Glass Decorating
Glass decorating is an art that has its roots in East Asia where it was used for the making of colourful window mosaics. In Europe production techniques developed mainly between the fifth and twelfth century. During the Middle Ages and beyond, it spread as a religious form of art. Following strict guidelines, biblical figures and scenes were drawn onto glass to create detailed stained glass windows for churches or chapels.
Stained Glass Windows
A famous example is the Rose Window in the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris, in France. As a result of a change in the outlook people had on ecclesiastical issues, the art of decorating glass was partially lost and forgotten between the sixteenth and nineteenth century but revived by the efforts of Charles Watson and A.W.N. Pugin in 1850. Not only did they revive old production processes with impressive accuracy; they also advanced the craft by successful experimentation with the development of a wider range of colours.
Glass Decoration
From Watson and Pugin's days onwards, glass decorating slowly established itself in the general art and commercial world. It is today a highly diffused decorative technique which can be found on common, everyday day objects such as a simple drinking glass or on exclusively produced and expensively sold artworks made by renowned artists. It is interesting to note that at no point in its history has glass decorating ever served a functional purpose rather than an aesthetic purpose.
Decorated Glass
While there are a vast range of uses for decorated glass, the production processes for these are similar to one another. Making and colouring glass is always the first step. The latter can happen in many ways, artists can chose between pot-metal glass, flashed glass or silver stained glass. Once coloured, the glass must be shaped. Modern day artists enjoy blowing, forging and moulding it into intricate shapes and forms while traditional methods prefer working with flat planes which they cut into small, specifically requested shapes and combine these to form patterns or mosaics. Before nineteenth century advancements in technology, glass decorations could only be applied by painting them on with brown or black paint. Now though, a glass decorator has at his disposal just about any colour and he can even opt to print his design onto the glass rather than painting it on.
Contemporary Glass Art
Two influential artists responsible for popularising glass decorating as a commercial art were J. LaFarge and L. Tiffany. They lived at a time close to Watson and Pugin, thus it is possible to say that it was in this period that designs for glass art became more widespread. These new designs influenced and were influenced by wider art movements such as Art Nouveau where natural organic forms and shapes, continuity and free flow in design presented themselves as key themes. Nowadays a great number of glass decorating schools are established and teach students the modern art of glass decorating. It has become a personal form of artistic expression which allows artists to transform a variety of ideas, emotions and messages into interesting, decorative and challenging art.