Born in 1943 in North Attleboro, Massachusetts, Paul Stankard is an acclaimed studio glass artist known for his poetic and intricately detailed paperweights inspired by nature. The second oldest of nine children, Stankard struggled in school due to undiagnosed dyslexia, but always loved making things. His father suggested he try out glassblowing, and Stankard enrolled in a program for scientific glassware production at Salem Technical Institute in Pennsgrove, New Jersey. After completing his studies in 1963, he worked for a decade in the field and became a master at producing the technically precise glassware. To keep himself interested, Stankard would experiment during his downtime at work and soon became interested in paperweights. After three years of creating paperweights part-time out of a home studio, Stankard left his job in industry in 1972 to pursue the craft full-time. Now celebrated as an expert in the form, he garnered attention for his deceptively lifelike and fantastical botanical renderings. His work has been exhibited and collected around the world, and it's represented in numerous major permanent collections, including the Art Institute of Chicago and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Stankard is also a writer and a teacher. He has been on the faculty at Penland School of Craft in North Carolina, Urban Glass in Brooklyn, and Ezra Glass Studio in Japan, among others. He has published several books and articles. He holds three honorary doctorates, and he has received numerous awards, including the Master of the Medium Award in 2013 from the James Renwick Alliance and a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015 from the Glass Art Society. Paul Stankard was elected a Fellow of the American Craft Council in 2000.