MURPHYSBORO - Angarola's story begins with a barrel of broken glass in a Chicago alley.

Living in the city, he would cut through the alley on his way home from work. Every time he passed by, he noticed the barrel, sitting outside the rear door of an adjacent building.

"I couldn't stand it," he said. "I just had to take it."

Angarola - who no longer uses his first name, Bob - took the glass shards and crafted it into a lamp. He had never worked with stained glass, taught himself as he went along and "made it all the wrong way."

When he finished the project, he took it back to the building where he found the glass, which he had learned was an art studio. The gentleman that owned the place was in disbelief with Angarola's work and asked him if he would sell it.

Four hundred dollars later, Angarola had sold his first piece of art and had found himself a partner. Working with the Chicago man, he crafted several lamps for customers in Chicago and worked on a project for a Colorado ski resort.

"I had accidentally made a very beautiful piece," he said.

Angarola moved into a Walnut Street property in Murphysboro in July, where he now operates a studio. This, however, isn't his first time living in Southern Illinois. He spent 23 years living in Makanda before moving to northern Illinois about 10 years ago.

In his Murphysboro studio, Angarola handcrafts glass pieces for entryways, lamps and windows, but he his expertise stems from his early roots in the arts.

"My specialty is really the lamps," he said. "I make them like people have never seen them before."

And that's not just his lamps. Everything Angarola creates is a one-of-a-kind piece without a duplicate in the world.

He's not shy about sharing his work with the world either. He's tried to create an open atmosphere in the studio, inviting all members of the public to visit.

"I want people to feel free to walk in, see what I'm doing and talk to me," he said.

adam.testa@thesouthern.com / 351-5031