One of Michelle’s original hanging stained-glass fish sparked the inspiration for this project. She immediately felt the connection to Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea. She dug out the copy she’d kept since college and reread it with no expectations. Wow, this is way more than just a story about a fisherman catching a fish, she thought. This time around, Michelle saw the connection between her own life as an artist and Santiago; perseverance, hope, resilience, and the determination to keep going when the outcome is uncertain. That connection led her to commission her brother‑in‑law, Jim Burnett, to create a lure inspired by the phosphorescence on the water and the bait fish used to catch Santiago’s marlin.

When Thierry first saw the stained-glass fish, his immediate thought was: how do we make this fish feel alive? How could we bring it back into its element? The answer: water. Shifting the fish from a vertical to a diagonal position gave it a sense of motion, as though it were swimming or leaping through the water. From there, the wave began to take shape.

With Thierry’s background in architecture and digital fabrication, 3-D printing and parametric design became a natural part of the process. The digitally generated strips represent waves and currents moving around the fish, while the openings within them draw inspiration from imagery in the book, particularly fishing nets.

Michelle described the collaboration with Thierry as a reminder of Santiago and Manolin, the seasoned fisherman and the younger spirit who brings encouragement and hope. Their partnership brought together two different ways of making. The stained glass contributes color, texture, and traditional craft, while the digitally fabricated wave gives the fish movement and a new environment. Together, they reflect themes found throughout The Old Man and the Sea: people and nature, tradition and change, struggle and persistence, and the ways different generations can come together.

The story also reminded Thierry of his own relationship with his grandfather. Growing up, they looked after one another, and many of his strongest memories are connected to fishing. His grandfather even built fishing rods for him when he was young. Because of that, the relationship between Santiago and Manolin feels familiar as one rooted in care, shared learning, and time spent together.

Through collaboration, the original stained-glass fish became something new, bringing together traditional craft, modern technology, memory, and shared storytelling.