The use of clear or colored glass held in place by lead, zinc, brass, or copper caimes, which are soldered together at all junctions. The artwork can be simplistic by design, like that of a diamond quarry, or complex work as found in the Victorian era. The glasses can have different textures, multi-colors, termed streaky, or opalescent can be added to the glass. As long as the design has no painted details the window is generally termed leaded glass.
Glass Stainer’s Colors are metal oxide pigments which are painted onto the surface of a transparent glass. The most common painting techniques are termed tracing and matting. Tracing creates line work and matting adds tonal values to the surface of the glass. The glass is then placed into a kiln and the paints are fired onto the glass.
See samples of Stained Glass in the Restoration section of the website.
These are unique vitreous paints that when fired, turn semi-transparent, which add a wider range of color to the glass palette. These enamels, as with the glass stainer’s colors, can be blended from light to dark.
This is the use of nitrated silver as the pigment and gambogee as the medium binder. When applied, the stain will yield a light yellow to intense orange color. Silver stain is applied much like enamels and glass stainer’s colors. This is the only transparent pigment which when fired, is absorbed into the glass rather than fused onto the surface of the glass.
Also known as acid etching or sandblasting. The studio uses the sandblasting method. A resist or stencil is applied to the glass and the artwork is transferred onto the resist. Areas which will be sandblasted will be traced out with a fine pointed knife. The resist is then removed which leaves the glass exposed during the sandblasting process. Areas covered by the resist will be protected from the abrasives blast.
The glasses used in fusing can take the form of sheets, rods, frits, or powders. The glasses can be transparent, opaque, or a combination of both. The glass is shaped and arranged to form a design uniquely determined by the glass artist. The assemblage is then placed into an electric kiln. As the temperature within the kiln reaches 1300 degrees Fahrenheit, the glass goes from a solid to a semi-liquid state and starts to fuse together. After the fused glass is cooled down to room temperature, termed annealing, the finished work can be utilized as an autonomous panel, tile, or mosaic.
The bending of glass into a mold. The metal or ceramic mold has a kiln release applied which will keep the glass from adhering to its surface. An electric kiln is used for the slumping process.
A time honored craft, which with the aid of a tool called a blow pipe, allows a glassblower the means to create glass vessels from a crucible of molten glass. By dipping the end of the blowpipe into the crucible a gather of glass is applied. By gently blowing into the blow pipe, a small bubble begins to appear. Consecutive gathers of molten glass are layered over each other which will determine the eventual size of the completed piece. By manipulating the hot glass with various hand tools, the final shape of the vessel is determined by the imagination and creative spirit of the individual artist.
See samples of Glass Blowing in the Mixed Media section of the website.
This is a roughing, smoothing, and polishing process done on 1/4 inch crystal glass. Most bevels are 1/2 inch wide. As the bevel’s angle increases, the properties of refraction and reflection are enhanced, giving the beveled surface, as the light passes through, a more prismatic effect. Because of the added weight of beveled glass, brass, copper, or zinc caimes are used to assemble the windows.
See samples of Beveling in the Beveled Windows, Residential, and Commercial sections of the website.
The two most common types of glass engraving are copper wheel or stone wheel engraving, and brilliant cutting. The brilliant cutting machines are the larger of the two. Designs are transferred onto the surface of the glass. By pushing the surface of the glass against the grinding wheel, a groove is created. As the wheel follows the design an engraved line is formed. Depending on the shape of the wheel used different effects are created. Most engraving machines have a minimum of 25 wheels of varying shapes and sizes.
See samples of Engraving in the Liturgical and Residential sections of the website.