About Joline

Joline El-Hai, artist of Bella Luz Studio

There is not much that fills my soul more than working with light combined with color.  It floods my eyes and seems to go straight to my core, evoking a deep, quiet enthrallment.  Gardening comes a close soul-filling second as it brings me in intimate contact with the critters and flora with whom I share space.  Always within reach, my garden and art-making worlds frequently mingle to make a harmonious collaboration.  
Raised under the sun-soaked skies of Southern California I developed an enduring passion for light and vivid color.  As a teenager in 1975 I fell in love with the medium of stained glass.  A recreational night class while in college propelled me into a decades-long preoccupation with and love for designing and fabricating stained glass panels.  In time I incorporated techniques that add depth and detail, such as glass fusing and painting.

Creating small, affordable artworks is a priority so that many people may enjoy my artwork. In 1986 I experimented with glass fusing and developed distinctive glass face pins with signature bubble eyes and Bella Luz Studio was born.  This captured my focus for eight years.  In 1994 I further experimented with little illuminated artworks that use light and color like glass does and the Luminette, my nationally-known version of art nightlights, came into being.  After more than two decades of making them I suspended studio activities except for commissions in order to tend to life's pressing demands.  With the frequent encouragement of many loyal customers and after a several-year hiatus I was able to return to both the glass face pins and the Luminettes..... I'm back making them as of 2020. 

Commissions for stained glass work are welcomed and I truly enjoy the process of working together with my clients.  Have a treasured old suitcase?  I can create a meaningful illuminated sculpture out of it for you.  Or, would you like to see a particular image as a Luminette?  Let me know --  I am often inspired by my customers' requests.

In addition to my artistic pursuits I am a gardener, a dancer and a chicken steward.

Thank you for your interest In my work and website, and for spreading the light!
Joline El-Hai
         

 
With my hen Mazinkela, in Seattle where I have been a resident since 1981.

Resumé  

  • Education
 2009
 1986
 1985
 1981
 1975-77
 1974-75
Pilchuck Glass School, Stanwood, WA – kiln casting
Pratt Fine Arts Center, Seattle, WA – glass fusing
Pilchuck Glass School, Stanwood, WA – glass painting
Santa Monica College, Santa Monica, CA – design
UCSB, Santa Barbara, CA – studio art
UCLA, Los Angeles, CA – music theory and composition
  • Honors and Awards

    2021
    2010
    2004
    2001
    1999
    1998
    1997
    1996
    1994

    Honorable Mention Award, Schack Art Center 22nd Juried Art Show Merit Award, Everett, WA.
    Sequim Museum & Arts Center, “The
    Transcendence of Light.”
    Niche Awards Finalist, lighting category, Buyers Market of American Craft.
    Best Booth Award, Handmade Division, Seattle Gift Fair.
    Best of Show, Handmade Division, Atlanta International Gift Fair.
    Outstanding Booth Award, Oasis Gift Show, Phoenix, AZ.
    Best Booth Peer Award, Best of the Northwest, Seattle, WA.
    Award of Excellence, Pacific Northwest Arts Fair, Bellevue, WA.
    Larson Gallery, Yakima Valley Community College, Yakima, WA –
    “Third Biennial Group Show”  Purchase award.

  •  Exhibitions

    2021

    2019



    2015


    2012

    2011


    2010


    2009
    2008
    2005

    Schack Art Center, Everett, WA – “22nd Juried Art Show” group show
    Ballard ArtWalk, Seattle, WA – solo exhibition.
    Whatcom Museum, Bellingham, WA – “Reaching Beyond. Northwest Designer Craftsmen at 60” group show.Maude Kerns Art Center, Eugene, OR – “Art of the Northwest Designer Craftsmen” group show.
    Confluence Gallery, Twisp,  WA – “Mixing it Up” group show.   Northwest Craft Center Gallery, Seattle, WA – “On the Road" group show.
    Chase Gallery, Spokane, WA – “Confluence” NWDC group show.
    Childhood’s End Gallery, Olympia, WA – “15 Ways with Light”
    group show.
    Sequim Museum & Arts Center, Sequim, WA – “The Transcendence of Glass”
    Allied Arts Assoc. Gallery, Richland, WA – “Things We Hunt”, NWDC group
    show.
    Phinney Neighborhood Center Gallery – “Connections & Light",
    Greenwood/Phinney Artwalk, Seattle, WA, two person show.
    Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma, WA – “Building Birthday Bash” -  
    group show of
    non-edible birthday cakes.
    Arts Council of Snohomish County Gallery, Everett, WA – solo show.
    Frank & Dunya, Seattle, WA - illuminated glass light boxes, two
    person show.

  • Installations

    2024
    2012
    1999

    Tacoma Light Trail window installation at Leroy Jewelery in Tacoma, WA
    Storefronts Seattle, Seattle , WA – window installation.
    The Funhouse Discovery Center of Orcas Island, WA – “Deep Secrets” glass lightbox installation in vestibule.