CLEVELAND -- A Cleveland Heights artist inspired by ancient glass art will have his work on display at Case Western Reserve University's Mather Gallery. The gallery continues its season with an exhibit of new works in glass by William Gudgel and Chinese brush paintings by Mitzi Lai.

The show continues through November 9. The exhibit is free and open to the public. Gallery hours are noon to 5 p.m. weekdays.

Inspiration for a series of Gudgel's glass art comes from an Islamic mosque lamp found in the Cleveland Museum of Art's collection. The piece was created around 1315 A.D. and made of clear glass covered with enamels that projects a latticework of shadows and textures when hung. It also contains quotes from the Koran.

"Glass is a medium that is ancient and at the same time modern," says Gudgel.

He continues that his fascination for ancient objects stems from his childhood, as he was astounded at how artisans could produce "such magnificent objects" using simple tools and techniques. For the gallery show, he says that he chose to try and create a form that mimicked the mosque lamp in its purest form.

He varies the form from one glasswork to another by experimenting with threads of hot glass, shards of colored glass, and pre-shaped decoration called murinni.

Gudgel is currently a technical assistant in the glass department at the Cleveland Institute of Art. He graduated from Kent State University with a B.F.A. in crafts in 1999.

Lai invites the public to celebrate the joyous feeling of nature through her award-winning work in such paintings as Amaryllis, Orchid, Lily Garden, Fish Pond, and Praying Mantis. "The tracings of nature so close yet so vast, filled me with wonder of things everywhere," says Lai.

While she will exhibit a group of her impressionistic-styled watercolor and ink paintings at the Mather Gallery, she is also known for her designs of greeting cards, dinnerware, fabrics, and other home furnishing products.

Lai, an artist-in-residence for the Ohio Arts Council's Art in Education program, has had numerous one-women shows at such places as the Cleveland Botanic Garden, Jewish Community Center in Cleveland, Beck Culture Center in Lakewood, the Chinese Arts Gallery in Houston, and Blue Moon Galley in Chagrin Falls.

She also received invitations to exhibit in the New England Fine Arts Institute's National Exhibition in Boston, the Cain Park Gallery in Cleveland Heights, and other places.

For more information, call 216-368-2679.