architectural art glass

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Etched Glass for Hotels, Restaurants & Casinos by Sans Soucie

November 11th, 2009 by lgannett – Comments (0)

"Spa Casino Palms" wall and partition glass at the Spa Resort Casino in downtown Palm Springs, California

Decorative etched glass is a very popular and useful architectural feature for hotels, restaurants and casinos. Over the years Sans Soucie has been commissioned to create a wide variety of custom designs for architectural art glass items such as booth partitions, wall glass, custom mirrors and entry windows.

"Renaissance Waves" etched glass partitions

One of my favorites is an “oceanic theme” partition we did for a restaurant inside the Marriott’s Renaissance Long Beach Hotel. The glass named “Renaissance Waves” is solid frosted in a “negative sandblast effect”, leaving flowing waves and curl shapes in clear glass. The glass is 18″ tall and was set on pony walls. The top edges of the glass were chiseled irregular.

Another favorite is “Spa Casino Palms” wall and partition glass we did for the Spa Resort Casino in downtown Palm Springs. The glass was etched with beautiful date palms that ran across multiple wall glass panels that ran thru the center of one of the casino’s slot machine areas. There were also glass partitions that were installed above the slot machine’s, that featured a “tilted clay pot” taken from the casino’s logo.

One of our legendary, local restaurants Morton’s’ Steakhouse in Palm Desert, has edge lit booth etched carved glass booth partition mortons palm desert partitions that are 3-dimensionally sculpture carved with their Logo. The glow of the glass adds a very classy and elegant ambiance to their dining area.

A stunning example of creating a custom design that’s for fitting the architecture and decor, as well as the geographical landscape of the area, are the glass partitions we created for a restaurant at The Quarry, a private golf community located in La Quinta, California. We named the glass “Views In the Quarry“, because that’s exactly what they are. The etched glass design features the four actual scenic views from that particular location inside the club. In the foreground of the glass, you’ll see the trees and lakes from the golf course, all the way to the tall, majestic rugged mountains of La Quinta. The way the glass picks up reflection and light, the lakes actually take on a “realistic water shimmer” at certain times of the day.

etched glass booth partitions desert landscape sans soucie

There are many examples of booth and partition glass that can be seen inside our Custom Glass Dividers Gallery. Also visit our Commercial Commissions page for more examples of glass we’ve done for various hotels, restaurants, hospitals and theatres all over the country.

Our goal at Sans Soucie Art Glass is to create the perfect, custom look for the architectural glass for your project!

Etched glass entry windows, Applebee's Cathedral City, California

Tags: architectural art glass, booth divider glass, custom glass, decorative glass panels, etched glass for casino, etched wall glass, frosted glass, patterns glass divider
Posted in Commercial Projects, Desert Designs, Glass Panels, Landscapes, Partitions & Dividers, Signage, Windows | No Comments »

Glass Doors Add a Level of Luxury

October 20th, 2009 by lgannett – Comments (0)

"Metamorphosis" all glass doors, one of our Signature Design Styles.

All glass doors, also known as frameless doors, are really our “signature piece” at Sans Soucie Art Glass.

Both glass door inserts and frameless, all glass doors are our most popular product, and while either one will create a stunning entry when the glass is etched, frosted or carved with one of our exquisite custom glass designs, there’s no doubt that an all glass door really does “take it up a few notches”, as far as a higher-end, more upscale look.

The thickness for an all glass entry is typically 1/2″, and more often than not, the glass color chosen is a “regular” clear glass (as opposed to the more clear “low iron glass” that has minimal green cast, with brand names such as “Starphire ®” or “Diamonte ®”, depending on the manufacturer). When looking “head on” at the glass, the green hue that’s present in regular clear glass is hardly noticeable. It’s not until you look at the edge of the glass, will you see the darker green hue. Since the edges of door glass inserts are hidden, installed inside the frame, and the edges of a frameless, all glass door are only seen when the door is opening or closing, the typical glass choice is “regular” clear.

: “Glacier’s End” is another Sans Soucie Signature Design. These all glass interior doors feature chiseled irregular edges, multi-layers, and open holes in the glass.

The basic cost of the glass and hardware for frameless, all glass doors will vary depending first on the size of the doors, but also the hardware finish and the type of locking system, the biggest variance is usually in the choice of door pulls. There are many selections of custom door pulls out there, with the most basic being a straight pull. Other popular choices are “S” or curved door pulls, “C” shape pulls, triangular door pulls, etc. all of which will be chosen to coordinate and compliment the carved design.

