My Life with Glass Local Stained Glass Artist Discusses His Life of Art August 2006

by Arthur Stern
Photos by Russell Byrne & Arthur Stern

An honored local artist describes influences and experiences that moved him to create windows permitting light and colors that lift the hearts of those who see them and through them.

I was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and began my career as an architect. My passions for design were awakened when my Cub Scout troop journeyed to Bear Town, Pennsylvania to tour Frank Lloyd Wright’s most famous creation – the private residence called Falling Water. Edgar Kaufman, who owned the house, asked Wright to build a home that would include a view of a picturesque waterfall that was on the property. In an amazing example of out-of-the-box thinking, Wright constructed the edifice to be supported on free floating platforms, called cantilevers, that were anchored to the natural rock and supported the house over and around the waterfall itself. The house represents a marvelous tour de force by one of the greatest minds of the 20th Century.

I had a talent for draftsmanship and attended the University of Illinois, one of the nation’s most reputable architecture schools. Following graduation I enrolled in a masters program in the California College of the Arts in Oakland. During my studies I began to shift focus to glass art, once again under the influence of Frank Lloyd Wright. I was fascinated by his stained glass works. Even though these objects were a century old they continued to look contemporary. The man had a profound ability in his glasswork as in his architecture to create works that never seem to become dated.

Pieces of Wright’s art were often very specific to the sites where they were located. The man had an incomparable knack of matching a piece of stained glass to the building that it was associated with. A seamless melding of glass and architecture would occur as the one came to reflect the design of the other. In other words, Wright would blend the art into its physical context so that the glass windows would come to share common design themes with the structure. I was fascinated by how the man wove the two together, and wrote my master thesis on the integration of Wright’s stained glass art with his architecture. That thematic connection distinguished his work from pieces by Tiffany, for example, that are merely impressive art works that might be attached to a building rather than actually belonging to it.

Visions for Windows
I work with various art media, but following Wright’s lead my main focus has been on creating stained glass windows that are oriented towards the architecture in which they are placed. Geometry is the language of architecture and I incorporate the shapes of a building when designing architectural glass detailing. It’s an amazing field to work in since geometric design is unbounded by time and place. My works can incorporate ancient Egyptian, Native American, De Stijl, Constructivist, Art Deco, or Prairie styles in creating diverse, personalized, and contemporary works of art.

I try to design glass detailing that is both appropriate for its environment and suitable to the function and scale of the building in which it will be placed. I take leads from the site’s architecture in choosing color, shape, and texture. Combining this with the design criteria of the architects, designers, and clients provides a starting point for my window designs.

My work is a continuous process of exploring and refining my personal abstract style that I can apply to the specific requirements of any architectural project. I look forward to meeting the challenges of complementing and accenting excellent architecture and interior design through the creative use of glass.

To put the matter in other words, my goal is to design windows that blend naturally with their environment rather than simply appearing to be added on after the design was completed. I don’t copy Wright’s designs when doing this but have adapted his methods and vision in creating my own style. The volumetric progressions, rhythms, proportions, and materials of the architecture help me to focus my design intentions for a given project. If a home has a sloped roof, I’ll blend that angle into the window rather than doing circles. On the other hand, if the architecture features a spiral staircase, barrel vaulted ceilings, and circular windows, I’ll create glass elements incorporating softer and circular designs.

When I got the commission to do windows for the Livermore Library, for example, I began by examining the shapes of the architecture. Since the building hadn’t been started yet this meant studying blueprints, which given my background in architecture, was an easy thing to do. The building incorporated giant angular trusses so I designed clearstory windows adjoining the trusses and running the length of the large central court. I took the angular idea and used it as a recurring design for the windows. In that way the windows became an integral ornament, existing comfortably as part of the building.

I often create glass windows that incorporate the colors from the structure, as well. For example, if there are oak floors I will work browns into the window. If a client has fabrics on sofas and chairs of some particular color scheme and surface qualities, I’ll try to blend those into the interior window design.

For larger projects such as a courthouse, church, or hospital I’ll integrate the art into the theme or purpose of the location itself. For example, I created the windows for the Meditation Chapel at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Menlo Park. The chapel was designed in a Craftsmen style of architecture. I began with a basic grid that is typical of the Craftsmen style for leaded glass windows, and added artistic expressions as a secondary theme that was incorporated into the grid.

My clients for the Meditation Chapel project wanted the chapel windows to incorporate the symbols of earth, wind, water, and fire. It is most often in religious buildings where I seem to be called upon to incorporate specific symbols as part of the window. The chapel clients wanted a large central window to be the Holy Spirit window. It was a challenging assignment since I wanted to avoid clichés like a descending dove.

