"There is among people of educated taste an increasing demand for craftsmanship possessing purity of design and stability of construction, which are the essential elements of enduring worth. The advantage of surrounding ourselves in our homes, in our churches, and in our public buildings with objects of intrinsic merit hardly needs to be urged. Apart from the conscious pleasure and the unconscious education which such surroundings afford, there is the economic gain of permanence, achieved through careful workmanship, and through the fact that handicraft which possesses beauty and originality is independent of passing fashion. We see this in the many admirable pieces of work which have come down to us from former times and are now doing service for a third or fourth generation of owners.
There are not, however, enough antiques to meet our requirements, and if there were, the craftsmanship of one century could not entirely satisfy the needs of the next, so the art-worker of today chooses for study the best types of former times, and from these evolves others which show the distinctive character of his own epoch and the impress of his own thought. "
Louis Comfort Tiffany
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It is my goal as an artist, designer, and artisan, to provide the highest
quality pieces t My career in stained glass began in 1991, when I began my two year apprenticeship
with the late James P. Schlitz, owner and founder of Schlitz Studios and
Schlitz Furnaces. I studied, in depth, not only the processes for creating
leaded glass shades and windows, but the history of these designs and
the artists that created them. Most of my study focussed on L.C. Tiffany,
as his shades and windows are the most familiar and commonly reproduced
in today's market. I made many reproduction shades, and also a few windows
while under Jim's tutelage. I also had the opportunity Since leaving Schlitz Studios, I have worked with other glass shops,
learning about the restoration of windows. I would like the opportunity to introduce you to my original custom designs and reproductions. I employ all the experience and knowledge I have gathered from my teachers and mentors, and will continue the tradition of excellence that the American Art Glass Movement forged at the end of the nineteenth century well into the twenty-first century. John Van Koningsveld
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Please contact: Phone: (262) 635 8267 |
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