Since we need thicker glass for sculpture carving, all glass doors are perfect and ready to go for 3-dimensional sculpture carving the design in to!

As with all our etched or frosted glass products, our design styles are limitless, so we guarantee we can create something that will suit your decor! From abstract designs to contemporary, and glass patterns to landscapes, come visit our etched, frosted All Glass, Frameless Doors Gallery and see dozens of examples of both residential and commercial door glass, custom designed for our individual clients.

Quadrant Pulls

Tubular Straight Pulls

Cadence Pulls

Meridian Pulls

Lyra Pulls

Allegro Pulls

Tubular C Pulls

Tubular Triangle Pulls

Modular Triangular Pulls

Tags: all glass doors, architectural art glass, custom doors, custom glass, decorative glass, Door Glass, door pulls, etched glass, etching, frosted glass, glass designs, patterns glass
Posted in Frameless Doors | No Comments »

Stunning Curved Glass Shower Enclosure

October 15th, 2009 by lgannett – Comments (0)

shower/abstract geometric waves circles bands We recently created and installed one of the most stunning showers we’ve ever done, in a beautiful custom home up in Northern California.

Rather than a typical “square corner”, this beautiful large shower enclosure features a large curved, laminated glass panel, placed directly in the center between the 30″ wide door and 36″ wide side panel. The panels are all 84″ tall, and are 3-dimensionally sculpture carved in 4 different patterns that run vertically in columns, continung all the way across and around the enclosure.

We ship our custom glass all over the country, which is then typically installed by a local glazing contractor in the area, but in this case, since the destination was within our delivery range, two of our glaziers/installers made the 8 hour drive (you have to drive very slow when hauling art glass!), delivered and installed the glass into a beautiful custom home in Danville, California, about 23 miles East of Oakland. shower/abstract geometric waves circles bands

The geometric, contemporary pattern carved on the glass, was a design by Maria Billingsley.

Visit our Custom Showers Gallery and see dozens of examples of our beautiful, custom shower enclosures! You can also visit our Geometric Designs Gallery, which features all different types of architectural glass products, all etched and/or carved with geometric designs.

etched carved glass shower enclosure geometric pattern

shower/abstract geometric waves circles bands

Tags: architectural art glass, carved glass shower, carved pattern glass, curved glass, custom bent glass, etched glass shower enclosure, frameless shower enclosures, textured glass
Posted in Borders, Contemporary Glass Designs, Geometric Designs, Patterns & Textures, Shower Enclosures | No Comments »

Color! Color! Painted glass in our etched glass designs

October 8th, 2009 by lgannett – Comments (0)

Click on any image in the blog to see the full size piece and enlarged photo!

A great custom feature that is added an additional design element to many of our etched and carved glass is COLOR! From soft hints to deep, bold hues, color adds another beautiful dimension to any carved texture or design.

More often than not, color is added as a “highlight” to only certain portions of the design, as you’ll see on most of the examples I’m including in this blog. For example, we’ll add color to the fish and some of the plant life in a tropical aquarium design, but not to the background areas. Very often when we’ve done “Reeds” designs, the design will include a hummingbird, and only the hummingbird has been painted while the reeds were left “white” sandblasted only. Desert scenes will have some of the foliage and boulders, or even the palm trees painted, but the majority of the design will remain unpainted, like the foreground, mountains and clouds.

Carved and painted signs are very popular and we can custom match any color for any logo. We color match to items in the decor like flooring, walls, wallpaper, fabrics, or other decorative art pieces that may be near the glass, etc. In most cases, the color used will be transparent so the light can pass thru, which creates a beautiful, colorful “glow” in the glass. We do also apply solid colors, which will block the light from passing thru, but will add a perfect, custom element by pulling an exact color match between, say, flooring and a glass door.

There’s one particular piece we did a few years ago, that out of all our work, I believe might be the most “colorFUL” piece we’ve ever done. It was an interior glass window commissioned for the Inyokern Baptist Church, Inyokern, California. The window features a cross with “beams” surrounding and extending from it with a crown above the cross. Color was applied to 100% of the glass surface, and the colors chosen were deep, bright yellow, orange, turquoise, purple and neon pink. The glass is back-lit with flourescent lighting and has the appearance of “stained, leaded glass”, but all achieved thru sandblast carving and painting the glass.

Early stained glass, incidentally began by very similarly painting the glass, just as we’ve done on this cross piece. For a great story about the history of stained glass, read “The History of Stained Glass” on the Stained Glass Assoc. web.

