Sans Soucie
Art Glass Studios, Inc.

One of the most difficult and most intricate design styles we create at Sans Soucie Art Glass, are portraits in glass, or “portraitures”.  Just drawing a portrait is difficult enough, but etching and carving it into glass, being able to create just the right depth and shading effect in the glass, requires a gift of another level of artistic ability and then years of work and practice, honing that gift into a high level of skill.

Over the years, we’ve been asked to create literally hundreds of different types of portraits, most of which are artistic interpretations of a character type, and not a specific individual.

Our most popular portraiture, no doubt, is our woman featured in waterfall scenes, that we years ago named “Ecstasy“.  She has been featured on shower enclosures and dividers, frameless doors as well as mirror.

From cowboys to Geisha girls, golfers to mermaids, as with any other design style we create, there’s literally no limit to the different type of characters that can be designed and etched and carved into the glass.

Back in the 80’s with the popularity of southwest designs, we did a large number of various indian maiden and warrior characters.  Color was very often incorporated into those designs to really bring out a southwest feel.   A number of different types of “pantry chef’s” is another popular portaiture design.

I would have to say that one of my personal favorites from over the years was a double entry door glass commissioned by Johnson & Johnson, for the Centector Medical Research laboratory in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  Unfortunatley the photo we have of the installed glass is low resolution, so the rich, deep carved details are hardly visible, but at least the design comes across.   The detail on this design was just incredible.  The design featured six different sections, all portraying something scientific and relating to to medical research, fitting for a laboratory entry way!  There’s a face of a surgeon with a molucule, a doctor holding a chemical vile, a pair of hands holding open a medical reference book,  another different molecule or cell, and a section with a doctor and nurse conversing.  This glass will always be one of my favorite pieces.