Stephen Smith
Stephen Smith brings a masterful eye for coordinating colours and shapes to his distinctive glass pieces - whether they be leadlight lamps or unique fused glass works.
Fused (or kiln-fired glass) is an ancient art form now enjoying a revival. During the first flowering of glass in Mesopotamia from 1500 to 1000 BC, the prime function of glassmakers was to imitate the opaque, lustrous, semi-precious materials like lapis lazuli. The techniques and tools developed to produce these works in kilns were the first real glass processes.
However, with the advent of glass-blowing and factory-produced glass, many of the heat-forming methods for making one-off individual pieces in small kilns was lost.
The art of kiln-formed glass involves not only design but also calculating the exact heating and cooling processes required to achieve the desired end result.
It involves casting and fusing different layers of glass, using a kiln process to liquefy the glass under extremely high temperatures and then a gradual temperature reduction process to return the molten glass to a solid form. The fused piece then undergoes a second firing to "slump" it into a mould to produce the end product.
Both firings last about 22 hours each and temperature control is critical. The heating up and cooling down processes must be precisely calculated according to the design and materials used to ensure the glass expands and contracts at the same rate so that there are no internal stresses which can lead to breakages.
Born in Sydney, Stephen spent several years working in New Guinea before coming to live in Boonah Shire in 1975.
He is also a keen photographer and shares a glass studio in Boonah’s old Butter Factory building with Felicity Fenwick.