Stained Glass Express - The Blog / Category_Art & Artists

This is the 2022 1^st place winter in the CBS Dichroic by Design Contest

The artist is Jackie MacDonald of New Zealand

This piece is called “Memories of Christchurch.

2022 Winners | Dichroic Glass Manufacturer | Coatings by Sandberg (cbs-dichroic.com)

Below is a link to an amazing display of her work along with Stephen Coote:

(64) JackieMac Art, Nelson New Zealand - YouTube

What amazing talent by every participant this year for our annual Just For Fun Contest! Here are our 2022 winners in each category:

In honor of National Art Glass Month, Stained Glass Express, hosts an annual contest called "Just For Fun Contest". Customers of ours, local artists, and any glass enthusiast can enter the contest under three categories: Stained Glass (Copper foil or lead), Hot/Warm Glass (Fused, Torched, Blown), and lastly Mosaics. All entries are due this year by March 26th, and we display all the entries in our store. We then host a special "Invite Night" exclusive to contest entry participants and guests. This night brings together such talented artists from all over the State of Maine, and with appetizers and refreshments, everyone can connect and enjoy being in the company of people who all share the same interests of glass and art. But most importantly, everyone invited to "Invite Night" gets advantage of the store's biggest sale of the year! Our customer's love this aspect of the contest because the store puts out so much product and glass at a very low price! We also receive amazing donations from our top glass distributors and give everyone who participated a "Swag Bag" full of awesome stuff from each distributor. Everyone involved from the loyal customers to the amazing distributors and the employees who put this on it is truly a special night uniting us all over the love of art and glass! During Invite Night, each person can vote on their favorite entries and the winners selected for each category will receive gift cards to our store. Each year we have an amazing turnout and we cannot wait to see all the entries and how beautifully talented everyone is who submits an entry. Janet Parkhurst, owner of Stained Glass Express stated " It really is the most fun event we do. Not only do you get a present, but you get to hang with people who love what you love, and you get to see amazing artwork."

Everyone is always asking what to do with scrap glass.

January

Make a pot melt.

This is from GrandRidge Glass

February

Make a heart. Put a magnet on the back or fuse in a ring to hang.

March

Make it tiny and use up scraps.

From Stubridge Yankee Workshop

April

Eggs, foiled or fused. Ideas are endless.

From Justin Urbantas on

Stained Glass Arts and Addicts

colibriglass.com

May

This by Lee Ann on Stained Glass Addicts. A table top. Mosaics always a good way to use scrap.

How cute is this from Anything Stained Glass

June

Start doing some fun garden stuff.

Sorry, I don't remember where I got this picture to give credit.

July

Go out to the yard sales and find an old frame to mosaic, fuse to foil.

From Glasscrafter.com

August

Imagine little strips like this hanging outside.

September

October

November

From Crafty Chica

December

Every year I look forward to the announcement of Pantone's color of the year. They have been doing this for over 20 years. The announcement influences fashion, home furnishings, industrial design and a glass sale at Stained Glass Express! To pick the color, the Pantone color experts look at color influences from current/emerging entertainment and film industry, art collections and new artists, fashion, design, travel, sports, lifestyles and socio-economic conditions.

2021 Brings us two colors! Ultimate Gray and Illuminating Yellow.

"The union of an enduring Ultimate Gray with the vibrant yellow illuminating expresses a message of positivity supported by fortitude. Practical and rock solid but at the same time warming and optimistic, this is a color combination that gives us resilience and hope. We need to feel encouraged and uplifted; this is essential to the human spirit" _Leatrice Eiseman, Executive Director of the Pantone Color Institute.

Our picks for our March sale are:

For 96 COE - Oceanside 28072 Pewter and 161 Yellow Transparent

For Art Glass Wissmach's 31 Corella Classic and Kokomo's 789 Grey Opatlume

These are some picturs from the fashion world using the colors.

