light made solid

Stained glass and mosaics both have a rather long history and even use some of the same materials, but there are some major differences. As described by Answers.com:

Colored glass as window decoration is of great antiquity in East Asia. Muslim designers fitted small pieces of it into intricate window traceries of stone, wood, or plaster, and this type of window mosaic is still in use. Colored glass was used in windows of Christian churches as early as the 5th cent., and pictorial glass as early as the 10th cent.

Mosaics, however, may be able to trace their roots back to as early as ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. Aside from their historical development though, the biggest difference between stained glass and mosaics has to do with how they use light, and how they are assembled. Stained glass is designed so that light passes through it, while mosaics are generally used to adorn the surface of something: such as a floor or wall. Ordinarily, mosaics are created by placing small tiles, bits of glass or other objects into wet plaster which is allowed to dry. Once the plaster is set, these objects are literally embedded within it. Stained glass, on the other hand, is usually constructed with lead came or with the copper foil technique. This makes it not dependent on another surface for it's shape, and allows light to pass through it and illuminate the glass.

One other beautiful style of art from antiquity is fresco painting. Whereas with mosaic, tiles are placed in wet plaster, in frescos, wet plaster is painted on directly with pigment dissolved in water. As the plaster dries, the pigment is retained within it, making for extremely bright and durable coloration. Along with oil painting, illuminated manuscripts and various forms of sculpture, a great deal of religious art especially in the middle ages was created using a combination of these techniques.

Just spotted an interesting stained glass news piece out of St. Louis. In our piece on buying stained glass on eBay, we mentioned the emerging trend of stained glass theft. Some areas of the country are worse off for this than others. It seems that St. Louis has been hit by a veritable stained glass crime wave.

In less than a year, police have said that hundreds of windows from over 80 locations have been stolen. Robbery times seem to vary as widely as from noon to midnight. Thieves are said to always be extremely careful, and rarely leave any evidence at all. This means, of course, that the thieves are selling their wares somewhere and making a good amount doing it. Antique dealers are required by law in St. Louis (and elsewhere) to take a thumbprint and photo of anyone they buy goods off the street from. Which most likely means that thieves are finding alternative markets.

Here's an interesting passage from the article:

"It mostly happens between the time a house is closed on and new people move in," Preston says, adding that the phones have quieted since mid-March. In his audiotaped confession, Tanter admitted to casing neighborhoods for properties for sale or rent and said he'd committed some burglaries and driven the getaway car for others. He'd park the car on a nearby corner, have an accomplice enter the building, then pull up to the house and help load the windows, he said. Caruso says Diamond found his prey through the real estate listings. "If he saw a classified ad in the RFT that said, 'Gorgeous stained glass windows' -- boom! There's the target."

The moral of this story is just to be careful when you're buying second hand stained glass. Know your seller and inquire about the history of the glass.

Since stained glass is such an old-fashioned profession, many glass artists and craftspeople have been slow to incorporate new technologies. Perhaps the rationale is that if medieval artisans could do this work without computers, why can't we? Certainly there's something to be said for the rich history of technique in stained glass. But in our own studio, we've also found a very useful place for computers.

While all our painting and construction is still done by hand according to classical techniques, we've managed to successfully incorporate a modern graphic design sensibility into our preliminary sketches and mock-ups, thanks to computer technology. In general, the more conservative stained glass artists do their sketches by hand. The sketches are miniaturized versions of how the window will look - usually something that can fit on an ordinary sheet of paper. These are usually done in colored pencil, or perhaps watercolor, and then presented to the client for review and further discussion. In our studio, however, we use graphics editing programs to enhance our sketching and initial design process.

Our main programs are Illustrator and Photoshop (both from Adobe), and Corel Freehand. Corel and Illustrator are mainly used to build out our shapes and put together the line work. These programs are vector-based graphics programs. This means that, should the need arise, we can quickly and easily scale our drawing to be any size, and maintain it's proportions exactly. A big benefit in the stained glass game. For coloration and texture, we use Photoshop. It's rich colors and exciting textures allow us to really bring our designs to life.

