Texture and Colour in Glass
Techniques:
Claudia Phipps describes some personal investigations.
John Piper, an artist who designed notable stained glass, stated that,
"The medium has too many colours, too many forms, too many textures. One of each - that is enough at one time for anybody." (1)
By this he meant that it is very easy to be seduced by the wonderful qualities in the glass or to feel intimidated by the natural beauty of the material. It can sometimes be easier to work with the most basic clear float glass, and do things to the surface, such as painting, engraving or acid etching to create interest, rather than to take a beautiful piece of antique coloured glass, and to use it sympathetically with other pieces. I wish, in my work, to overcome the feeling that I cannot touch the glass and to use it to create pattern and texture.
 Figure 1 Drilled Test |
 Figure 2 Engraved Test |
As texture and colour are, for me, the most important aspects of creating a work in glass I wanted explore these aspects in quite a formal way. I did this by producing a range of small scale test pieces that combined layers of coloured glass with texture. To create texture I explored the possibilities of using a range of abrasive processes; sandblasting, engraving, drilling and acid etching. These methods were used to make textural patterns on sheets of coloured glass, which when combined create multi-layered designs/images. This combination created an appearance of depth with in the glass. Because of the direct relationship between light and colour, combining both colour and texture in glass is very different from working with pigment on a canvas. Working with coloured glass is more akin to working with watercolours, where each colour affects the one underneath. To explore this, a series of framed pieces and photographs were developed, creating a pallette of aesthetic effects form which I selected.
 Figure 3 Engraved Test |
 Figure 4 Engraved Test |
For the tests I chose the simple circular motif to create unity and to introduce some level of standardization. I find the form pleasing and also I like the cultural implications of the circle. In his introduction to 'Discovery of the Circle', Bruno Munari draws attention to the spiritual associations of the circle,
"since ancient times a simple circle has represented eternity, for it has neither beginning nor end. An old text says that God is a circle whose centre is everywhere, but whose circumference is nowhere."
 Figure 5 Flash glass sandblasted through wire mesh |
 Figure 6 Acid etching through a wax resist |
I spent some considerable time reading and thinking about colour theory during this work. Johannes Itten was a useful influence as was Albers who worked with glass as well as paint. He was in charge of the Glass workshop at the Bauhaus until Walter Gropius left the School at Dessau. In glass, his best known works are his early assemblages from scraps taken from the Weimar City dump, and his later sandblasted flashed glass experiments. These are made from opaque flashed glass and are very controlled and graphic imagery. He restricted colours to white, red and black, which give the pieces a very impersonal feel. Very different from Albers, is the approach of Christopher Whall, a respected Victorian practitioner who wrote 'Stained Glass' from the 'Artistic series of technical handbooks', printed in 1905. His approach to colour was related to the juxtaposition of colours placed side by side. His aim was a harmonious colour composition.
"The harshest contrasts, even discords may often be brought into harmony by added notes" (2)
Whall offers practical advice for the handling of colour in glass;
"the very way you treat your glass when all is chosen and placed together - matt in one place, film in another, chequering, cross hatching, clothing the raw glass with texture and bringing out its nature and its life." (3)
This sentence sums up very neatly the reason why I felt it so important to investigate both colour and texture in glass.
 Figure 7 Acid etching using dripped wax as a resist |
 Figure 8 Acid etching using dripped wax as a resist |
 Figure 9 Acid etching for long period causes 'crystalline surface' |
 Figure 10 Acid etching clear soda glass creates a very subtle surface |
 Figure 11 |
References
(1) John Piper. Art or Anti-Art.
(2) Christopher Whall, Stained Glass Work
(3) Ibid
Bibliography and further reading
Albers, J. 1994. Glass Light and Colour. Guggenheim museum: The Solomon R.
Gage, J. 1993. Colour and culture. London: Thames and Hudson.Guggenheim Foundation.
Gage, J. 1999. Art, Science and Symbolism. London: Thames and Hudson. Itten, J. The Elements of Colour.
Kandinsky, W. 1947. Concerning the Spiritual in Art. N. Y: George Wittenborn, inc. Matcham, L & Dreisder, P. 1982. The Techniques of Glass Engraving. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd.
Moor, A. 1997. Architectural Glass Art. London. Mitchell Beazley.
Piper, J. 1998. Stained Glass: Art or Anti-Art? Studio Vista Ltd.
Reyntiens, P. 1977. The Techniques of Stained Glass.
Whall, C. W. 1905. Stained Glass Work. (From The Artistic Crafts series of Technical Handbooks. ed. Letherby, W. R.) London: John Hogg.
Claudia Phipps gained a first class degree in Glass, Architectural Glass, Ceramics from the Univeristy of Sunderland, UK. She is now working to commission as well studying part time on the MA Glass programme at Sunderland. For more information, see her website at http://www.claudiaphipps.co.uk.
