Art School | Modern Stained Glass Vases

by Deborah Harju, posted on February 6th, 2014 in Art School, Valentine’s Day

Stained glass has been considered a work of art for a thousand years, but it’s usually found in the windows of churches or other important buildings. We learned about one stained glass artist in our Watercolor lesson here. But today we are going to move down through history to the modern works of stained glass, which can now be found in sculptures and three dimensional structures.

When researching this lesson, I came across the beautiful work of a Brooklyn based artist named Tom Fruin. Let’s take a look at this gorgeous example of modern stained glass, this sculpture is on exhibit in Europe.

Today, stained glass is not solely for decorative church windows or doors, it’s a beautiful expression of artists around the world in sculptures, and even have architectural purposes.

Using some clear glass, tissue paper and mod podge we are going to create our own “stained glass.” It can be sculptural or serve a purpose like a bowl or a vase.

Use scissors to cut pieces of tissue paper in whatever colors you choose. They can be geometric, hearts, or even torn pieces by hand. Feel free to get creative!

We found it worked best if you paint a little mod podge on the glass first then place the tissue on the glass, and then follow up with a thin coat of mod podge. That way, you’ll get a great stained glass effect. Follow all along the glass, cover completely or make a pattern. Whatever look you are going for is perfect.

If you aren’t covering the entire glass with tissue paper, go ahead and spread a thin coat of mod podge all over the glass anyway—even in the empty spaces.