskatchewan Craft Council, founded in 1975. While exhibiting in the Saskatchewan Craft Council’s annual juried show, Lee was awarded the ‘Elizabeth Swift’ award for excellence in glass eleven times in thirteen years. He has received numerous SCC Merit of Excellence Awards and won the ‘Premier’s Prize’ for outstanding entry in 1993.

During the twenty one years that Lee has been working in glass, he has taught many stained glass, fused glass and glass design classes. He shares the Saskatchewan Craft Council’s philosophy of developing excellence in crafts though education and of creating a greater awareness of crafts locally, nationally and internationally. His architectural stained glass installations can be found in many homes, churches and public sites throughout western Canada. His flat (stained) glass and fused sculptural glass has been exhibited in many galleries across Canada and the US.

Artist’s Statement

"Color and construction have dominated my life. Growing up in an urban industrial setting, I had as my playground an auto painting shop on one side of our house and a lumber yard on the other. I was trapped - and inspired, I mixed chrome, wood and paint to form my childhood fantasies. In some respects little has changed, I now work in glass, metal and paint, but I am still ever alert to the fantasy and the phenomenon of creation. Discovering the pure colors alive in glass was a revelation - colors that can institute, saturate and glow - colors that can shift throughout the day and change intensities throughout the seasons.

My design work evolves like a conversation with a friend. I initiate the idea. The form, color and texture suggests a mood or application, or they challenge their role within the design. I listen, learn and reply with care. Thus, the dialogue proceeds. Perhaps this is why I am never lonely in the solitude of my studio. As the works develop character and presence, they need less and less of me, until finally they separate, exist on their own and leave me free to begin new adventures.

The art of fine craft work deals with more than just the mastery of the visual and tactile. It speaks of the ideologies of the makers and of a community who value the quality of the human touch. It revels in the metamorphosis of ideas and material into objects with are gloriously more than the sum of their parts. I am increasingly fulfilled by playing a part in the phenomenon of craft production."