Stained glass is art form

By Wren Stratton
Phoenix Correspondent

January 11, 2009 01:25 am

— Glass painting, mosaics, cast or blown hot glass, glass etching, glass blowing and finally stained glass are all forms of art glass. What they share in common is a passion for the magic of color and light as it mixes with glass.
Stained glass is the current focus. In Muskogee we are surrounded by beautiful examples of stained glass work we fail to see and appreciate.
No one knows exactly when or where glass was first made. They have found some pieces from the third millennium BC. It was considered precious, and in the Bible glass has been compared to gold. (Job 28:17)
In 1676, an Englishman named George Ravenscroft discovered that, by adding lead oxide to the glass composition, a far more brilliant sparkling glass could be produced than have every been made before. The next big leap came in the 1800s from Louis Tiffany. He developed a lustering technique that became the hallmark for Tiffany glass. It was his efforts that really transformed stained glass into an American art form.
Art glass is made by combining sand, silica, soda ash and recycled glass under high temperatures.
Colors are achieved by adding metal oxides to the glass during formation and every color in the rainbow is available.
Translucency — how much light can pass through the glass — and texture are important for the artist. The internal structure of the glass might include splinters, flakes or bubbles. All change how the light passes through the glass and affects the magic created.
Colors and textures of glass that add to the magic will be selected.
How the glass pieces are cut and connected is information for a more in-depth writing. Suffice to say there are as many choices for these as there are colors and textures of glass to pick from. Whether your interest is to learn the art or to commission a piece, you will want to contact an experienced artisan. My expert source was our very own Nelson Myers. His passion for the art is evident not only in his many original works around town, but also involvement in renovations.
Next column I will take you on a stained glass tour of Muskogee. Hopefully you will recognize locations that you will see with new eyes. Let me know if you have ideas of locations to include.
Send questions to Wren Stratton at animal3@suddenlink.net.

Photos

Stratton