When I began working with glass in 1981, my only experience was from a small stained glass class that I took. I had just gotten my Bachelor of Fine Art Degree from the University of Utah with an emphasis in metal and wood. Since then, I have spent my entire career trying to make glass more livable, lovable and warmer in feel.

Once I felt I had perfected my stained glass technique, I taught myself to sandblast glass. I did this for several years and realized that I was caught between two very different worlds: the colored world of stained glass – where I had to have metal around each piece to hold it together – and the sandblasted, colorless world of frosted glass. This was the beginning of my journey into the world of Glassic Art.

I started experimenting with paint and sandblasted glass. The two are not very compatible. Glass expands and contracts and paint doesn’t. It peels, chips and the color fades in the intense desert sun. But I persisted. I kept charts of my mixed formulas of paints and left each sample outside my home for six month at a time. It took me almost eight years to mix a formula that was right and I knew I had discovered something very special. I named my technique Glassic Art.

I worked with the sandblasted techniques I had created with depth and textures and started a line of architectural products – everything from doors and windows to countertops and room dividers – that would enhance varied environments. Interior Designers were very instrumental in developing my career. They would give me swatches of fabric to color match in my glass and creative freedom to design a piece that would work in their client’s space. There is so much diversity in each Interior Designer’s styles that I am continually creating a new texture and/or color for each project I work on. I love that, after all these years, glass continues to challenge me.

Meanwhile, I built my artistic repertoire with hot glass in kilns. Today, we offer the integration of Glassic Art and kiln casted glass for even more dimensionality and interest. In my 21 years of business, no other artist has been able to duplicate the Glassic Art technique. Of that, I am very proud.

-Leslie Rankin