I joined images from nature with graphics of wind to depict the pneuma or wind of the Spirit. The windows display swirling lines with a lot of energy giving the impression of wind blowing leaves and sticks through the air. Another window, called Eternal Flame, reflected some of the themes from the Holy Spirit window so the shared design elements blended together to create an ensemble of work. I used a variety of colors – especially reds, grays, and oranges to convey an impression of fire.

Finding a Window Appropriate for Any Place or Use
I interview potential clients to determine what they really want. Do they want to see out of the window or are they concerned about privacy? What are their favorite colors? As a commission artist I try to design for the clients’ preferences rather than my own, but I use my 28 years of experience to help educate and lead clients so that I can be proud of my results on one hand and they can be happy about them on the other. The goal is to give clients what they would have asked for if they knew what I know about glass.

I match a window to the space it occupies in a building and to the function of the space. A window at an entry-way, for example, is usually seen in passing. I might use bolder colors to attract some attention to it. I would design a window in a dining room, however, to not attract attention to itself but to enhance the ambiance of the room or the view to the outside. The differing character of the window in both cases matches the difference in the function of the space.

I use glass functionally as well as decoratively across the range of functions – from enhancing a view to providing privacy. When appropriate, I’ll create a window to suit a particular view – one that might frame a beautiful mountain, for example, or a lovely garden. If a room is getting too much sun, however, I can use materials to diffuse or block out the sunlight. For a window that provides an awkward view into a neighbor’s home I will use glass that lets in light but with sufficient opacity to block the view. I can meld colors from my palette varying in opacity and using available art glass materials in order to provide any quality from vista to privacy.

Because you can usually see through windows, the view can potentially become part of the composition. I take into account the fact that glass is alive with light. It is always changing as the angle and intensity of the sunlight changes. The experience is different in the morning than in the evening; different in summer than winter. The art glass medium is continually changing. The time of day and the seasons all interact to constantly change the character of the window.

California is rich with Spanish-style architecture. As a result I’ve done a lot of windows with themes derived from Spanish designs and geometric patterns drawn from the culture. I use designs from pottery and elements from ancient cultures like the Mayans and Zapotec Indians. I add colors that resonate with the varying hues of roof tiles that are often found in Spanish architecture.

Delivering the Right Stuff
Quality of glass is very much a matter of you-get-what-you-pay-for. I usually work with hand-blown glass imported from furnaces in Germany and France. Such glass is the Rolls Royce of the industry because it has a clarity and brilliance of color unmatched by machine-made glass. Hand-blown glass is made by using processes that for centuries have been handed down from one generation or artisan to the next. The glass is made by blowing a bubble, forming it into a cylinder, and then unfolding it into sheets and panes. The resulting glass has a variety of textures – striations and bubbles that some people might mistake for imperfections. No two sheets are exactly the same.

I enjoy doing windows for private residences, but regard larger-scale projects to be especially challenging. My background in architecture has prepared me for working on these monumental projects. I’ve created windows that are up to four stories tall and 20 feet wide.

Making stained glass windows is very labor-intensive and a large project like a church or a library is necessarily a team effort, since I couldn’t possibly build all the windows myself. I work with assistants, the number of which varies, depending upon the project size. Large projects such as the windows for the Mormon Temples in Bountiful, Utah and in Las Vegas, Nevada involve many thousands of man-hours. The Bountiful Temple project itself required a solid year of effort by a crew of 12 to create the 500 windows.

We use the basic craft skills that for centuries have been associated with the medium of stained glass, but I’ve tried to update and modernize them in order to bypass some of the limitations of the craft. For example, I’ve developed a method of doing lead line extensions to create an effect that resembles painting or drawing more than the traditional mosaic effect.

I’ve been collaborating with a company called Derix Studios in Germany, which is the world’s largest fabricator of art glass. The company offers numerous techniques including acid etching, enameling, engraving, and firing glass in kilns that can be used to create almost any effect that an artist can draw or imagine. I’ve worked with Derix to recreate in glass the artworks that I’ve created on paper.

You die when you quit growing they say. My life as an artist is certainly one of continual movement and growth. I seem to be studying and reading with more intensity now than I ever did in college. I design my own curriculum and conduct research into areas that attract my attention. I’m in a continual process of learning new ideas from artists who work in other media – sculptors such as Archipenko, and painters like Frank Stella or Yacov Agam. As a result, my work has become more imaginative and is beginning to include abstractions of the human figure. I’m developing my own personal abstract style so that when people look at one of my windows they might be able to realize that it was created at Arthur Stern Studios.

I’m continually trying to move the themes and ideas of the past in a contemporary direction. We’re always building upon the efforts of those who went before. I can’t invent the wheel anymore, but I can use the genius of another person to go somewhere different. Someplace unexpected and good.

I intend to make art for the ages and someday to leave behind me a diverse multitude of windows that will seem contemporary many years from now. I’m creating a legacy. Perhaps even centuries in the future people will continue to derive pleasure, solace, or inspiration from looking at my art glass instillations.°