Laurie Beth Beggin

Laurie, thank you for this interview. The examples of
your creations shown on your website are beautiful
and impressive. So different from the typical media
known to most artists: pencils, brushes, modeling
clay, working with glass suggests images of heavy,
dangerous, hot and complicated equipment to work
with. From a person like me who knows nothing
about glass making, how did you get started in what
seems like an esoteric facet of the art world?

Thank you so much for the opportunity to talk about
my love and practice of stained glass. Using the
word "esoteric" is very perceptive of you! Creating
stained glass does involve working with often-times
heavy, sharp, dangerous, and complicated materials.
Training and proper safety practices are key.If
followed it is a very mesmerizing yet safe art form.
As for my story: after working for 25 years in the
legal world I retired to what I thought was going to
be a quiet farm life. My husband and I created "The
Olde Farmhouse" on three acres. With my children
grown, I thought that my master gardening
Certification would be put to good use but that was
about it.

I started in stained glass with the intention of just
"learning" about this art form. It had captivated my
thoughts for a long time. I was a Wisconsin State
Representative's Aide for several years and was
surrounded by stained glass at the Wisconsin State
Capitol on a daily basis. Little did I realize at the
time, but it would, in fact, be proven that it was
years and years ago that the captivation actually
took hold! After retiring from the legal world, I
signed up for a class at a local glass supply house
and was immediately, head-over-heels in love! I will
never "work" another day of my life since applying
myself to this intricate art form.

I must admit I asked myself "Why? Why? Why, do
you love stained glass so much?" (especially when
applying bandaids!) I found the answer last year
during a return trip to my home town of Freeport,
IL. For the first five years of my life I walked past
this house EVERY day on my way to school. I had
completely forgotten about it! As my husband and I
drove down the street, I saw the house and
everything seemed to "click-click-click" as the
memories poured out. (I had to get a photo and
here it is.)

I firmly believe that my love of this glass-covered house was the seed that was planted in my
young little mind so very long ago and I believe it is what catapulted me into the mysterious
world of stained glass art.

So your interest in glass making was sparked by a sort of sentimentality related to this
one-of-a-kind, glass block house. I can see why it left an impression. Did you know the
owners of this house, or who created it that way, or why?

I never knew the owners which probably added to the mystery! I do need to find out the
history of that place. It is covered entirely in mosaic glass pieces. The photo doesn't do it
justice. A lot of cobalt blues, whites, and pinks were used. I remember being bedazzled by the
different sizes, shapes and textures and how much "light play" there was. Twinkling is a
good word to use.

These glass blocks are not part of the structure are they? Could you actually build a house
with glass blocks, and could you make that kind of block?

Whew, that is probably a question for an engineer! I think this house is a wood frame house
with a mosaic overlay. I will send you a link that addresses this entire process. There have
been some men in past years that have gotten "obsessed" with the process and mosaic
overlayed entire houses, garages, sidewalks, FURNITURE, etc. The photos I have found
are amazing. I'll send them on to you.

Where did you get training to learn this glass making skill?

I took one class at a local glass supply store in Decatur, IL. I actually only went to the first
three classes! I guess you could say I'm well read in the art form. I think I have every
instructional book. With patience, lots of mistakes, and practice, practice, practice I taught
myself. I might add, no major arteries severed yet! My mother continually nagged me about
how dangerous it is. That has always been my response to the "is it dangerous" question, so
I felt it belonged in this article! Humm, a new mantra maybe??

How much room and equipment does one need to create custom glass? Is it expensive to get
into?

Yes, it's expensive. No hesitating with that answer! I requires several pieces of equipment. A
glass cutter, grosing plyers, straight line pliers, a glass grinder, soldering iron and
accessories. The more intricate pieces require a glass saw which I recently invested in. It's
not for the faint at heart! As for how much room one needs? My first answer would be: the
Brangelina Miraval would work nicely! (grin) but I'd settle on one of the small carriage
houses.

My SERIOUS answer would be that it all depends on what sizes of pieces you want to work
on. I have two benches, both about 20 feet long and four feet deep. They have worked out
very well for me until recently. I am currently working on a large business sign and realized
that I am going to need a nice working table that I can "circle" around. I think a good
"starting" studio wouldn't need to be larger than standard room size. You must also take into
consideration proper ventilation. When soldering with the lead, it creates poisonous fumes
which need to be quickly ventilated. I have a small ventilation unit that I sit next to my
soldering iron that is called a fume trapper. I prefer working outside in my garage in nice
weather so I have plenty of air circulation. However, in the heat of summer and the cold of
winter, I'm indoors.

Are the materials themselves expensive?

