For over four decades Stephen Fitz-Gerald has created art and objects that bridge the natural and functional. Turning forms found in the depths of the oceans and the expanses of land into tools through which we, consumers of art, knowledge, and of course, food, can relate to the mysteries of the universe, Stephen’s work ceaselessly inspires. Conceived and crafted at his Santa Rosa, California studio, Stephen’s latest creation, a pair of champagne flutes, will adorn the banquet table, whether that of the bride and groom or the silver anniversary couple, for a toast that elicits the spiritual, intelligent, and gentle manner of the sea’s eight-limbed mollusk, the octopus. Forged and finished in solid, polished stainless steel, with extraordinary balance and a remarkably comfortable, responsive feel in the hand, a tentacle extends and curls, providing support and stability just as it does for the creature itself, to form the base and stem. Simple and elegant, the bowl sits atop, poised to deliver sips of bubbly wonder to anyone lucky enough to press their lips to the extraordinary vessel. Forever dreaming, experimenting, and moving metal with heat and raw force, each of Stephens works is a study in the tangibly ethereal.