Home Decor

Here is a good thing that happened in 2020! The amazing Glass Challenge. Endings and Beginnings! The Entries really are amazing. We are proud to be the host of this contest and be associated with such talented people. We want to acknowledge and thank the founders of The Amazing Glass challenge, Lucie Boucher and Bernie Huebner of Soneridge Glass. They started The Challenge with Gray Glass Challenge in 2012. Stained Glass Express has kept it going most years since then. We also want to thank our judges for giving us the time and talent. Bruce Grantham, Alice Yates and Kathi Wall. Read Their Bios at these links: https://www.stainedglassexpress.com/store/skin1/images/patterns/About%20Bruce%20Grantham.pdf https://www.stainedglassexpress.com/store/skin1/images/patterns/About%20Alice%20Yates.pdf https://www.stainedglassexpress.com/store/skin1/images/patterns/About%20Kathi%20Wall.pdf And the biggest THANK YOU to all who took on the challenge. The winners are: See all the entries here: https://www.stainedglassexpress.com/store/skin1/images/patterns/All%20Pics.pdf If Covid had not turned our Champagne Reception into a hybrid event with our program being virtual, I would have added this as my contribution and the end of the program: Intro of

The Glass Tears Poem Journal by Randal S. Doaty

A ray of sunlight came through a pane in the glass studio workshop

The scrap glass bucket was nearly full. On top of this heap was a hardened drip of glass that had

carelessly fallen from a glass artist's punti.

Glimmering in the sunlight that morning was the very first Glass Teardrop

It may have remained just scrap until the simple words, glass tears, softly whispered in the imagination of a would-be poet.

What was intended as the end - into the scrap bucket - became the first bit of beauty of the day.

This artist was born in Milan. This is a self-trained artist, influenced by the bead makers in Venice. Her work is a page stopper. If you are flipping through a magazine and see her work, you are stopping on that page! Her work shows nature from flowers in full bloom to the drooping last days, if real, those flowers would be out of the vase and into the trash! These pictures are from Lilla Tabasso glass and jewelry facebook page.

On May 7, 2020 Youghiogheny and Oceanside announced a partnership where Oceanside will continue with the Spectrum line and accessory glass and Youghiogheny will take on the manufacturing of the Uroboros line. It is exciting to have the Uroboros line again. With Youghiogheny manufacturing the Uroboros line, we not only will get the glass we will see more options in the accessory glass line. I am taking a leap here, but I believe that this collaboration will bring back the "96" term which Oceanside has not been using. Both companies are saying the System 96 brand will be back. That is exciting news. No question that Y-96, Oceanside and Uro fusible will be compatible.

Here is the official announcemnt.

Our industry is long overdue for an announcement of excitement and positivity, so we are pleased to be the bearer of good news. Youghiogheny Glass, together with Oceanside Glasstile, is announcing the acquisition and launch of Uro by Yough, a resurrection of the Uroboros line of both traditional art glass and 96 compatible fusible glass. The machines and all of the equipment have arrived at our Connellsville factory, and we are just about ready to start production. We would like to thank Oceanside Glasstile for approaching us with this opportunity. Their transparency and cooperation throughout the entire process has resulted in a second thrilling announcement; a collaborative resurrection of the System 96 brand of fusible glass and products including Oceanside Compatible, Uro by Yough, and Y96!! So what this means is that Youghiogheny Glass will produce URO by Yough and will collaborate with OGT to resurrect the System 96 brand. The new agreement will allow for the most comprehensive product selection of hand rolled art glass And a complete line of System 96 compatible fusing glasses and accessories. The last 5 years have been tumultuous. Our passion for glass and the industry drove us to fill product voids created from the upheaval and expand Youghiogheny's palette. We viewed this time as an opportunity for growth and expansion into the 96 fusible market with our Y96 product line, even though the future seemed uncertain. In less than a year from the release of Y96, we unveiled the True Dichro line of Art Glass. This had been a 10 year experiment and an outstanding breakthrough in art glass manufacturing science. This was quickly followed by a line of Textured Streaky Art Glass and then Art Glass Irids. Finally, we expanded color options in Y96, more than doubling the original offerings. At the end of 2019, we thought we had done it all. However, opportunity arose once again when we were approached by Oceanside GlassTile regarding Uroboros production and System 96. Youghiogheny has a long history of producing high quality, handmade sheet glass and is the ideal landing spot for the products previously produced by Uroboros. Our niche and strengths are the perfect complement to OGT’s continuous ribbon and accessory products in order to expand the System 96 palette. The name Uroboros Glass carries a heavy weight with us. The brand and legacy created by Eric Lovell is of the highest quality and held in the highest regard. We consider it an honor and great challenge to properly reintroduce Uro, by Yough. An undertaking of this magnitude for our company will be a challenge, one of excitement and optimism. This is an area where we ask for your help. Any insight that you can provide us with from your previous years of experience with the Uro line of glasses will be helpful. The expansive line of art glass, with the many combinations of colors and textures, has many products that are very similar or identical to items currently produced within our existing product lines. Uro by Yough is striving to recreate the most sought after products previously manufactured without creating duplicates of what is currently available. With your valuable input we will be able to determine a production starting point more quickly. We thank you for your continued support and loyalty and look forward to providing you with even more excellent products. Stay Well, Tristan and Leanne Triggs