Yes. The price of stained glass varies widely. It can run from $2.00 a square foot upwards of
$90.00 a square foot depending on the type of stained glass. As we all know, the price of
copper has skyrocketed and that increase has made it's way to the price of the copper foil.
The lead and/or the unleaded solder cost has more than tripled since the beginning of the
Iraq war. Unfortunately, it has put a tremendous strain on stained glass artists; similar to
what all consumers are facing.

I have seen glass blowers at work, but not this type of creation being made (Victorian Panel).
How is something like this made?

I just posted a step by step process on my blog at www.lauriebethbeggin.blogspot.com. The
series was entitle "My Mind Is In A "TRAN"som. I believe there were seven posts in all.

The theme for this series came to me when I recently visited some older homes.I have
always loved the huge stained glass transoms. It occurred to me that not everyone can afford
a huge window like that but may revel in the romantic and whimsical history behind the
Transom itself. With this in mind, I decided to create a line of "mini Transoms". I'm in the
process of getting my first one framed. You can see the basics of the process on that series
or I'd be happy to supply the text and photos here for you also.

What is the inspiration for the Victorian Panel? It is very balanced in form and the colors,
purple and yellowish casts, are complementary. Is it based on an existing glass work? What
are the dimensions of the Victorian Panel?

The elegant panel is created using a beautiful purple English Muffle glass and accented with
a heavily textured, variegated purple/pink/lavender bullseye glass. It is bordered with a
semi-transparent white that has lovely elegant ripples through. It measures 17 inches tall by
10 1/2 inches wide and is finished in a deeply patinaed zinc channel.
The inspiration for the Victorian Panel was actually the glass combinations themselves. I saw
three separate panes of glass at the supply shop and had to create something that really set
off the glass itself. Most of the time nature is my inspiration but there are times I see a
specific piece of glass and think "ohh, that is calling to me". As for the pattern itself, there
are hundreds of pattern books and I went through all of mine and adapted one to suit this
concept. Some pattern books are very specific with copyright laws but there are hundreds
out there that are copyright free. So many of the old-world patterns have been around for
hundreds and hundreds of years. I think they tend to grow, change, "morph" ,if you will, as
each artist lends his or her interpretation.

I've really been pushing myself to start coming up with some abstract, contemporary pieces.
The designs are floating around in my head. I just need to get them down. The colors come to
me much easier than the shapes.

When I first saw this Victorian Panel, the first thing that I thought of were angel wings. Why
do you think this panel would conjure up that image in a viewer's mind?

Ahhh, now....that's the beautiful thing about art, isn't it?? YOU see angel wings!!! I think you
would best be able to answer that question...I see hearts!

Do you do custom repair work for old windows in churches?

As of yet I have never been commissioned to do repair work on a church but yes, I have
repaired old, stained glass windows for individuals.

I know some of the older church stained glass windows here in the US were imported from
artisans in Europe hundreds of years ago. Is the process you use similar to the process of
the old glass makers?

The artisans from old Europe practiced the Lead Came style of stained glass. The first
steps, such as scoring, cutting and grinding the glass are the same but instead of using the
Tiffany-style, copper foil method, the lead came method is used. It can be intimidating at
first. The lead U came has to be stretched prior to inserting it or it will "sag" with the weight
of the glass. However, once you master that process I think most will find that the soldering
is much easier since you are soldering only the joints together. The glass "sits" in the U
shape came, verses making a bead of solder with meted lead. It's a bit more involved than
that but that's a pretty good description of the difference.

How do stained glass structures lose permanency? I have heard that old windows in churches
need repair every so often. How would that be accomplished and what kind of work do the
old windows need?

I've seen Stained Glass windows last hundreds and hundreds of years and others that only
last a few decades before they need repair. The weakness in stained glass comes from
primarily exposure or poor construction. The lead came may become brittle and need to be
replaced or one piece of glass may be broken. I've seen one pane broken on the outside
parameter of a panel that wasn't too much of a chore to replace but when you have a pane
that is broken farther into the center of the panel, each piece must be taken apart, working
from the outside inward, one by one, to get to the broken piece. It then has to be
reassembled (think jigsaw puzzle) and patinaed to match as closely as possible. It's a tough,
and often messy job. The other issue is finding a suitable replacement piece for the glass
that was broken. That can be tricky also!

What advice would you give those young and old who are interested in stained glass making?

The best advice is to start by reading up on the art form. Once you know the history, try and
find a local class in your area and take the class prior to investing in the equipment. That
way, you'll have hands on instruction on scoring, cutting, grinding and soldering PRIOR to
spending money on your own equipment. It's a beautiful art form that is well worth pursuing.
As with anything it takes practice, artistic flow and MORE practice!

Laurie, I've learned a lot about this type of glass making that I never knew before.

I'm deeply honored that you asked me to participate in this wonderful venue.

It's been a pleasure interviewing you. Thanks. - Host of Lift Up Your Art dot com