Treasure in Glass

"Stained glass and glass work as an interior design and décor trend explored"

Having only seen stained glass on cathedral windows, it was at the St John’s College Spring Fair in 2010 last year in October where I met glass artist, Annelie Martens. Four months down the line, I made an undertaking to know more about this intriguing age old phenomenon and explore how stained glass decorations can also accentuate one’s home. 

In probably the cosiest house I have ever been in, the scene is Borrowdale Brooke where I was to interview Annelie about her craft. Warmly invited, she gave me a tour of her wonderful home that I must say is a true homage of her craft.

Originally from Germany, she carried with her, from Deutschland, very much to her family’s surprise, antique pieces dear to her that harbour timeless stories meant to be told. From old and functional cooking pots where her great grandmother fried eggs for her husband, her grandmother’s kitchen scale to chairs where her grandfather once sat , this was certainly what I would like to believe makes a home.As we sat down for some coffee and freshly baked chocolate cookies, our meeting steadily settled into the core of my business- to talk to an artist and explore stained glass and glass work as an interior design and décor trend.

Apart from sharing the amazing history surrounding the discovery of glass, it is how the colour of stained glass is created that blew me way .When you look at those cathedral windows, there was certainly no use of paint or colourful adhesive films to create these hues, the making of these entrancing shades is a science and a true ancient craft.

Minerals are used as colour agents with copper making green, cobalt creating blue glass, manganese for brown and yellow from iron. The most expensive are the red and orange variations because precious metals, silver and gold are the colour ingredients. The intensity is determined by the different firing temperatures. 

Meticulous, thorough and mostly one of a kind, Annelie creates glass panels for house doors, windows, room dividers, cabinet doors and cathedral windows.  Lamps are among other items worked in stained, opalescent, cathedral,  translucent and  brilliant glass. The highlight of my day was being shown the array of multi-coloured as well as textured glass shelved in her workshop. Here is where all ideas are transformed into masterpieces. A unique artistic medium, Annelie let us in on the creative process.

 “A client comes to me and says I want my bathroom windows designed, I go to the client’s home and get an idea of what his or her tastes are, is it ethnic, modern or contemporary? I also have to understand their interior design and décor- the art work, curtaining and colour coordination.  Then I take my measurements and work from there. I create various design options to choose from.” says Annelie

The process continues with enlarging the sketch to the actual size (to the scale which she is working with).  Using accurate measurements, she then makes two templates, one of which she uses as a reference and the other to mark out patterns for the working foil. On the foil, she also marks all the different types of glass to be used with a number so that she knows which piece is going where. This ensures that the colours are just right and everything works together aesthetically. For choosing the right glass, texture and colour, the glass sheets are placed on top of a light box or on an aisle in front of a window. Here one can see how the “work in progress” looks when illuminated.

Similar to cracking a jigsaw puzzle, the glass artist chooses from the shelved glass what she would like to use on the picture and cuts out pieces of glass needed with a glass cutter made with sharp industrial diamonds. Then the pieces of glass are shaped and joined either with lead H-cames or in copper foil technique.

In our conversation, we flipped through documented material on the work of   19^th century glass work  legend, New Yorker, Louis Comfort Tiffany,  whose masterpieces have greatly influenced Annelie. In  conclusion  and in addition  to teaching  and showing me stunning  glass work  at her home, she said she would  like to invite  everyone “to look through stained glass as a different  world of  art. It is  a new relation  to light and  a special  enjoyment  of  colour  and  with this  we can  create our own new world in interior design.” If  you  want  to know more, contact Annelie Martens, 0773 390 861