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The Masterpiece Techniques of Stained Glass Window Making
by Devina Venter
http://www.fmwindow.com
Humans have long known how to fashion colored glass. Do you
know that prehistoric people knew how to make glass and add
metallic salts and oxides to clear glass to add color? As
ordinary light passes through the altered glass, the added
minerals filter the light such that only certain portions
of the color spectrum shine through and the result is the
appearance to the human eye of a solid color. Metallic
gold added to glass produces a cranberry color, while cobalt
results in a blue color; adding silver creates gold or
yellow tones while adding copper makes brick red or green.
Different periods or eras in time brought us different uses
of this art form. During the 1100 AD to 1300 AD period,
stain glass written records were first found. These
documentation showed us the techniques of that time involved
elaborate designs for stained glass windows inside mostly
cathedrals and some old churches. Pictures during this
great Gothic cathedral time in Europe were not used;
instead, designs that depicted the honor and glory of God
overruled any pictures of Man.
When you think of cathedral stained glass however, you are
more likely to recall grand pictures of religious symbols
and disciples as seen in the cathedral windows during the
period from 1400 to 1700. The 1400s were known as the High
Gothic period that took stained glass art into pictures.
Pictures were often done by paint on glass rather by
painstakingly placing bits of glass into panels to create a
scene. This technique soon became the norm and by the
1700s, painting on glass was often seen in the nobler homes
and public buildings. However, churches fell out of this
practice, considered it unfashionable, and started to remove
their stained glass window paintings.
This move away from stained glass window paints didn't last
long. When the Gothic Revival movement in the middle of the
1800s was all the rage in England, many stained glass
windows started to appear among England's architecture.
Then, when European immigrants took this art to America,
American churches and cathedrals soon were decorated with
intricate stained glass windows. Once the average
middle-class started to place stained glass in their
doorways and side panels in the 1920s and 1930s, this art
form was soon seen at home.
During the last 30 years, a large resurgence of interest in
stained glass windows has gained momentum. While stained
glass is more modernly referred to as art glass, this glass
is now commonly seen free-hanging as a piece of decorative
art in anyone's home. In response to this craze, Andersen
Corporation, a U.S. manufacturer of quality windows and
doors, started a line of art glass windows and patio doors
patterned after Frank Lloyd Wright designs.
While the technique has changed little since its inception
many periods ago, many hundreds of devoted artisans continue
to make a living off this magical glass. In this modern
age, most services and projects requiring stained glass
artists involve restoring these treasured pieces in churches
and public buildings.
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