Color matching is of course very specific, so in most cases we will create color samples for your approval, to be sure that the color is correct. Color is popular for every type of product we create, from etched carved glass doors, windows, showers, couunters and tables, dividers and mirrors. For items such as exterior door or window glass, we will caution you that if the glass is exposed to direct sunlight, colors can and likely will fade over a period of time, IF they’re exposed to direct sunlight. They won’t likely “disappear” but can fade. A personal experience we had that really “stood the test of time”, was the front door glass we had for many years. It was a Southwest landscape design that featured adobe houses, a beautiful clay pot, and colorful clay pot draped on a ladder. The glass was installed in 1990, and in 2003, the glass was actually moved to a different home (a beautiful, southwest adobe style home, perfect for the southwest design in the glass). To this day, over 20 years later (!), the color still remains! In both homes, however, the front door did not receive direct sunlight.

Adding color does take our artists more than twice the time to create, (in most cases, it will actually take longer to apply the color than it does to sandblast the design). All areas of the design have to be “re-masked” after sandblasting. This takes our artists many, many hours to achieve and so of course adding color the design will increase cost. But it does make a huge statement and adds a very rich element to the design.

Visit our Carved & Painted Glass Gallery on our web site, to see many examples of various types of glass products that feature color.

Tags: architectural art glass, Color in Glass, painted glass, sandblast techniques, Stained Glass
Posted in Color in Glass, Definitions & Terms, Desert Designs, Patterns & Textures, Techniques & Effects, Tropical Designs, painted glass | No Comments »

Etched Glass Windows: Tub Window Designs

October 1st, 2009 by lgannett – Comments (0)

“Ondas” Tub Windows

Our second most popular type of item is our etched and carved glass windows. Both exterior and interior windows are very popular because our etched glass designs will provide privacy, while allowing the light to pass thru and enter the room. A great alternative to shades and blinds, that create privacy, but block light.

“Abstract Hills Smooth”, less private

“Abstract Hills Smooth”, more private

Designs for tub and shower windows can vary greatly, depending upon the amount of privacy needed, and of course design preference. A great option that is very often used, is to leave the top area of the glass clear, etching the design up to the height level needed for ample privacy, and then leaving the top clear which then allows you to see outside, creating a wonderful, open feel, as seen on the large, full surround “Onas” tub windows.

“Iris Perch”, solid etched and carved

I’ve included one example in this blog of our “Abstract Hills Smooth” design, shown executed two different ways. On the one, you’ll notice that the gluechipped areas are “obscured”, but may not be private enough for the area, as was the case for this particular window. We went back in, and later lightly sandblasted those gluechipped areas, creating more obscurity in those sections, so they would be more private.

On the “Iris Perch” window, you’ll notice that all areas of the glass have been sandblasted, with the design areas carved and the background areas etched or “frosted”, creating 100% privacy.

A very popular design for our custom desert homes in our area, the Coachella Valley, are mountain designs. Our valley is surrounded by beautiful mountain ranges, (San Jacinto, Santa Rosa, Little San Bernardino and Chocolate Mountians), all of which having very different looks and textures, depending on where you are in the valley. Mountain ranges are a great design, because it makes natural “sense” within the design, to leave the top area above the peaks of the mountain ranges clear glass.

Santa Rosa & San Jacinto Mountains, Coachella Valley, California

“Mountains” surface etched glass (not carved) window, less detail.

“La Quinta Mountains” Tub Window, carved & shaded (more detail)

Visit our Tub & Shower Window Gallery for many more examples like these!

Tags: architectural art glass, carved glass, custom glass, etched glass, etched glass tub windows, etched glass windows, Floral Designs, privacy glass, sandblast techniques, tub windows
Posted in Desert Designs, Landscapes, Patterns & Textures, Techniques & Effects, Windows | No Comments »

Portraitures: Artistic Impressions in Glass

September 25th, 2009 by lgannett – Comments (0)

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.

Tags: architectural art glass, carved glass, carved glass portraits, commercial glass, custom glass, decorative glass portraits, etched glass, etched glass portraits, girl character in etched in glass, portraits in glass, portraitures in glass, portrayals in glass, woman etched in glass
Posted in Door Glass, Portraitures, Shower Enclosures, Techniques & Effects, Windows | No Comments »

Shower in Illuminated Art: Custom shower enclosures

September 17th, 2009 by lgannett – Comments (0)

Over the last 33 years, Sans Soucie has created incredible custom designed etched and carved glass frameless shower doors and shower enclosures inside hundreds of luxury, custom homes.

