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Art Glass - Leaded Glass Panels - Designed by Karin + Tony Smith

My love of stained and leaded art glass began at Rossa College. I like to use the lead lines very much in my designs and textured glasses to give extra depth to my pieces. I have sold many pieces and can be found in private collections.

Tony Smith - Artist Statement: In the past I was only able to express artistic ideas in the form of small pieces of graphic art and web design, playing if you like. I was always frustrated at not having a proper outlet for the things I could see in my imagination. I always found it impossible to bring my ideas into reality with paint or other mediums. After taking a general art course I discovered the medium of Leaded Glass. I found that I actually enjoyed the process and was quite good at it, allowing me to express myself as never before.

In my experience people always seem to think of Leaded Glass simply in the form of Windows. I have never really wanted to create windows, what I wanted was to express art ideas in glass to be displayed in a similar way to paintings, in a frame and hung on a wall.

My first piece “Identity Crisis” was also designed to hang on a wall. The piece is meant to lit from the front so the candy colours show through on the wall behind the panel. The title came from the way I was feeling at the time, not really knowing quite where I was in my life.

My second piece in this exhibition “Bottle and Glass” was an attempt to produce a still life impressionist piece from a simple pastel drawing I did at college. The idea was to demonstrate my ideas of Leaded Art Glass as an art form to hang on a wall.

Whilst both Tony and Karin were at Rossa College attending a FETAC course in Art, Craft + Design they were fortunate enough to study Stained Glass with Carin MacCana as their tutor. Carin is known for her fused and painted glass vessels, slabs and Stained Glass windows. Both Tony and Karin got a kick out of working with glass and since leaving college have developed a range of Art Glass leaded panels for sale.

Karin tends to use landscape as her inspiration in design whilst Tony is converting his doodles into intricate designs both are unique. Tony for many years has doodled over note pads these as he says were an artistic expression of which he seemed to have no other outlet for. Since doing his FETAC course in Art, Craft and Design and enjoying working with coloured glass he has found a medium in which can get a lot of satisfaction. Glass is not like a painting it has the added dimension of light through the glass which changes constantly.

The glass they use is carefully selected to reflect the subject thus forming a unique piece of Art Glass which can be placed against a window with great effect. Karin's landscape designs are also made up by Tony and the two pieces are as different as they are to each other.

Here there is great movement in the pieces as the Suns rays flow outwards. When it came to the Moonlight over Seascape selecting the moonlight was the hardest to select it is slightly opaque and creates an atmosphere just right.

Moons were next on the agender and they both have a different selection of glasses for this design. Karin says that she wanted to stay to quite a tight colour palette within the the same colour whilst Tony will mix the colours to great effect.

Tony like a lot of people doodles a lot but Tony has taken these doodles and created something quite unique. Some of course have had to be simplified somewhat so that it can be make into a glass panel but you get the idea. The use of colour is important here as they are set into clear glass.

Some of these doodles seem very organic in shape suggestions of seed pods or flower buds

Karin and Tony are always developing new designs and can be seen most Saturday mornings at Skibbereen market. In addition to the Art Glass panels they also have a range of unique Glass Wind Chimes which as they are moved together by the wind create a strangely Therapeutic sound effect.

Here Tony has created a landscape view in glass. The view from our house on Benduff, from across the valley which goes down to Connonagh. His first Art Glass interpretation of a West Cork landscape.

Karin likes to add extra items to her panels with things like Roundels as in Moonlight over Seascape above and in the panel below a piece of fused glass with a flower motif. She likes to use unexpected additions in her pieces. Below Karin has used only opalescent glass to render an effect of land and seascape for a clock.

Karin + Tony will take commissions for Art Glass and if able will take on repairs to broken glass panels.

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