January 21, 2008

Stained Glass Painting


The origins of the first stained glass (windows) are lost in history. It is difficult to say exactly when and where glass painting originated. Whether it was from France, Rome, Itlay or Egypt. Early Christian churches of the 4th and 5th centuries had these beautiful paintings on their windows. It is also believed Italian renaissance gave birth to this beautiful form of painting. Glass paintings during that era were in the miniature style, and dealt with biblical themes. They adorned church altars and windows. Colored glass and original vintage glass paintings are extremely expensive and rarely available for sale now. We can only learn and try to replicate.

Glass painting in India :

Glass painting was brought into India by the Chinese merchants who settled in Gujarat around the 18th century. The Chinese merchants settled around the coastal regions of the state. Soon this style was internalized by the artists and was experimented with. Indian themes and pictures from epics were painted on glass.

The medium of glass provides the painter with something that no other medium can - the light effect. This adds a certain beauty to the painting which in itself has that glossy look.

About my Painting :

This is a painting of Lord Ganesha ( the Elephant God) who is worshipped and prayed to achieve success before going for any ordeal. He is a very popular God in India.

I used gold enamel paint combined with translucent glass paint for the effect.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Great work Vidya!
You are very talented!

And A Happy Ganesh Chaturthi!

Thank you for visiting my site!
:-)