Maultasch Glass Studio

flat panels of glass of Tiffany who had become a master in the art of creating a new type of glass, known as opalescent. It was called this as it had the milky or cloudy quality of an opal. Up to then, glass was extremely transparent and limited in color to reds, blues, yellows and greens. It was known as "antique" and "stained" with paint or enamel to fill in the faces and body details. But the french cameo glass of Galle and Daum and the opalescent glass of LaFarge and Tiffany was intended to replace the use of paint as much as possible. In fact, it was not stained but had color through and through. So when I say I make stained glass panels, stained glass is a misnomer. I use the term so people will have an idea of the type of glass I use based on common understanding (though incorrect). The goal of opalescent glass was to give the artist a range of colors with varying degrees of transparency to broaden the range of what images could be created without using paint or enamel. Tiffany and LaFarge made magnificent panels and lamps using paint only for faces and bodies. Interest in Tiffany glass died out in the 1920s and was not heard from again for fifty years. Then in the mid to late 70s to the early 80s, opalescent glass saw a short revival. Several small companies began trying to recreate the opalescent glass of Tiffany and LaFarge. Companies in America like Genesis, Chicago Art Glass, Uroboros and Bullseye made some beautiful glass as did Fischer in Germany. The revival didn't last long. By the 1980s most companies were out of business. Today only a few survive. I started buying glass in the 1970s. I bought some genuine Tiffany glass from Dr. Egon Neustadt who owned the largest collection of Tiffany lamps. I use opalescent glass from then and some that is made today. I do not use any paint or enamel in my panels. All of the glass I use is hand made and the finest quality available. It is also the rarest, the most expensive and the most difficult to find. So, looking at my New York City panel. the blue green amber glass I am using for the water was made by Genesis around 35 to 40 years ago and is extremely limited. I had just enough for this panel. It is known as a "ripple" opalescent. It's beauty lies in its' transparency, color and the manner in which the glass when molten blended in some places and stayed pure in others. And, of course, its' ripple texture. The glass, because it was once a liquid, gives a water color quality that I find appealing. Genesis made some of my favorite glass. I try to create flat panels of opalescent glass using images that have not been done before in glass and using only glass and no paint.