Glass Art - Marh/April 1998
Special Effects
Glass is remarkable. Temperamental, fragile and unforgiving in the studio, once it is leaded and installed in a window, it becomes one of the most durable of materials. Even after hundreds of years, stained glass remains a living substance, expanding and contracting with the days and with the seasons. Although still vulnerable - a sharp tap could shatter it - it is also remarkably tough, and if left undisturbed, will endure almost unchanged for centuries.
Glass demands that the artist develop an understanding and respect for it, and this in turn shapes our designs. It is not enough just to know what visual effects we want in a particular window; we also have to think about how to achieve them with our chosen materials, and how the treated glass will look as it ages. Every treatment and technique we use is weighed against the expected life of the glass - keeping in mind that the work may outlive the building it is installed in.
Many outstanding windows are created using no special treatment at all - relying only on the shape, color and innate beauty of the glass itself. In very large works, this is often the best option, as treated pieces may be lost in the expanse of glass, or they might confuse what would otherwise be a simple and powerful visual statement.
When figures or intricate details are required, the traditional treatments for glass in exterior windows are painting, silver staining, and etching.
Painting is the oldest stained glass treatment, dating almost to its beginnings in the first millennium. The paint we use is made of finely ground black or brown glass, combined with iron oxide in a liquid carrier. Pieces of glass are first painted, and then fired, fusing the paint permanently to the surface of the glass. As the painted surface is installed on the inside of the window, it will last nearly as long as the glass itself.
Glass painting is used to block or shade the light coming through a piece of glass, to achieve a desired effect. With this technique, an artist can temper a color, “extend” a lead line, or turn a few pieces of glass into a figure, an object, or a background. Glass artists also use paint to soften the leaded line work - to bind individual pieces of glass into a cohesive tonal element. However it is used, paint on glass tends to focus the eye on the surface, drawing it away from the light landscape beyond. Sometimes an artist will use the paint itself to create an illusion of perspective, thereby creating a sense of varying dimensions within the work.
A versatile technique, glass painting can be used to wonderfully imaginative effect, as is demonstrated in Jürgen Reipka’s blue triptych, located in the town hall of Ellwangen. Reipka truly uses the glass as canvas. Beginning with carefully chosen Lambert’s flashed glass (a streaky blue and white opaque), Reipka creates a non-traditional and quite extraordinary “glass-painting”. The strong juxtaposition of vertical, diagonal and horizontal painted lines is combined with areas that are sandblasted through to the white layer beneath. This dramatic graphic composition is enlivened with random spatters of paint and beautiful brushstrokes.
Another early stained glass treatment was etching. Because red or “ruby” glass in its full thickness tends to be so dark as to be nearly opaque, early craftsmen would create glass with a thin layer of red “flashed” onto a thicker layer of clear glass. Sometimes the flashed layer could be scraped off to create areas of clear in a single red piece. This technique began to be used with other colors as well, and today is an important element in the glass artist’s palette - with sandblasting and hydrofluoric acid replacing scraping as the way to remove the layer of color. I appreciate glass etching for subtlety - it alters glass, while maintaining its original character. Where painting focuses the eye on the surface of the glass, etching draws the vision through the glass, even as it adds shape and texture.
Nada Healy’s freestanding exhibition screen demonstrates a novel use of this technique. By etching the backing off of a mirror, Healy has created vastly different worlds on each side of this intriguing work. From one side, the piece reflects light, with a pattern of dark lines for contrast; from the other side, the darkness is predominant, and the same lines provide light.
Silver stain, a technique discovered in the 14th Century, had an enormous impact on the art of stained glass. With the spread of this new technique, new windows moved away from the traditional deep reds and blues, and more towards gold and green. Many stylistic changes also came with this discovery.
Silver stain is luminous magic. It catches the sunlight and holds it in the glass. Austrian artist Wilhelm Bernhard uses a combination of silver stain and acid etching in the elegant piece exhibited at the “2me Salon International de Vitrail” at Nimes, France. This work is rich, dazzling and complex. The top panel is composed of etched images, resembling hieroglyphs, on white opal glass, with silver stain playing various roles. As the work extends downwards, variations on the etched images are extended into blue/white flashed glass. The layering in this piece is exquisite, and is deeply engaging upon direct viewing. A larger and more abstracted image in red both interrupts and pulls together the whole work.
The past 150 years has produced many innovative techniques, including copper foil, fusing, slumping, and the use of high-tech glues and epoxies. New materials have appeared as well, for example, dichroic glass and liquid crystals. Although these expand the artist’s opportunities, they also increase the need for caution in architectural applications, as not all techniques survive under all conditions, and many of the new techniques and materials have not been adequately tested.
Interior works, such as exhibition pieces, screens and murals, present the artist with more options. Such works don’t face nearly as many environmental stresses as do their exterior counterparts - although other hazards, such as careless cleaning staff, and the curious hands of passers-by can take their toll. Nevertheless, the freedom afforded by interior applications can result in interesting and innovative work.
Stephen Brathwaite, in a series based on Caribbean shutters, used a “field” of bevels with some laminated areas. The idiosyncratic lines, linear shifts, and tiny random prisms give this graphic composition a subtle beauty and quiet grace.
Weisbaden Town Hall, in Germany, holds a number of examples of treatments and techniques. One of these, a series of windows in the reception hall, is by Joachem Poensgen. Poensgen has often remarked that his work is a contemporary response to the decorative tradition in stained glass. This work, which serves as a screen or the threshold between the building’s interior and exterior, is an interesting example of this. Liberated from its traditional structural role, the lead work gains extraordinary prominence, acting as a striking graphic element between the glass pieces. The window has a heightened sense of crystalline fragility. Silver stain plays a role here as well, adding delicate golden colour and luminosity.
The windows in the Council Room, by Johannes Schreiter, stand in direct contrast to the other major glass projects in the Town Hall. These windows create a grid of light, illuminating the room with quiet strength. Quotations from great thinkers of the past infuse the windows with a compelling social and spiritual purpose. (see Glass Art, November/December 1996, The Art of Johannes Schreiter.)
Ludwig Schaffrath’s windows greet visitors at the Weisbaden Town Hall staircase and provide a gracious public reception. Their robust and joyous presence is a welcoming asset to the building. The windows work on many levels. From a distance Schaffrath shows himself a master of design: the blue arcs and bands form a perfect counterpoint to the window armature, serving to strengthen and play within its massive and dominating structure. The blue jewelled grid is broken, intercepted and sent into orbit many times while retaining an underlying stability. Closer inspection yields an intricate world of delight. Most compelling are the trailing lines of blue enamel, and the delicate gradation of tone within the blue glass.
Our remarkable material, glass, can be by turns frustrating, challenging, and inspiring. Glass and the techniques available to us offer infinite possibilities. This is its eternal gift to the artist!
