Stained glass is a widely used art form that has been widely adapted to the decoration of church buildings or religiously oriented structures. Stained glass chiefly, has become an expression of religion. Its best use is a perpetually decorative and silent proclamation of the story of God's love.
Stained glass is an art form itself. Good stained glass becomes a part of the architectural whole; as a window it is a part of the wall. Stained glass windows originated in medieval times, in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries and have become in many instances great art treasures. (The windows of the Cathedral of Chartres and Mont St. Michele.) Ours were appraised in 1981 when we redecorated and rennovated our church for over $100,000.
The color in stained glass is contained within the substance itself. Metallic ingredients such as gold, colbalt, chromium, and iron oxides are added to the glass while it is in a molten state. Some stains are painted on white glass to produce yellow tones, or a pigment of a reddish brown or black powdered oxide is added and made permanent by fusing with the surface of the glass at high temperatures
When Matt Petersen made the sancturay windows he created the form of the window in metal, then he made metal dividers in which he placed large broken or oddly shaped pieces of the colored glass inside, then poured onto this a medium of some type, like cement or epoxy resin and left it to harden for a time before removing the form. He then placed the finished product into the windows which we have in the sanctuary today.
Today the use of stained glass in faceted pattern has been introduced. I think this is much like what is in the sancturary. In this process color is the main characteristic. Colored slab glass up to an inch or more in thickness, is faceted by a process of shelling. This is done by striking the edge of the slab with a metal hammer. This causes the glass to break away, leaving facets where the shelled piece is broken loose, and these facets give a jewel-like quality and sparkle to the glass. The glass slabs, once faceted, are embedded in an epoxy resin and while the epoxy appears cement-like, the faceted glass appears to be a decorative pattern of sparkling colors.
Antique methods of producing stained glass were of two kinds: (1) molten glass was poured onto a flat metal or stone surface, spread out thinly, and then cooled; (2) a fixed amount of molten glass was dropped on a flat surface, and it cooled into a flat circle with a raised center. Stained glass today comes in a variety of thicknesses and is made in sheets for the most part.
The art of stained glass is in the design, the use of color, the assembly of the colored pieces, and the fixing of them by strips of lead, and a final cementing and waterproofing. Some glass is stained and fired at a high temperature (1200 degrees or more) and so the features or delineated lines of the design are made permanent.
Our church was built in 1939 under the direction and supervision of Father Edward N. Hinckley. The windows came slowly beginning in 1949. In those days the cost was around $500 each and that was a lot of money. Tody these same windows run over $5,000 apiece. As loved ones died and as Father Hinckley was able, little by little all the windows were put in place. Each was ordered one at the time and put in as they were donated.
