Looking through a window full of colour
East London stained glass artist’s nostalgic works bring life to variety of subjects
Falling in love with the art of stained glass more than two decades ago, East London local Beth Redmond has been creating with the multicoloured medium for the past 22 years.
Redmond began her artistic journey after taking a class with a local stained glass artist and has not looked back since.
“I have always loved everything glass, from lead crystal to church windows, and was thrilled when I saw an article all those years ago in the Daily Dispatch about a strained glass artist who had moved here from Makhanda and was offering classes.
“I loved the medium and the rest is history,” said Redmond, who was born and raised in East London.
After taking classes, and a lot of trial and error, the art student has now become the artist, creating countless works over the years.
Redmond, who was a cake decorator before she discovered her passion for stained glass, said she had always loved creating.
“I have always done ‘ handwork ’ even before it was called ‘ craft ’.
“I remember my mother once threatening to burn my coloured pencils and drawing books as a child as I spent too much time drawing, not all that well, but good enough to be able to now create or change patterns for what I want to make,” said Redmond, who designs each of her stained-glass pieces herself.
From iridescent sun catchers to hanging wall art, colourful 3D ornaments, as well as a stained-glass window or two, Redmond’s passion for her craft is evident in the beautiful details she adds to every piece.
“I have chosen to work almost exclusively with small sun-catcher type items and usually employ some kind of 3D effect.
“Not being a terribly good planner, I often make up designs as I go ... this is frowned on by some experts, I might add, but I choose to do what makes me happy,” Redmond said.
“Attention to detail is purely personal.
“There are some stunning minimalistic designs out there, but I love detail and texture, I always end up adding details,” she said.
Redmond uses the copper foil method to create her works and said the process was often quite demanding.
“The process is exacting, time consuming and often leaves workers with many cuts.
“Band aids are an essential part of your equipment,” Redmond quipped.
“The stained glass is not cut, so much as scored and then broken into shape.
“The edges are then ground and smoothed with a diamond grinder.
“Once everything fits — rather like making a jigsaw puzzle — and is thoroughly cleaned, every edge has to be ‘ foiled’,” Redmond said.
She said the method came about in the late 1800s and was attributed to American artist, Louis Comfort Tiffany.
Redmond said the method involved wrapping every edge of the artwork in copper tape and was a “daintier” technique to that which was traditionally used for church windows.
“Once all is foiled, all edges are coated with flux [chemical agent] to facilitate soldering everything together, in effect, you create a narrow ‘ lead came’ [framework] with solder.
“Thereafter, it must be cleaned to remove any chemical residue left from the flux,” Redmond explained.
She said the most challenging part in making these astonishing creations was trying to make the glass pieces fit together perfectly.
“Sometimes it would be so great if you could just bend the glass that little bit.
“This is possible by using a kiln, but that is a whole other branch under the stained glass umbrella,” said Redmond.
She said her all-time favourite piece was an artwork she had created for herself, symbolising her long-lasting friendship with two women.
“I customised a picture to portray three girls — symbolising three of us who were in primary school together, back in the 50s and though now far flung, are still friends.”
She said she loved losing herself in the process of creating stained glass artworks.
“Mostly I enjoy that I can lose myself and forget the problems of the world for a while.
“It is incredibly rewarding when something turns out as you saw it in your head. Glass is good for my soul,” said Redmond.
To find out more about Redmond’s stained glass artworks, visit her Facebook page: Enchanted Glass ZA.
Sometimes it would be so great if you could just bend the glass that little bit. This is possible by using a kiln, but that is a whole other branch under the stained glass umbrella