Jon Erickson - Stained Glass Designer and Fabricator
Jon Erickson - Stained Glass Designer and Fabricator Jon Erickson has been painting on glass for almost 20 years. The craft of stained glass fabrication has changed little since skilled artisans crafted beautiful leaded glass windows for the towering cathedrals of Europe. However, the Rhode Island native brings a distinctly modern eye and hand to this ancient craft. His techniques and tools, with the exception of electric kilns and soldering irons, would not be unfamiliar to artisans of past centuries. It’s his subject matter that would sometimes leave his predecessors open-mouthed.

Jon has crafted traditional church windows that hark back to the religious roots of stained glass craftsmanship. One window, featuring the early Christian, Saint Athanathius, has even been featured in a book on the history of religion. Other windows, however, have depicted far more modern subject matter, from bombers and fighter planes for the reproduction English Chapel at The Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum to reproductions of famous surveillance photographs for an exhibit arranged by Chicago artist Noelle Mason.

Perfectly capable of producing a compassionate Christ healing the blind, Jon has also brought a personal and modern touch to some of his ecclesiastical work. An abstraction of Calvary crafted for Montgomery Presbyterian Church retains the heart-wrenching feel of the crucifixion primarily because Jon could use the tool of abstraction to convey the feeling without retracing depictions that had lost some of there power due to over familiarity.

Work he has done on his own (without commission) has included a demon from Dante’s Inferno as well as the disturbing face of Charon, the mythological boatman running the ferry to Hades. Much of Jon’s work is for churches and religious institutions but he has a substantial volume of residential work, much of it based on natural and marine themes. His leaded glass graces many residential entryways throughout the nation. His depiction of a dogwood tree on the marsh for Hospice Savannah shows an eye for detail as well as a willingness to step beyond strict realism as the same tree represents all four seasons in its flowering and foliage.

Though glass painting is Jon’s passion, he is not limited to that one technique. He has done many wonderful etched glass pieces, including virtually three-dimensional reliefs of marine life. His work in opalescent glass – semi-opaque glass with integral color made famous by Louis Comfort Tiffany – is as breathtaking as his painted work. Jon’s skills are not limited to one aspect of stained glass work. He is capable of accomplishing every aspect of stained glass design and fabrication in his essentially one-man studio. Although, primarily known for new work Jon has repaired and restored many windows damaged by age or abuse for a variety of clients. But, at heart, he remains a glass painter.

As most people know, the process of glass painting has nothing to do with paint. Instead, the artist covers the entire surface of a piece of glass with pigment. Using a brush, the glass painter then removes the pigment to create modulations of light and highlights. The glass is then carefully moved to a kiln where the color is literally fused to the surface at high temperatures. The heated glass then has to cool properly to prevent damage. Then the process has to be repeated until the desired effects are achieved. Several trips to the kiln and many hours of firing are not unthinkable for a single piece of glass. Since any leaded glass window is made up of many pieces of glass, the process is complex and time consuming.

The painting and firing is not nearly all that is involved in the process of fabrication. First, Jon must design the window. In the case of commissioned work, this begins with conceptual drawings and discussions with the client. Once a design has been agreed on, Jon produces a “cartoon” or exact drawing of the design. This is essential for the cutting layout of the component pieces of glass that will make up the finished window. The shapes of these component pieces are marked on the layout and then the glass is cut, making certain that space is allowed for the lead cames or grooved strips that will hold the pieces together.

Stained glass windows are different from most other types of art because the final effect relies on transmitted rather than reflected light. Light bounces back to the eye from the surface of a painting. Light passes through a stained glass window, transformed by the coloration and opacity of glass and pigment. This means that the artist’s knowledge and imagination are critical in the visualization and creation of the final product, as he cannot really watch it develop as a single unit on an easily viewed surface. Despite it’s drawbacks, stained glass also offers the artist many valuable tools not available to the regular painter. For example, glass comes in a variety of colors and opacities, significantly increasing the palette.

Jon, a 1988 graduate of the Savannah College of Art and Design had also taken classes at the Rhode Island School of Design and worked as a silkscreen printer before finding his way to Aurora Studio in the 1980’s, the studio was then owned by Savannah native Gerald Schantz. Jon has since purchased the business to pursue his passion for glass.

In addition to his art school training, Jon has studied under well-known glass artist Dick Millard. Through the Antrim School, he has had the privilege of exposure to the art and philosophies of such well-known talents as Sylvia Nichols, Patrick Reyntiens and C.Z. Lawrence. Erickson’s work is featured in buildings across the nation.