Janus in 2024

Looking forward and looking back tp 2010. With luck, in 2024, I'll be doing some looking back and looking forward on this blog in the coming months.

Janus Day, January 1, 2010

Jamestown Lead Came Video

A rare video on the subject of lead came, from an unusual place - 18th century Jamestown in Virginia, USA. Finding stamped text in the milling marks of lead came is fairly rare, and is limited to England from 16th to 19th century (Linda?).  I'd never heard of this elsewhere in America.  I've certainly never come across a lead with these kind of milling marks, as all of the panels I've worked on are from the 19th to 21st centuries.

What Secret Can Window Lead Reveal? – Dig Deeper, Episode 38
JamestownRediscovery, 2021 - 11:41

Here are a few other links -

Window Lead: from Jamestown Discovery

LEAD MILLING MARKS FROM A SIXTEENTH CENTURY STAINED GLASS WINDOW

ICON-CC Publications

by Linda Cannon

download PDF - ICOM-CC_1987_Sydney_154.pdf

New Yorker Easter Week Issue 1952

Cover by Abe Birnbaum (1899-1966)
The New Yorker  -  April 12, 1952

The New Yorker website's page on the issue.
Links to specific items need a subscription.

The only info on the web about Birnbaum is the New York Times obituary on Abe Birnbaum.
ABE BIRNBAUM, 67, ILLUSTRATOR, DIES; Drew Nearly 200 Covers for The New Yorker
Again, needs subscription to see article.

The only info not behind a paywall I could find about him is this quote -

“Nothing is ugly. Everything is what it is.”

I wonder whether this cover would be controversial if published today?
Maybe, but probably not as controversial as the cover by Art Spiegelman -
New Yorker cover Spiegelman IRS crucifies Easter bunny 4/17 1995

Typewriter Art

Anyone who knows me and my art knows that I'm a sucker for this kind of thing. I like the Plein Air stuff especially.

James Cook, Typewriter Artist

Making a Masterpiece... with a Vintage Typewriter
Great Big Story
March 2023

Guardian Article on a Stained Glass Artist

Nice photo essay on stained glass artist Nathalie Hildegarde Liege from Shropshire, England. I like when the show the whole studio, including tools and materials. Doesn't show much of her work though. She does not appear to have a website, but she does have an Instagram account.

Shining a light on a stained glass artist – in pictures
The Guardian
Christopher Thomond
March 24, 2023

text for this image - 

When people entered these churches they couldn’t read and so visitors were told a story in glass like a cartoon tells it, with sections in windows. From window to window you follow the story and to me it felt like a contemporary story as I love reading stories told to children using illustrations. I now approach my stained glass as storytelling too. Sainte-Chapelle has a very spiritual side to it as well as a very special site where you play with light to find peace and think of the beauty of life and how we are all part of it as one.

NYC Logo goes Sans Serif

Creative3 Bloq, By Daniel Piper, March 20, 2023
Is the new "We ❤️ NY" logo really that bad? 

Main differences - the typeface is changed from the famous Milton Glaser deigned logo with serif font to a corporate looking sans serif font. The heart in the new logo has a slight shading, with some saying it more closely resembles the heart emoji. The new one looks out of balance to my eye, with the large hesrt way over on the side. Some have complained it looks like it's saying "We NYC love" I can see their point. My only issue with the old logo is not that the font is serif (I like serifs, as you'll find out), but that the serif's style is so long and rounded it screams out 70's to me. The 1974 typeface American Typewriter to be exact.

 The new 'We ❤️ NYC' campaign has sent the internet into a frenzy
Gothamist, by Elizabeth Kim, Mar 20, 2023

New Yorkers On New 'We Love NYC' Logo: We Hate It
Matt Troutman, Patch staff
Posted Mon, Mar 20, 2023

The funniest and most New York take here.

In my view, this is part of a bigger trend, where all graphic design, print and digital, is going toward sans serif typefaces. Especially in digital, ALL digital is now or will soon be all sans serif. Why?

The state department just mandated all official documents to change from using Times New Roman to Calibri. Serif to Sans Serif.. The reason given is readability, especially for dyslexic readers. I'm not so sure.

I think the general trend is more simple, and it troubles me a bit. It seems to me that people are just associating serif with 'old fashioned' and sans serif with 'modern'. I don't dislike sans serif typefaces, though I do hate Helvetica, which is what the new logo has. I just don't want everything to be sans serif. I don't find it easier to read. I would like very much like to preserve the variety and the diversity of typeface styles.

I  like Times New Roman, though to many graphic designers it looks old fashioned. I admit also I am a bit prejudiced from working in a printing company and  seeing how sans serif typefaces, especially Helvetica, are far more troublesome in processing. Times New Roman is just more reliable iin terms of printing.

PRO SANS SERIF ARTICLES/VIDEOS

article
The Rise of the Sans Serif
Laura Keung
Last updated Dec 2, 2020
Basically arguing "Why Sans Serif is so Great!"

