Michelle Ryan is a glass artist in County Clare. She decided to train and dedicate more time to art having worked in human resources for many years and continues to balance these two professions. She graduated from NCAD Dublin in 2016 with a double major in Glass and Art History. She was a finalist in the Bullseye Glass Emerge 2018 competition in the USA, Stanislav Libenský Awards 2016 in Prague, and twice shortlisted for the Future Makers Awards in Dublin. As an academic scholar she received a high commendation for her thesis work. Additionally she has received an Erasmus scholarship to study at the Estonian Academy of Art, the Bild-Werk-NCAD partnership scholarship to study engraving at Bild-Werk, Frauenau, Germany and the Mainie Jellett Travel Bursary. She was awarded funding to support a Residency in Pavlína Čambalová’s glass engraving studio in the Czech Republic. She has participated in numerous international juried exhibitions in the USA, Germany, Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Ireland. She moved to Clare from Dublin during the pandemic, bought a kiln and is in the process of building a studio. She works mainly to exhibition and commission.