The other benefit to doing this work on the computer is that we are able to quickly and easily get designs to clients for review. It speeds up the early phase of the window-making process, so that we have more time to devote to all the intricace details of the task of painting and building a window.

For some examples of our computerized stained glass sketches, check out our sketch gallery. You'll also see some fine examples of what are called "cartoons" which are the full-sized drawings we make from our preliminary sketches. These are then used as references for painting and constructing the windows.

Small stained glass panels can make lovely gifts. If you look around online, you'll see a variety of types of small panels. One of our favorite techniques for putting together a small panel employs copper foiling and what's called a "float frame." As discussed in a previous article, copper foiling is a technique pioneered by Louis Comfort Tiffany. It's primarily used nowadays to fuse together pieces of stained glass for use in small windows. It affords us a fairly fast, flexible and narrow line for our design. This narrowness is also ideal for working for float frames.

Float frames differ from ordinary picture frames. Most commonly, you'll see a float frame used to hold a photo between two panes of clear glass. It provides a clean elegant look for displaying photos. Since float frames are designed to handle this double thickness of glass, they are the perfect holders for small stained glass panels. We, of course, remove the original clear glass, and open up the frame from the back. Measuring the interior edge of the frame, we custom build small panels to fit the various sizes of float frames available on the market. After that, it's as simple as re-installing the rear side of the frame, and you're done. You end up with an elegant bold edge, which is a wonderful accent to a small panel. These frames are also great because they can be mounted on a desk, shelf or window sill. For further customization, you could easily also screw in a pair of eyelets in order to hang it. Float frames an all-around great simple solution.

For some examples of float frames in action, check out our custom glass gallery.

Over the past several years, Ebay has gotten to be a really tremendous way to buy and sell things online. It's even affected the world of stained glass. Finding really good-quality stained glass work for sale on Ebay can be a real chore though, unfortunately. Since you're only looking at a photo, and don't necessarily know yoru seller, it's easy to get taken for a ride.

There's definitely a few cool things out there, but you've really got to hunt for them. A couple general ideas to help you find them: a lot of the really inexpensive stained glass stuff for sale on Ebay is massed produced and shipped in from places like China and Mexico. If you're not looking to spend a lot of money, you might be able to find something. But if you're at all looking for something unique, collectible or antique, chances are you're going to want to steer clear of items ate the low end of the price range.

Another thing to bear in mind is that there's actually a bit of a black market for stolen stained glass windows. People posing as construction workers have been known to pull up and rob houses of stained glass in the middle of the day. So, just to be on the safe side, it's always a good idea to find out as much as possible about the history of any window you might be purchasing, as well as some background about the dealer.

Beyond that, you're going to want to look at technical aspects of the window. Is the window copper-foiled or leaded? Copper-foiling is better for small, indoor pieces, and leading is generally used for larger pieces (it's considerably stronger) and items which are exposed more to weather. When you look at the photo of the piece online, can you tell if there are any cracks in any of the glass? Does your seller have a policy for reimbursing you for damage if the window is broken during transit to you? Does the glass have any painting on it? This will drive up the price significantly, as it involves more work to build the window?

While you can find some really great stained glass deals on Ebays occasionally, it pays to be wary. Learn as much as possible, and ask questions. And if you're really in the market for great stained glass and have a little more money to spend, your best bet is definitely to commission a stained glass studio directly. This way you can find out who you're dealing with, view their past work, and have something custom-made for your needs.

A lot of people think stained glass is an old-fashioned or out-of-date art form. But just because it's been around for a long time doesn't mean people aren't doing interesting new things with it. Churches around the country and world are continually restoring and updating windows, and many of these projects make the regional news.