The Rise of the Sans Serif
Envato Tuts 2021
Embed
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dYrzYnx4Dr4" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>

MORE SKEPTICAL ABOUT SANS SERIF

article
Logo Wars: the Sans Serif Epidemic and the Paradox of Modern Luxury
written by Shze Hui Tjoa and Foivos Dousos. March 2019
Medium.com

Landmark the Kogen-Miller and Glasner Studios!

Via Edgar Miller Legacy -
A call to landmark the Kogen-Miller and Glasner Studios in Chicago. 

Recently, the Kogen-Miller and Glasner Studios building was featured in a cover article in the Chicago Sun-Times on December 26, 2022, unfortunately concerning litigation stemming from allegations of improper management and neglect by the controlling majority owners of the property’s condo association. A second article in the same edition, The Glasner Studio, a true Chicago gem, accurately describes the building as an incredibly significant and unique architectural achievement in the City of Chicago, worth protecting.
The Kogen-Miller Studios and the Glasner Studio make up one of the most remarkable apartment buildings in the City of Chicago, the State of Illinois, and the United States, and they are more than deserving of landmark designation to ensure their long-term protection.
Add your name and voice to the petition as we call on the Commission on Chicago Landmarks to designate the property at 1734 North Wells Street an official Chicago Landmark.

At the very least, sign the change.org petition. If possible, write a letter. Information on writing a letter to the Landmarks Commission

I visited the Studios in 2015 and the place is amazing. So very worth preserving and making available to the public someway, anyway. There is an album of 47 photos from that visit on my Flickr site - Kogen Miller Studios, Chicago IL

Just one example from the Flickr album - 

 

Salem Stained Glass

A look on YouTube at a studio, Salem Stained Glass. I worked from about 2001-2004. I was the production manager there for over 2 years. The film is via Phill Hamby, who was early in his career at the studio when I was there. A good guy. He is the one working on the computer in the video. I was the one to introduce and set up the computer graphics they use in the studio. I'm glad it's helped them in the years since.

This aired as a part of UNC's Our State Series in November 2009. Al Priest, interviewed in the video, sadly passed away in 2018. Salem Stained Glass Studio is still around though.

Salem Stained Glass UNC TV Segment

Saga of Sins - Stained Glass Inspired Game

 Saga Of Sins Brings Demon Hunting And Stained Glass Window Visuals To Switch In March

Image from the video  Saga of Sins - Release Date Trailer (US)

Quote - 

"Anything for a weird life."

     Zaphod Beeblebrox approaches the Total Perspective Vortex:
     The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Fit the Eighth)  By Douglas Adams

Pub Windows Small Commission

Grayson Perry's Full English Episode 2 Thu 3 Feb 2023

The video goes straight to a small bit of  the full documentary, part of Grayson Perry’s series Full English. I have no comment other than that this is pub owner telling a story using four simple stained glass panels in his pub. I like small personal commissions like this.

Just a few minutes long.

An Artist Talk with Pinkie Maclure

 An Artist Talk with Pinkie Maclure

From the Stained Glass Museum Youtube account

I'd seen a little of Pincki Maclure's work and liked it, but this talk has more detail.

Simple presentation, but nice info.

October 12, 2022 - 1:07:46 long

Best to look at it full screen.

Best of Vitreosity part 1 - Nov2003-Aug2008

Seeing that 'search' is currently disabled in the original 'Vitreosity 1', I thought this might be a good time for me to reflect on what I've done over the past 9 years, and put together a kind of 'best of Vitreosity'. A bit daunting, in that I need to look over all 450+ posts over 9+ years, and indeed so far I've only gotten through the first half. But here goes.

First - I went through the first 225 post and I chose what I see as the best 32 posts.
Whether you use it in your browser or through your pdf viewer, the links are all live.
(click on the picture or the caption - it's a pdf but, only about 140k, so easy to download)

http://www.krepcio.com/vitreosity/archives/Vitreosity_2004-2008-TOP32.pdf

If you wish to search through all 225 posts from this time period here is the pdf link for that.

http://www.krepcio.com/vitreosity/archives/Vitreosity_2003-2008-FULLlist.pdf

Archiving Digital Image Files Powerpoint 2019

Archiving Digital Image Files
Tom Krepcio
2018 American Glass Guild Conference
Cleveland, OH
June 2018

Why Me?

I've been working with Computer Graphics in Stained Glass since 1993.

I created the blog Vitreosity (2004-present) and was the editor of AGGnews (2010-2015).
Since 1993, I have generated tens, maybe hundreds, of thousands of digital image files to store and maintain. Many have been lost with changes in file formats, storage technologies, operating systems, etc.The working computer files for the years 1993-1999 are almost totally gone.