This announcement is something to look forward to every year! It is plain fun. Pantone is a company that provides a universal language of color. Many manufacturers use it. Once you might not know is paint. Because it is all about color, we watch for it every year and match up glass and feature glass. Pantone describes it like this: "Instilling calm, confidence, and connection, this enduring blue hue highlights our desire for a dependable and stable foundation on which to build as we cross the threshold into a new era. Little did they know when this was announced that the world was also about to announce the start of a pandemic that did any but ensure stability. Leatrice Eisemen, Executive Director of the Pantone Color Institute says "we are living in a time that requires trust and faith....Classic Blue is a solid and dependable blue hue we can always rely on...an anchoring foundation. A bondless blue evocative of the vast and infinite evening sky, Classic Blue encourages us to look beyond the obvious to expand our thinking; challenging us to think more deeply, increase our perspective and open the flow of communication. I look at this color and I think of favorite blue jeans. The ones you just want to slip on because they feel good. The Pantone website also gives colors to go with the color of the year. They call them Color Harmonies. There are several but my favorite is Desert Twilight. Suggestive of the early evening sky, the boundless PANTONE Classic Blue 19-4052 creates an elegant backdrop for a glittery grouping of sophisticated shades painted across the sky, adding illuminating sparkle to a Dessert Twilight. To see other Color Harmonies click here: https://www.pantone.com/color-intelligence/color-of-the-year/color-of-the-year-2020-palette-exploration

I was recently asked if I had ever seen the Bottle House on Prince Edward Island. "Never did! I'll Google it." I googled 'bottle house' and got more than Prince Edward Island. There are a lot! They are amazing.

Here is the one on PEI

This house is in Ripley's Believe It or Not and in 1000 Places to See Before You Die. It is made of 30,000 bottles. The house was built in 1980 by Edouard Arsenault. The gardens are beautiful and the village contains a gift shop, a tavern, a chapel and a six-gabled house.

The Chapel:

The Bar

The Six Gabled House

In addition to the PEI bottle house, there are others. This one is in Argentina and is made from plastic bottles.

This next one is in Utigawe

This one is in Nepal

THAT'S WHAT YOU CALL UPCYCLING!

I was recently asked if I had ever seen the Bottle Houses of Prince Edward Island. “Never did,” I responded. “I’ll Google it.” When I searched for “bottle houses,” I found more than those on Prince Edward Island. There are a lot of them – and they are amazing. Here are shots of the Bottle Houses of PEI. THE CHAPEL THE BAR THE SIX-GABLE HOUSE OTHER BOTTLE HOUSES In addition to the Bottle Houses of PEI, there are others. This one, located in Argentina, is made from plastic bottles. This one is in Uitgawe. This bottle house is in Nepal. Now, THAT’S what you call upcycling!

I have a habit of folding over pages in magazines that I want to go back and look at again. When I read the March/April 2019 Glass Art Magazine recently, it seemed I was folding over every other page. One article after another featured amazing artists. The first artist that “caught my eye and pulled it back” was Los Angeles artist Kazuki Takizawa.

Just Google his name and enjoy!

My next folded page corner was Wisconsin artist Stephanie Trenchard. The article is "Telling Women’s Stories in Glass." Fun, fun, fun. Next was Lois Manno, who is known for her Modeling Glass. We have been selling her product at our store and our customers are doing some very creative things with it.

Her most popular items seem to be her feathers. But she also has other amazing items. And not to be missed is the sculptural jewelry of Linda MacNeil. I love how modern, crisp and colorful these pieces are.