Gene Mallard Glass Arts Studio's photostream

After developing an interest in stained glass in my early youth, I was fortunate enough to get my training in Switzerland by a 3rd generation stained glass master. Since that time I have been working with stained glass art in much the same tradition as the artists and craftsmen of the Renaissance to Victorian period. That is to say I am using paints and stains to decorate my stained glass work instead of relying solely on lead-lines and glass colors to render the images I am creating. Representational art has always been my strong suit, and my stained glass reflects that.

I am a highly skilled glass painter, who is often touted as a master of glass etching. I am frequently engaged in that capacity as a subcontractor for some of the major glass studios around the country. When an unusual etching task is called for, or when a stained glass window has missing or broken painted glass that needs to be accurately replicated, I am often the one who is called upon to reproduce it.

I have completed several intensive church window restoration projects in my local region, and haves hown in galleries, museums, and exhibitions throughout the Northeast USA. I have also been an invited speaker at several glass conferences.

Working primarily with mouthblown German "antik" (antique) glass; new glass handmade in the same traditional manner as it has been for hundreds of years. Additionally, I work with the same types of paints and stains that have been in use since Medieval times.

Glass etching refers to removal of the colored layer of glass on "flashed' glass, glass that has been blown in such a way as to have a deep, rich, paper-thin layer of color on one side of the glass only. The rest is clear. Many shades of that original color can be attained by time-lapse etching.

The paints and stained used are all kiln fired at temperatures between 1050 and 1250 degrees Fahrenheit. I work with transparent stains (pale yellow to near-orange) and enamels, as well as semi-transparent mattes, used for shading and things like skin tones, and tracing paints, used for line work or to black out areas of a design.

Thanks for taking a look. I'll be adding more pix as I get my photos better organized.