If you're a pastor or member of a church congregation having a new glass project installed soon, you might want to contact your local paper. An exciting new window provides both a great visual for a news story, plus an excellent community-based personal interest story. While you're updating your church's image with stained glass, why not consider leveraging that into a perceptual change in your community as well?

Here are some articles from various new sources which cover local churches doing stained glass restorations or installing new windows.

1. Church doing work to repair stained-glass window (Oneonta, NY)
2. Restorers pleased with stained-glass result (Hobart, Australia)
3. The case for stained-glass cash... (Carlisle, PA)
4. Window Cleaning, in Its Highest Form (Orange County, CA) Featured in the LA Times
5. Stained-glass creations help illustrate Easter at local church (McAllen, TX)

Even if your congregation just has some beautiful old windows, you might still be able to put together a nice news story featuring your church. Here's an example.

1. Stained glass holds key to the past (Taunton, MA)

Additionally, many non-religious stained glass art projects make the news as well. Getting involved in something like this could be a great way for organizations and businesses to create a positive "buzz" through an artform with a long tradition.

1. Toni Smith transforms Fourth Street home into work of art
2. A Window Into Another World - Featured in the NY Times
3. Artist's students produce large stained-glass mural
4. Glass shop moves to bigger quarters

In stained glass, there are two main ways in which you can assemble the pieces of glass together into a window. Lead caming is the more traditional technique and is especially used on larger windows. The copper foil technique is much more recent, and works better on smaller glass pieces, and is used especially frequently on three-dimensional glass objects such as lamp-shades and boxes.

The copper foil technique was pioneer by Tiffany in the late 1800's. It allows you to have a narrower clearner looking connecting area between two pieces of glass than the more traditional lead caming would allow. Consequently, it does not work well for big or heavy projects.

The technique works roughly like this: basically, you take each piece of glass in your window, and you wrap adhesive copper tape around the edges of it. This copper tape comes in different widths, depending on the thickness of your glass.

The tape folds over onto the front and back of the glass just a little bit. We brush these down with a chemical that helps the solder stick to the copper foil. Then you take a soldering iron, and solder together the glass pieces. The solder only sticks to where your copper foil is on your glass, so you have to be careful how you apply the foil. Smooth even lines around the borders of the glass work best. After that, we apply another chemical on top of the solder, which turns it to a black patina. That way, when you're looking through the illuminated window, you're not distracted by the lines, and it all ties together into the window image.

It makes for a very nice elegant look on your smaller windows and stained glass projects.

In light of the new Pope choosing the name "Benedict XVI," I thought it might be interesting to compile some information and links about the history of St. Benedict, and maybe a little bit about the popes who also shared his name.

1. The name "Benedict" (or Benedictus) is Latin for "Blessed" and relates to our modern word "benediction."
2. The original St. Benedict seems to have lived from about 480 AD to 547.
3. He was a member of the Roman nobility and had a twin brother named St. Scholastica
4. Benedict was known to have been an intense hermit, although he came out of seclusion at various points to aid and establish monasteries.
5. The order of Benedictine monks is named after him, and he is said to have written the so-called Rule of St. Benedict, which was an indication of how monks ought to live their lives. (Here's a link to the actual text of the Rule itself).
6. He's also said to have destroyed and/cleansed many pagan holy sites. Another interesting story about him says that a rival faction of monks tried to poison him, but Benedict blessed the cup, and was saved. As a result, Benedict is one of the patron saints against both witchcraft and poison (among other things).
7. Catholic Encyclopedia also has a length article on him, whom they refer to as St. Benedict of Nursia. And here's a worthwhile article from Catholic Online as well.
8. Since there are sixteen Pope Benedicts, perhaps it's better to provide a link to where you can find out about all of them, rather than try to summarize all their exploits here.

We have some new preliminary sketches for stained glass windows available online in our Sketches Gallery. They are for a church in Cold Spring, New York named the Church of Our Lady of Loretto. The two sketches depict two stages of the Church's historical development: the church in it's modern form, and the church in it's original form back when it was established.

