Vitreosity

Stained Glass Book Bargains

A quick search for good bargain stained glass books, with the holiday season upon us.

The absolute number one bargain for stained glass books is the aptly named 'Stained Glass', by Lawrence Lee, George Seddon, and Francis Stephens. I did a blog post on Lawrence Lee about a year ago if you want to get a look at the book. Currently, an 'acceptable' copy starts at one penny plus 3.99 for shipping. Almost embarrassing for such a great book. Get several and give them to your employees, students or anyone just starting out in stained glass.

Stained glass from mind to light: An inquiry into the nature of the medium - starting at $5 including shipping, a good price considering the book is over 250 pages! In this you get a look at the design process of the one and only Narcissus Quagliata.

Behind the Scenes of Tiffany Glassmaking: The Nash Notebooks: Including Tiffany Favrile Glass, by Martin Eidelberg - a bit more expensive starting at $17 including shipping but a good look at the glassblowing operation at Tiffany studios.

Jewels For A Crown: The Story of the Chagall Windows or in Alibris, by Miriam Freund, exclusively about the Jerusalem Windows. Miriam Freund was president of Hadassah at the time and was intrumental in Chagall getting the commission, arguably his most renowned.

Stained Glass in the Burrell Collection, by Linda Cannon, is available for about $8 including shipping. A small book, but with a great section on the stained glass techniques.

Chartres Cathedral, by Malcolm B. Miller, the English Guide at Chartres Cathedral. This is a basic guide to the sculpture and stained glass at Chartres Cathedral. No flashy color but very good, especially when it comes to the layouts showing the narratives to be found in the windows. Starting at $8 including shipping.

Image from Chartres Cathedral showing the diagrams and descriptions. Click to see large image in new window.

Stained Glass: Art or Anti-Art, by John Piper. This is part of a very highly regarded (but commercially fragmented) series on Design under the name of "Studio Vista", and it was unusual to have a book included on stained glass. This book is a bit of a curiousity, but cetainly worth a look at $6 including shipping.

Stained Glass From Medieval Times to Present: Treasures to be Seen in New York - by James Sturm, and focusing on stained glass to be seen in the New York City area, it is the book I used to plan my tours of stained glass in New York City. At $8 used, a bargain.

New Glass, by Otto Rigan. This can be got for $4 used. This was an important book to me when I was a teenager, and I did a blog post called 'Googling New Glass' some years ago that tried to track down what had become of the participants.

John La Farge, by Henry Adams with others. Considering that this was a $75 dollar book when it came out in 1987, it's a bargain to get a good used copy for $20-25 including shipping.

Stained and Decorative Glass, by Elizabeth Morris, mostly covers English stained glass - starting at $5, including shipping

Photographic Images on Glass with Tom Krepcio

The catalog doesn't come out until later this week and registration does not start until December 3, but I thought I would give a heads up that I'm teaching a workshop at Craft Alliance here in St. Louis, February 5-6, 2011. Go to the Craft Alliance Workshop Page to register.

Photographic Images on Glass with Tom Krepcio

DELMAR STUDIOS & KRANZBERG ARTS CENTER
3104 Feb 5 & 6 Sat & Sun 1-5P
Tuition: $ 120 Members: $108
Materials & Lab Fee: $30
Learn to print photographic images on to flat glass pieces.

Day 1 is in the computer lab at the Grand Center location
Day 2 is in the glass studio at the Delmar location.

First Day: You will scan photos and process them for screenprinting using Adobe Photoshop. Tom will teach you what constitutes a good image for transferring to glass, what are halftone patterns and how to create them and then make a simple Thermal screen to use on Day 2. Please bring a variety of photos. Some knowledge of Macintosh computers is desirable and some familiarity with Photoshop is helpful, but not essential.

Second Day: You will be in the Glass studio at the Delmar Location. The screens created on Saturday will be used to screen vitreous enamel paint onto glass. Methods of manipulating screened paint will also be explored. The pros and cons of alternative methods will also be discussed. Prior work with glass is helpful, but not required. All pieces will be fired and ready for pick-up 1 week after the workshop.

download a pdf flyer (600k) in a new window

Brian Clarke Video 2

Another nicely done video interview with stained glass artist Brian Clarke, this time made by a group of year three students from the University of Westminster, UK.

I would disagree with what he says about painting turning away from religion only at the time of the impressionists (I would put it at a good 150-200 years earlier), but I do agree with his sentiments about transmitted light in stained glass, and how the play of light through glass makes for a truly unique and "transilluminating" experience.

Previous post on Brian Clarke - Artist Brian Clarke talks about Glass and Light

Ceramic Theme & Variations by Piero Fornasetti

Every once in a while I come upon an artist I feel I should have known about for years, but have only heard about recently. Like today.

I just finished reading the article The Man Who Launched 1,000 Plates, about ceramic artist Piero Fornasetti (1913-1988), by Alice Rawsthorn, for the New York Times, November 7, 2010.

I was especially intrigued by the faces. So I did a Google search.

A screen shot of a Google search for Fornasetti, November 8, 2010
Click on image to see full size

and this

I really like the faces, officially called the "Theme and Variations", modeled loosely on Lina Cavalieri, an early 19th century Italian soprano. There are several hundred of these variations, all on ceramic plates. You can see more in detail at http://www.fornasetti.com, the official website for the Fornasetti Design shop, continued by his son Barnaba Fornasetti. There is more in there than just ceramic plates, but I think the plates are the best.

America Windows Video

A video by the Art Institute of Chicago on the Chagall 'America Windows' -

Silver Stain Book

A new book by J. Kenneth Leap on Silver Stain.

Silver Stain by J. Kenneth Leap