INCREDIBLE GLASS ART WITH NATURE AT ITS HEART

PAUL STANKARD 

The beauty of clear glass is mainly that it lets us see clear through to the beauty that lies beyond.

Artist Paul Stankard, one of the most prestigious and world renown glass artists, encases extremely delicate glass sculptures of flowers and insects in globes or cubes of clear glass.

He is considered the father of modern glass paperweights.

When Stankard began his art glass work in 1969, he was inspired by French glass paperweights, but took a radically different approach to creating his own. He works alone at a flameworker’s torch, making realistic portraits of the flowers. He often depicts flowers native to the northeastern US.

Part of what makes Stankard’s works so extraordinary and fascinating is the incredible botanical accuracy of his flowers and insects. Many people at first perceive them to be real and are astonished to learn that they are made of glass.

Stankard developed the orb form in collaboration with one of his coworkers, Robert Stephan, who grinds and polishes each piece to its beautifully clear finish.

Nature is the key inspiration for Stankard. He is also interested in integrating mysticism with botanical realism giving the glass a beautiful organic component. He references the continuum of nature, by portraying and exploring the mysteries of seeds, fertility, flowers, pollinators, and decay.

Glass work appealed to Stankard early on in life. After being diagnosed with severe dyslexia, he was attracted to creative work, which not only allowed him to thrive, but brought him great joy. He earned a degree in scientific glassblowing, then worked for ten years in industrial glass blowing, making scientific instruments for laboratories.

Stankard’s later botanically correct works were influenced by his industrial training. He overcame both technical and artistic hurdles to achieve extremely detailed botanical accuracy and realism.

Stankard’s art has been influenced by poet Walt Whitman. He wrote his own poem:

Stankard’s works are grouped into five distinct categories: Paperweights; Botanicals; Cubes & Columns; Orbs; and Diptychs, Triptychs, & Assemblages. 

His work is represented in more than 60 museums around the world. He has received 3 honorary doctorate degrees and many awards within the glass community, most recently the Masters of the Medium Award from Smithsonian's The James Renwick Alliance and Glass Art Society’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

Stankard is the author of 3 books; an autobiography "No Green Berries or Leaves: The Creative Journey of an Artist in Glass," an educational resource "Spark the Creative Flame: Making the Journey from Craft to Art" and most recently "Studio Craft as Career: A Guide to Achieving Excellence in Art-making." Also see "Paul J. Stankard: Homage to Nature," by Ulysses Grant Dietz. 

See and learn more about the clearly beautiful works of Paul Stankard and other artists in The Universe in an Orb of Glass Now.

Read more about Beautiful Clear in The Most Beautiful Clear Bird’s-Eye View, Chihuly is Clearly & Utterly Beautiful at NY Botanical Garden Now and The Most Beautiful Water is Clear.

And check out more beautiful things happening now in BN Arts/Design, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Place/Time, Mind/Body, and Soul/Impact Daily Fix posts.

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IMAGE CREDITS:

1. Image: by Ron Farina. “Flowers and Fuzzy Fruit” Series. Orb designed & created by Paul Stankard.
2. Image: by Ron Farina. “Flowers and Fruit with Orange Core.” Orb designed & created by Paul Stankard.
3. Image: Paul J. Stankard assembles a botanical paperweight. Courtesy of Craft in America.
4. Image: by Ron Farina. "Flowers and Fruit Bouquet with Swarming Honeybees." Orb designed & created by Paul Stankard.  
5. Image: by Ron Farina. “Flowers And Fuzzy Fruit.” Orb designed & created by Paul Stankard.
6. Image: by Joseph Stankard. “Meditation on the Healing Virtues of the Plant Kingdom - Nature's Fecundity in Flameworked Glass.” Orb designed & created by Paul Stankard.  
7. Image: Paul Stankard creating one of his glass paperweight masterpieces. Courtesy of Paul Stankard.
8. Image: “Crown Imperial Lilies Orb with Figures.” Orb designed & created by Paul Stankard. Courtesy of Paul Stankard.
9. Image: Purple Lilacs Floral Lampwork Art Glass. Paperweight designed & created by Paul Stankard.
10. Image: by Ron Farina. “Golden Orbs Floral Cluster.” Orb designed & created by Paul Stankard.
11. Image: by Ron Farina. “Golden Orbs Floating in a Sphere.” Orb designed & created by Paul Stankard.
12. Image: by Ron Farina. “Honeybees Swarming a Floral Hive Cluster.” Orb designed & created by Paul Stankard.
13. Image: by Douglas Schaible Photography. “Blue Morning Glory Bouquet.” Orb designed & created by Paul Stankard. Courtesy of Collection of The Robert M. Minkoff Foundation, Ltd
14. Image: by BN App - Download now!
15. Image: “Meditation on Healing.” Orb designed & created by Paul Stankard. Courtesy of Heller Gallery.