Full article below the fold

Archiving Digital Image Files

I will be giving a talk at the 2018 American Glass Guild Conference in Cleveland OH. I'll be the last speaker of the conference, Sunday, June 24, 2018 at 3:40pm. The  topic will be "Archiving Digital files". Here is the description I gave them for the talk -

With the advent of digital photography, the sheer number of images produced is virtually exploding. Though these digital images are easy to copy and share, they are not easy to archive. Where and how to archive digital images has become of paramount importance to anyone who uses images to market their work, and even more to those who wish to document their work for future generations. I will discuss the dangers ahead as it relates to stained glass images both in new work and restoration. Some advice on how to handle digital images in the short term will be given.

The gist of the talk will be about the possible large loss of images in the name of having many more. Various storage choices and a general strategy of how to handle volumes of images will be presented.

In the meantime, a .jpg of the flyer I had on hand.

A work in progress...

Temple Sholom Open House Chicago

Temple Sholom - Open House - Chicago, IL, Sunday, October 15, 2017

I first heard of the stained glass at Temple Sholom when I was helping organize the 2016 American Glass Guild Conference. Vic Rothman is a long standing member of the AGG and Vic recommended Temple Sholom as a site to be on a tour of contemporary stained glass in Chicago. Vic had worked on an unusual stained glass commission there and I was intrigued. Sadly, the tour never happened at the conference, but I'd held in back of my mind the idea of visiting the Temple since then.

On the weekend of October 14-15. 2017, there was an event called 'Open House Chicago', put on by the Chicago Architectural Foundation. One site at the event was Temple Sholom. It was the perfect introduction to the stained glass, as they had members of the temple thoughout the buildings with back stories about the building and the windows.

I have 124 images, mostly of the stained glass, on my VitreosityPictures Flickr Album.
Temple Sholom Open House Chicago 2017 

Highlights (click on any image to see larger size) -

Leon Golub and the Joseph Windows
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_Golub
These are the ones Vic worked on and they are pretty astonishing and unusual. Layered flashed glass.

Full article below the fold

Alice In Wonderland at 150

2015 is the 150th anniversary of the publication of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, I originally made this blog post in 2007.

I saw a postcard of this Mad Hatter panel a few years ago and always suspected it was part of a larger program of panels. Indeed it is and the full Alice in Wonderland Window can be seen as part of the website for the church where it's located - All Saints Church in Daresbury, England.


SG photography by John Eastwood


It turns out that the Mad Hatter panel is in the center of 5 small 'Alice character' panels below a larger Nativity scene.

Full article below the fold

Je Suis Charlie

Je Suis Charlie, January 7, 2015

New on YouTube - Sunday at the Met: Radiant Light: Stained Glass from Canterbury Cathedral

A long YouTube video related to the exhibition at the Cloisters, Radiant Light. I am not including the embedded video, because it plays terribly in blogger.
link to video -
Sunday at the Met: Radiant Light: Stained Glass from Canterbury Cathedral
The speakers and subjects include -
Intros by Timothy B. Husband, Curator, Department of Medieval Art and The Cloisters, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Canterbury Pilgrims, talk by The Very Reverend Dr. Robert Willis, Dean of Canterbury Cathedral
Age Old Splendor—Splendor's Old Age: Preserving Canterbury Cathedral's Medieval Stained Glass, talk by Léonie Seliger, Director of Stained Glass Canterbury Cathedral. If you are only interested in the stained glass part, it goes from 0:45:30 - 1:17:00.
A Reading from The Canterbury Tale, Tom Lee, Storyteller

Robert Harmon Windows in Danger of Demolition [Updated - demolished]

About 18 months ago I heard about a set of stained glass windows in St. Louis that were set for possible demolition, but there seemed to be hope that a way would be found to save the building, either through building somewhere else, or adding on to the existing building. Destroying a perfectly sound building seemed beyond comprehension.

It turns out that this building is now marked for demolition soon, perhaps as early as May 2014, just 2 months away. Article from yesterday - Library lovers make plea to save two St. Louis County branches, stltoday.com, March 18, 2014, by Leah Thorsen

Andrew Raimist gives the best case for preservation of the building on his blog architectural ruminations - Demolishing Lewis & Clark Library Would be Cultural Vandalism

My general sense of the situation is that there is not much hope, though there is a petition up for saving the building - http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/save-lewis-and-clark

One truly unique feature of the windows at the Lewis & Clark Library - the artwork is readable from both the exterior and interior. Mural and stained glass in one. Most people outside of the stained glass profession would not recognize this as highly unusual, but it is, and it is very much worth preserving.

Full article below the fold

AGGnews v4.4 on MagCloud

AGGnews v4.4

By American Glass Guild in American Glass Guild Newsletter

16 pages, published 1/5/2014

A look forward to the 2014 American Glass Guild Conference in Bryn Athyn, PA.

As a for last issue, v4_2-3,  it's now available to download as a pdf.