Our Lady of Loretto seems to be seen in modern times as a patron saint of aviators and air travellers. This site has a pewter medal of her.

This is an interesting project because it shows how intertwined stained glass is with showing a sense of history. The church wanted a pair of windows which would sanctify it's long tradition, and pass on a sense of it to future generations. So much of stained glass art is about this. Many stained glass windows are also commissioned as memorials to prominent members of a parish who have passed away (Here's an example of a window we did in that tradition). Others just want to depict their connection to the broad history of Christianity.

With this Loretto sketch, our next step will be to submit it for review back to the Church. Once they approve it, we'll move forward with choosing glass, constructing and painting the window. We like to involve our clients as much as possible in the design process, so that they'll be thoroughly satisfied with the resulting window.

If you'd like to see a great example of how our original sketches get turned into completed windows, check out the before and after of our Twelve Tribes of Israel series.

When you tell people that you're a stained glass painter, most people don't understand what that means. They assume you mean you're the person who takes clear glass, and somehow injects it with color. In most cases, this isn't so. In fact, color is ordinarily added to glass as part of the production process at the factory.

From there, glass is shipped to studios. Artists at studios then choose glass for their projects by looking at colors and textures of factory glass samples. Some stained glass windows never actually get painted at all. Once glass samples are chosen, pieces are cut to the proper size and shape, and then leaded together into a window and installed.

The kind of work we really enjoy and specialize in at Glass Threshold is actually a bit more involved than that. As a quick rundown of the process: once colored glass has been chosen and cut to size, we then paint it. Stained glass painting is a little like painting with brush and ink, although the texture of the glass makes for a much different experience. Stained glass paints generally come in powdered form. This is then mixed with a small amount of gum arabic which helps adhere the paint together. We then mix in a small amount of water to get a sort of "runny yogurt" consistency.

Most of the painting we do on stained glass is actually in blacks and browns - although sometimes we do apply other colors (yellow is the next most frequent). We may apply linework, solid blocks of color, or we may apply tones, washes and textures. Once paint is applied, it's allowed to dry. We then use a sharpened piece of wood, shaped like a pencil, to scratch out additional texture or touch up line work. After that, the glass is placed in a kiln and fired. In the intense heat, the glass softens, and metals and other materials in the glass paint become fused into the surface of the ultra-hot glass. This way, when the glass cools off later, it's bonded right into the glass and won't come off.

Find out more technical details about our glass painting process by checking out our more detailed tutorial on it, as well as our glass painting services page.

We just posted photos of one of our latest projects in our Religious Gallery section. It is a window series of the Twelve Tribes of Israel, and was completed in association with Pittsburgh Stained Glass Studios for a synagogue named Beth Samuel.

The story of the Twelve Tribes is from the Hebrew Old Testament. The patriarch named Jacob was renamed "Israel" by God in the Book of Genesis. Jacob had twelve sons, each of which became the founding patriarch for one of the Twelve Tribes. Jacob's sons (and consequently their tribes) were named: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Dan, Gad, Naphtali, Asher, Joseph, and Benjamin. (Note: this list varies slightly depending on your source.) Here's a Bible Study site with some more info on the tribes.

Each tribe is also associated with a symbol or a standard. These are what we depicted on our window designs. Again, the symbols for the various tribes changes according to who you ask. We worked in conjunction with the synagogue to find the symbols which best suited the needs of their congregation.

There is also an interesting and worthwhile tradition about how the Twelve Tribes of Israel also refer to their version of the zodiac. It's hard to track down a real consensus on the subject, but here are some resources for further study in this area:

1. The Stars of Israel
2. Astrology, Judaism and Kabbalah
3. Biblical Insights Into Astrology

It's really interesting how aspects of religious stories can have so many overlapping levels of meaning: from providing a shared sense of history, to insights into the arrangement of the cosmos. Working in stained glass is especially rewarding - not only because you become so involved with the symbols and the connections, but your work helps to illuminate them for other people in their own religious life.

