Stained Glass

MARIA BALLADON CON LE STELLA

MARIA BALLADON CON LE STELLA is the companion piece to ST. JOHN THE MOSACIST and represents the young cousin and muse of St John the Mosacist. Like ST. JOHN THE MOSACIST, MARIA BALLADON CON LE STELLA is a 24” x 24” ceramic and stained-glass mosaic wall hanging. It consists of a single piece of hand built and raku fired paper clay made by the artist and somewhere between 900 and 1000 pieces of individually cut squares of stained glass scavenged from the donated glass boxes of the Ann’s Choice Stained Glass Club. Also, as in the case of St. John the Mosacist, the story of Maria Balladon Con Le Stella has been woven from whole cloth. ( 2022) ($325)

LEAF FALL

I am very pleased to be able to announce that my third major stained-glass piece this year, LEAF FALL, a commissioned piece, has been completed and accepted and is now part of a private collection in Elkins Park, PA. Like THE GREEN MAN and VORTEX, the design for LEAF FALL is an original design which seeks to convey a sense of motion, LEAF FALL was also designed to be displayed as either a wall hanging, or preferably, in a window and with no particular “right side”up.  With the frame it is approximately 22”x 24” and is comprised of 198 pieces of individually cut and foiled glass in four different colors

VORTEX

VORTEX is the second major originally designed and framed stained-glass panel I have completed this year at Ann’s Choice. Octagonally framed, it measures 23 ½” across and is comprised of 88 pieces of glass individually cut and foiled using 9 different types of stained glass. I built the frame from 1”x 3” pine specifically for VORTEX and can be displayed either as a wall hanging or, and preferably, in a window. When I was designing and constructing VORTEX, I was trying to capture a sense of movement – of being drawn into the center of the piece. (2022) ($750).

THE GREEN MAN

The mythology of the Green Man has continued to fascinate me and has been a recurring theme in my art in the form of prints, collages, cast cement, as well as two and three dimensional ceramic pieces. This version of THE GREEN MAN, however, is the first time I’ve depicted him in stained glass. Framed, my THE GREEN MAN, measures 19 1/2″ from top to bottom and side to side and contains  179 pieces of glass (each eye has three pieces of glass fused together). Because of the way the “attitude” of the piece changes as the light changes, this version may be my most interesting one yet. (2022)

WOMAN IN BLUE

WOMAN IN BLUE is essentially a found object, a stunningly beautiful piece of stained glass that changes appearance as the light changes. It was donated to the Ann’s Choice Stained Glass Club because while beautiful it is also a very difficult piece of glass to work with. I picked it up, managed to trim most of the problems and decided to let the piece essentially speak for itself rather than pressing my luck. This is a piece in which everyone will see something different, but I have titled it WOMAN IN BLUE because I see a woman in left profile turning her head to the right, or at least that is what I see most of the time, and of course, blue is the predominate color. For this reason, I have chosen to emphasize the neckline on the right side by using a clear glass and a heavy solder line rather than trying to match the glass. I have enclosed it in a natural color pine hanging frame. (2022) (28 ½” x 15 ½”) ($350)

SAINT JOHN THE MOSAICIST

 

(C) JOHN FANSMITH 2020

Saint John the Mosaicist, one of the more obscure members of the pantheon of Saints, is known primarily for never having been observed or heard to have sworn or blasphemed despite spending his entire life gluing small pieces of glass, stone or ceramics to wooden boards. Although most historians believe that he worked in northern Italy during the period 1358 – 1387 AD, no one has been able to authenticate any mosaic pieces from that time and place as having been the work of Saint John the Mosaicist. There are no known images of him and the Church’s canonization records are surprisingly vague. While SAINT JOHN THE MOSAICIST is composed of a hand built, raku fired paper clay “mask”, a border of stained glass strips left over from a prior project and a background of glass tiles and stained glass pieces liberated from the mosaic shard pile at the Abington Art Center, the story of Saint John the Mosaicist has been woven from whole cloth. (2020) (24” x 24” x 1 ½”) ($275)

MAGMA in Kent State’s Emerging Glass Exhibit

Kent State

I am very pleased to announce that jurors Davin Ebanks and Benjamin Johnson have chosen my stained glass/paper clay wall hanging MAGMA to be part of the “Emerging Glass” Show which will be held in the Payto Gallery, part of the Center for the Visual Arts at Kent State University, 325 Terrace Drive, Kent, Ohio 44242 from September 4, 2019 through October 4, 2019. It is particularly gratifying to be part of the “Emerging Glass” Show because MAGMA was one of only 15 pieces chosen for this national juried show from over 160 entries from glass artists across the country.

High Mountain Meadow

(C) JOHN FANSMITH 2019

HIGH MOUNTAIN MEADOW is set in spring when the mountain’s snow cap is melting but still visible and the meadow grasses and flowers are starting to come into their own. HIGH MOUNTAIN MEADOW is part of my “Landscape” series of stained glass/paper clay wall hangings. (11” x 6” x 2”) ($255.00)

Hekla

(C) JOHN FANSMITH 2019

For the Hawaii National Park Centennial competition in 2016 I created two stained glass/paper clay wall hangings NIGHT VIEW OF KILEAUA and ERUPTION, and since then have been intrigued by the potential for depicting a volcanic eruption using that medium. Hekla is the name of an active Icelandic volcano surrounded by ice which erupted in 2000. HEKLA is my effort to depict, however abstractly, that moment when the eruption has started but the ice has not yet been overwhelmed. HEKLA is intended to be part of my “Rim of Fire” Series. 9” x 9” x 2”.