Born in Seattle, with a childhood spent in Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, West Virginia, and Nebraska, Michael Gloor came to furniture making by an equally circuitous route. A Physics major in college, he discovered a love and a talent for clay work while taking a ceramics elective. He abandoned his science studies and immersed himself in art, moving to Kansas City and earning a BFA from the prestigious Kansas City Art Institute.

After graduation he returned to Rhode Island, showcasing his ceramics in his Newport showroom and in national galleries. During this period he became interested in using wood as a creative material and that learning process took him from stair building, through cabinetry and boat work, to furniture making, which he now does in his workshop in Peace Dale, RI.

As a ceramic artist, he was attracted to the Japanese concept of the synthesis of form and spirit. He brings this sensibility to all his furniture, along with his unfettered imagination and the belief that sometimes you need to take risks. His approach has always been 'work hard, play harder – passion is not optional" and his furniture is an expression of that philosophy

He has been featured on the HGTV series Modern Masters, and in publications including Home Furniture Magazine, The Guild, Newport Life and Rhode Island Monthly in which he was named one of ten "must-have" Rhode Island artists. His work is also included in The Custom Furniture Source Book published by Taunton Press. He exhibits every year at the Fine Furnishings Show in Providence and he has been in juried shows at the Providence Art Club, the Mystic Art Association, The Wayne Art Association in Pennsylvania, the Guilford Handcraft Center Gallery in Connecticut, the River Review in Providence and the Courthouse Center for the Arts in Kingston, RI. His work is in galleries around the region and also in private collections in the United States and abroad.

He lives in North Kingstown, RI and tries to balance the loves in his life – his family, his workshop, and windsurfing the southern RI coast.