Also check out some stained glass renditions of the Twelve Tribes at other synagogues around the country:

1. Congregation Beth Or
2. Temple Beth El
3. Windows based on a Marc Chagall 12 Tribes painting

When cutting glass, you really only scratch the top of the glass. Then, you cause a controlled breaking by exerting pressure on the scratched area. Straight cuts are fairly easy to make. Curved cut's, especially to the inside are rather difficult and take some time to perfect. In this case, you scratch concentric circles like ripples moving away from a thrown rock into water. Then you break one circle at a time until you reach the most inner circle. There are two main types of glass cutters. There is the pistol grip, a newer style of cutter that you hold in your hand like the pistol of a gun and push on the glass by orienting your thumb up and bending your wrist side ways. In this way, you push the cutter away from you to cut. There is also a straight glass cutter that is quite old. It is a straight piece of metal or wood with a metal ball on one end and a small wheel on the other end. Older models have a diamond tip instead of a wheel. This type of glass cutter fits in between the index and middle finger and is pinched between the thumb and index finger. It is pulled toward you as you cut. Just like a guitar player who develops calluses on his finger tips, you build up a callus between your index and middle finger with time. This helps so that the sensitive skin there isn't bothered every time you cut. Your knuckles are oriented up with this cutter and you don't have to bend your wrist as much. With practice, you can a achieve a steady even cut without stops and starts.

Here are some ideas for a stained glass window of Pope John Paul II. He could be depicted forgiving Mehmet Ali Agca, the Turkish gunman who seriously wounded him during a 1981 assassination attempt. He could be depicted saying mass in the woods of communist controlled Poland when he was a young priest. He could be depicted on his historic trip to Poland, helping to start the Solidarity Movement.

This is a process that I created while working at a Pittsburgh area stained glass company 7 years ago. I haven't heard of any one else doing it, so it's worth a mention. One of the biggest problems with repainting sections of faded paint in an old window is finding glass that will match the original color. This truly can be impossible. Some studios will touch up old painted glass and refire the actual original glass. In this way, the old color sits against the raw glass and the new color on top of that. The new color doesn't stick very well though in this process. So, with a felt wheel used for buffing hand cut bevels I started to buff the old pain off. This gave me a really nice raw surface to work with again. The paint stuck to the glass in a much better way. I have also used this buffing process to remove a thin accidental film of gray wash on clear glass. Clear glass is really tricky to work with if part of the glass is totally unpainted and another has a series of washes and trace lines.

Cold Color is any paint that is applied to glass and is not fired in a kiln. A few companies make paint that is formulated for glass and works pretty well. At times, most big time studios will use black cold color to touch up areas of painted glass in restoration projects after the panel is re assembled. Deco makes a line of these types of paints. I also have recently been turned onto a company called pebeo, based in France. They make paints that you heat up in a conventional residential oven to 325 degrees for 30 minutes. The color is really rich and they are easy to work with. You can also mix them together. Surprisingly Michaels craft stores carry them. The paint is called "Vitrea 160."

Ok, I am back and ready to explain more. So, hold on to your glass cutter. I have been catching myself saying things about working with glass that I forget that I know.

For whatever reason, when there is a grey or brown wash on a piece of glass with some trace lines, the actual glass appears darker than it is. This happens even in a area on a piece of glass that isn't painted. I think that it is some kind of trick that your eye plays on you. So always go a shade lighter on the glass selection when recutting glass. Also, you can use textured glass if there is a wash on it because often times the wash blocks the texture. Also, a trick that I use to mimic strange warped pieces that were probably warped in the original firing of the glass in one of those spooky gas kilns of yester year is to use water glass. Water glass is distorted in a very similar way as old over fired pieces of glass.