StainedGlass.co.uk is compiling a worldwide directory of specialist glass studios, glass artists and restoration companies, covering every kind of decorative glass. Studios, schools and individual artists can register their interest now. Not every business that registers will be listed, and registration does not guarantee a place.
Why connections are needed
The owner of StainedGlass.co.uk has worked in decorative glass for more than thirty years. Over that time, thousands of enquiries arrived for types of glass outside the studio’s specialism, and there was rarely anywhere to direct the client. Many of those enquiries could have been answered by another specialist, often in a different town or country, but no straightforward way existed to put the two in touch.
The directory is intended to close that gap. It will connect people who want a particular kind of glass with the studios and artists best placed to supply it, and with the specialists who can restore it when it is damaged.
Discover
Most people know decorative glass in only a few familiar forms, but the range is far wider: leaded lights, traditional stained glass, acid etched and sandblasted glass, bevelled and brilliant cut work, fused and kiln formed glass, and copper foil work in the Tiffany tradition. Each has its own appearance, its own limits and its own specialists. The glass types section, the photo gallery and the tour map of the UK already show how each looks in practice, and the directory will take this further by showing who works in each field.
Creating Commissions
A visitor who knows the style of glass required will be able to search by technique and by region and find a studio or artist who produces it: a leaded panel for a front door, an etched screen for a restaurant, a window for a new building or a one-off piece for a garden room. The aim is to place the right specialist within easy reach, whether the project is a modest panel or a major commission.
Restoration and rare techniques
Several traditional techniques are now practised by very few people. When a window or door panel in one of those styles is damaged, finding a restorer can be difficult, and the nearest may be a long way off. A cracked roundel, a bowing lead line or a missing piece of painted glass each calls for someone who understands how the original was constructed, as described on the page about conservation and restoration.
A worldwide listing should help both sides. Owners will be able to find a restorer for a rare glass type, and the specialists will become visible to the people who need them. A technique stays alive only while someone practises it and others know where to find that person.
Create
The directory is also intended for people who want to learn. Hobbyists, and those considering the hobby, will be able to explore the techniques that interest them and find courses to match, from a first lesson in leaded glass to a longer course in kiln work. The Learn section already includes guides to studying glass in the UK and the USA, together with practical guides such as How to Build a Leaded Panel and how to solder. Each person who learns a technique helps to keep it in use.
Register your interest
Studios, schools, glass artists and restoration specialists in any country can register their interest. Registration is free and carries no obligation. Details of the options for each section will be sent as it launches, and entries will be reviewed before they appear. The directory will open in stages, so some sections will be ready before others.