Steuben Sword & Stone Art Glass
Beautiful Art Glass
I honestly don't know when I fell in love with art glass. Beautiful art glass was around my home growing up as my mother simply adored it. Apparently, she passed that on to me with little or no effort or ever calling any attention to the art glass that I can remember. Art glass was something she used to decorate with and accentuate various rooms to add beauty and sometimes intrigue.
Often during our family's travels, we were all dragged into various art glass shops. Some featured antiques. Others, you could actually watch the artist blowing the glass right before your eyes. It was hot work and intriguing to watch as this highly skilled creative person did their magic and created some new art glass piece. I particular liked how they developed patterns with colors. The fact that they could envision what they wanted something to be as a finished product and then constantly work toward that end still captivates my attention.
Favorite Art Glass Piece
Today, I own quite a few pieces of art glass from all different periods. My favorite though, is the one pictured here. This Steuben fine art glass sword and stone piece was a gift from two special people in my life. They went in together and gave it to me upon accomplishment of a particular milestone.
Not only is this work financially valuable, it holds a special place in my heart -- a value that cannot be measured monetarily. The glass that Steuben somehow makes is simply unbelievably spectacular in every way. The color and density of it is remarkable. The clarity and how light is reflected is so special. If you've never seen any Steuben art glass up close and in person, I encourage you to find a high end retailer and see for yourself. I'm sure you'll agree with me once you view this yourself.
Other works that I really like include a cobalt blue modernistic angel. This piece stands on its own and has a bit of metal that forms a halo and holds the entire work together. It always garners comments from new visitors to my home.
We've received a number of awards and recognition mementos that were art glass. Obelisks, pyramids, starfish....well, these are just a few things that we've been given. I used the starfish as a paperweight at one point.
Caring for Your Art Glass
I learned the hard way and so before I sign off of this post I want to share this. It is critical that you follow the manufacturer's recommendations for cleaning your art glass. On one of the pieces I have, the dust cloth and cleaner were far too abrasive and left fine scratches all over the surface of the item. Not only was the value destroyed, so was the impact beauty of the piece. Light has never reflected quite the same off of this piece. It is heartbreaking and I don't want you to experience that.
If you don't have any clear instructions, then go with caution and extra gentleness in the cleaning. Quite simply, you cannot undo these fine scratches without compromising the work in some way.
McFadden Art Glass glassblowing
Wikipedia has a really great article if you're motivated to learn more that you can read when you click on the link in art glass.