Stained glass is absolutely beautiful. I have always loved it, the beautiful glass shards pulsing and swirling with vibrant color, the silver or black lead framing each swirly piece of glassy goodness.
When I was a wet-behind-the-ears sales exec in a New York City advertising agency, I took my first big commission check and bought the lamp of my dreams: a Tiffany hanging lamp. Swirls of purples and greens and blues softly lit from behind (what my mother used to call "Pucci Colors" after the famous 1960's Mod fashion designer Emilio Pucci) still grace my dining room table to this day.
But stained glass is quite limited in its application. Other than lamps, hanging pieces and stained glass windows, the applications pretty much end there. And it's not inexpensive, either. Even a small stained glass ornament or decorative piece can cost hundreds of dollars…or more. So I decided to experiment with creating "stained glass" digitally so I would be able to make "stained glass" and print it wherever I wanted it: on my wall, as a glass clock, on tiles, as a glass cutting board, as a glass coaster set.
I wanted to use our special printing technology--what we use in Color Bakery to make our ceramic, glass and stone tiles--and get that unique stained glass look for *all* our products. The trick was to make the image appear not only luminescent like real glass, but also give it that special texture and beveled depth. After a lot of time, patience and experimentation, I developed a technique that I believe worked very well. Judge for yourself and tell me what you think :)
When I use this digital art technique for art creation and print on glass, the effects are amazing--it really does look like stained glass. And if you light it from behind, you will still have enough translucence and luminescence for that signature stained glass colored glow. Obviously, glass is the best substrate (or surface) for this kind of art.
So, most of the time, our customers order them on glass tile, glass clocks, glass suncatchers and glass cutting boards--and we consistently get stunning, realistic results. But what's really cool is that it doesn't have to stop there. We've printed these "stained glass" art pieces on everything: ceramic tiles, table placemats and napkins, tote bags, porcelain jewelry, coffee mugs, couch throws, etc. It's a wonderful juxtaposition of textures when you take stained glass and put it on a non-glass surface, as the effect is beautifully unexpected, like mixing velvet, lace and burlap :)
Here are some product photos of Color Bakery's Stained glass art.
Written by Mindy Sommers
Comment and add to the story without registration, but keep the comments meaningful please. Links are not accepted.
