Blog / Category_Art & Artists

Mary Harris is an artist from Wisconsin. She has a studio called Harris Art Glass. Mary came to my attention once before when she was winner in the Gallery of Excellence Art Competition at the Glass and Bead Show. This year she was a double winner in the same competition at the 2023 Glass and Bead Show. Below are her two winning entries.

Tree of Life

1^st place popular vote

Professional Stained Glass

Under the Cherry Tree

1^st place popular vote

Professional Mosaic

Below is a link to Mary’s website where you can see more of her amazing work. Portfolio | Harris Art Glass Glass Craft & Bead Expo | Las Vegas | Welcome! (glasscraftexpo.com) This is the link where you can go and see the other amazing entries in the Gallery of Excellence. Once you click on it go to the top and click on Gallery of Excellence. Red letters in the white bar.

MODELING GLASS

Ever wish you could get more detail on a project? Modeling Clay is the answer. It was developed by Glass Bird Studios. It is a two-part kit that has a powdered binder and liquid medium. It is mixed with water and your own powdered glass or frit. Once it is mixed, it is the consistency of clay and you can work it like clay. It is food safe and non-toxic. You can pretty much do everything with it that you do with clay. Roll it, cut out shapes, put in silicone molds. You can then fire to a tack and get amazing detail. Glass Bird Modeling Glass Starter Kit (stainedglassexpress.com) Lois Manno, the owner and developer of Glass Bird Modeling Glass, is a talented, experienced artist. Her love of nature shows in her artwork. She is most known for her feathers made from Modeling Glass. This incredible image is made by Bob Leatherbarrow, who is one of our industry’s amazing artist and teacher. He created the lines with Modeling Glass. See more of this work at www.leatherbarrowglass.com

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

One of the very exciting things we get to do in this industry is to restore windows. These are generally from churches, and they are usually over 100 years old. It is just fascinating to see the beauty of these windows and the skill (they did not have the tools and equipment we have) it took to make these windows. One of these jobs was in 2008 when we had the privilege of restoring two windows from the First Congregational Church of Blue Hill. We were told the windows were originally made by Alfred E. Bell, a renowned stained glass artist of the 1800s. These windows were 6’ by 12’ and were exceptionally heavy because they were all plated. Each piece was at least two layers thick, and some were three layers thick. That created some interesting challenges in the restoration. Another exciting job we did was a window called the Traveling Angel. It was from the Fairfield United Methodist in Fairfield Center, Maine. This window was made by the Belcher Glass company based in New Jersey. It was a unique process. It involved placing tiny pieces of glass on a paper pattern. When I say tiny, I mean like fingernail size! The pieces of glass and the pattern were then covered on both sides with a gummed sheet of asbestos. A frame was placed around the outside edges of the glass-filled asbestos sheets to seal the glass. Molten lead was then poured between the asbestos sheets, filling the gaps between the small pieces of glass. When the metal cooled, it bound the glass pieces together. There were very few of these windows made because the process was toxic, and the workers died! There are approximately 30 of these windows in existence. This picture shows a glazier, Lisa Lucas, from Oakes & Parkhurst Glass helping us reinstall the window after we flattened the curve in it, fixed the painted the face and did some other repairs including rebar to strengthen it. For the first time we offered a class in restoration! It seems there are more pieces of glass to be restored than the time and people to do it. We hope that some of the students will continue to work on their skills and eventually start taking on restoration jobs. The pieces they restored were likely originally installed in the old Methodist Church in Fairfield, Maine (though that building burned long ago and their provenance is not definite.) There were eight panels in various states of decay, and some of them were missing several pieces of glass. They were also each unique, despite being a "matched" set. Some had round faceted crystals in the design, and all had slight variations in glass color. It was an intensive process that took some students weeks to complete. Here you can see some of the detailed steps, the immense satisfaction of a completed project, and 3 very different final interpretations of the restored windows. Want to be notified when we publish a new blog post? Sign up Here

I recently visited The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum. It was my third trip, so that tells you something. The bonus was that I took my adult daughter, Soo, and she absolutely loved it. It is in Winter Park, Florida, just north of Orlando. Winter Park is a college town and has delightful shops and wonderful restaurants. We sat on the street and had broiled oysters with cheese and luscious drinks. It is the most comprehensive collection of the works of Louis Comfort Tiffany. Things you can see are Daffodils, the Four Season, Pumpkins and Beets. The glass is just unbelievable. Tiffany would make the glass for the piece that was being made so it is amazing. In addition to these individual works are two complete rooms from the Tiffany estate. The Tiffany Chapel is breathtaking. Laurelton Hall’s Daffodil Terrace, Reception hall, living room, dining room and smoking room. Price of admission? Most Fridays free. Other days $6.00 and less. If you are in Florida, don’t miss it.

A friend of mine on Facebook posted this a picture of sandblasted panel that is in his home. He said “do any of you remember the glass artist from Canaan, Me., Fred Tenenbaum? He did this panel." My response was, “I sure do, without Fred, Stained Glass Express would not exist." Time was, we owned a glass store in Winslow, Maine, named Oakes & Parkhurst Glass. It was a full-service glass shop offering commercial glazing, residential glazing, and auto glass. (O&P is now owned and operated by two of our children, Soo and Tobias.) I am not sure of the date but sometime in the early 1980s Fred came to us and asked if we could get stained glass. We brought in a small amount, made a small glass rack, and put it in the corner. As we expanded O&P Glass, we also put a small amount of stained glass and supplies for the stained glass artist/hobbyist in each of the other 5 locations (Belfast, Skowhegan, Farmington, Glenburn, and Manchester). Then in 1988 circumstances prompted us to buy a single location and make it good enough for all our customers to travel to. We bought and renovated a building in Waterville, Maine at 10 Railroad Square. By 2015, our son had bought O&P and the business we were doing in stained glass had totally outgrown that space. We moved to our current property in Manchester which is full floor to ceiling (it feels like!) with stained glass, fusible glass, specialty cabinet glass, tools of all the glass arts and trades, and so much more. All thanks to Fred's simple request 40 years ago! Fred was a very talented artist who did not only sandblasting but copper foil and lead came work. His studio was called Northern Lights Glass Studio. While writing this blog entry, I had not been having luck finding any more pictures of his work and was feeling disappointed. When I handed over the blog to be edited by our new Glass Academy Director, however, she recognized some of the names. (It is such a small world!) Within a few days I had been connected with Fred's widow, Eve. She sent me this photo of Fred's first ever piece, and I was moved to tears. Here is Fred's obituary, published on legacy.com by Central Maine on Jul. 31, 2018: "1941 - 2018 CANAAN - Fred Tenenbaum, 77, of Canaan, died peacefully at home surrounded by his family on July 27, 2018. Fred was born in St. Gallen, Switzerland, on May 14, 1941, and immigrated with his parents to Brooklyn, N.Y., as survivors of the Holocaust. He moved back to the land in Maine in 1970 where he spent nearly 50 years building a home with his wife, Eve, in Canaan. He was an accomplished stained glass artist, creating and restoring windows all over Maine and beyond as Northern Lights Stained Glass. He also taught at the Skowhegan high and technical schools for many years. He loved to garden and travel, he was a true crafts person and was loved dearly by all that knew him. Fred leaves his wife, Eve; daughters Marissa and Aliza, sons-in-law Rob and Mike; and four grandchildren." Edited on August 9, 2022 to add a photo of Fred's window at the Skowhegan Town Office and several other photos of his work, generously shared by Eve: Edited on October 24, 2022 to add more photos of Fred's beautiful work:

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.