Glass Orchid Studio, Odessa, DE

by Shawn
(Middletown, DE)

The artist and craftswoman Cynthia Moulson is well known throughout Delaware as an uncompromising stained-glass artist that manages to synthesize the local lore and imagery with the specialized techniques of stained glass creation. Following the Germanic tradition in which she was raised, her advanced skills in the arcane aspects of stained glass creation are revealed in both her original works (for example, her striped bass windows) and her numerous restorations of historically important and culturally important works in regional churches, private collections, and museums. She has restored and designed new pieces for the houses in the historically significant Odessa, Delaware area, dedication windows for churches throughout the state, entranceways for apartment complexes, and many custom and commission pieces for prestigious clients.

Ms. Moulson has been formally trained in making stained glass assemblages in the Louis Comfort Tiffany style, and her works clearly reflect this tradition of austerity and grace. Ms. Moulson combines these traditional techniques with those of painting on glass with vitreous (i.e. glassy) paints that are fired between 1,000 and 1,325 degrees. In so doing, the paint becomes a permanent part of the base glass.

Vitreous paints date back to 1000 B.C. The paint serves to attenuate the light striking the surface of the glass to create the illusion a dimension that did not appear in the original glass.

In 2003, Moulson traveled to the West Coast on the United States and took a painting class that was taught by world famous glass artisan Peter McGrain. The results of this continued education are apparent in Ms. Moulson’s body of work.