"Arctic" shower enclosure, features heavy glass overlay pieces, chiseled edges and a stunning random texture. The shower is being illuminated by the window on the opposite wall. Commissioned by Susan Schreiber Interior Designs.

Our etched and carved glass designs on shower glass instantly turn an ordinary, plain glass shower enclosure into an illuminated work of art that you will enjoy not only each time you step into the shower, but every time you enter your bathroom!

"Rugged Retreat" gives the illusion of multi-layers with waves crossing over one another. Note the "matching mirror" inside the shower, the edges are chiseled and waves are etched and 3-dimenssionally sculpture carved.

As with all our products, the design possibilities are limitless and so are the applications. One design option is to merely “trim” or “frame” your shower glass. Adding a beautiful etched and/or carved and painted border, for example, adds a beautiful custom touch. We can also target certain areas of your shower glass where you may want to create privacy or obscurity, such as the center sections, or lower section, running up into the center, while leaving the top area clear, allows for visibility in to the shower (allowing you to admire your tile work), which at the same will allow you to “see out” from inside the shower, creating a completely open feel as you stand in your shower.

"Cyclone" shower door with narrow side panel. Center section is 3-dimensionally carved and painted, side waves are carved and shaded.

Adding one of our custom edges to the exposed, top edges of the glass is a fantastic application as well. Sans Soucie creates a large number of custom edge designs, ranging from a simple chiseled edge, to waves and various textures.

"Expanding Bands", a simple design targeting the center sections, for an added touch and a bit of obscurity.

Visit our Custom Shower Enclosure gallery to see dozens of sample showers of all shapes, sizes and configurations. We also create free standing dividers for showers and baths.

Tags: architectural art glass, carved glass, carved glass shower doors, carved glass shower enclosures, custom showers, decorative etched shower glass, decorative glass showers, etched glass shower doors, etched glass showers, frameless shower doors, frameless shower enclosures, shower enclosures
Posted in Abstract Designs, Borders, Contemporary Glass Designs, Edgework, Shower Dividers, Shower Enclosures | No Comments »

Elegant Windows installed at The Vintage Club

September 11th, 2009 by lgannett – Comments (0)

Just this week, we installed three magnificent windows featuring truly graceful, elegant designs.

The hardest part about featuring them in our blog, is the fact that the photos can’t possibly demonstrate their beauty! Partly because photographing our work is always challenging, with reflection and light always being an issue, but also because the method of sandblasting used to execute these particular pieces.

Close up of "Floral Perch"

These windows needed to provide 100% privacy. In order to achieve that, the entire glass surface must be either “frosted” and/or carved, obviously laving no clear glass. In this case, the design elements were 3-dimensionally sculpture carved, leaving no clear areas, featuring no “shading” within the design. The design is illuminated beautifully by the natural sunlight coming through the glass, and the sculpture carved edges and angles in the design become a bright white.

Full view of "Floral Perch" 32" x 93" Window

The other thing you can’t appreciate without seeing these windows installed in person, is their SIZE! “Floral Perch” is 32″ wide x 93″ tall and “Swan Lake” is 94″ wide x 72″ tall. All are dual pane, insulated tempered glass units. Incidentally, these windows represent a very good example of what is considered one of our highest complexity, most intricate design styles. (Visit our “Techniques & Effects” page on our site to learn more about design complexity levels). It took many hours of carving, by extremely skilled hands to achieve the varying depths and perfect textures, fitting for each different design element: from swan feathers, tree bushels, various flowers, tiny leaves and streams of water, each surface has distinguishable differences in their carved textures.

These windows were just installed last week, at a private residence inside The Vintage Club, Indian Wells, California, as part of an extensive remodel being done by De Witte Construction, Palm Desert. And because I can’t wait to share, I’ll also tell you that coming soon, we are installing all new entry glass into this incredible home, that I can say with confidence, will be one the grandest, most stunning entries we’ve ever created and installed. Considering the many breathtaking entries we’ve completed in the past, I know that’s saying a lot, but once you get a look at it, we think you’ll agree that it’s one of our most beautiful. (Just a teaser: it incorporates both beveled leaded glass with an etched and shaded design combined!) etched glass window swans lake trees landscape

"Tranquil Meadows" 60" x 108" Window

Tags: architectural art glass, carved glass, etched glass, Floral Designs, privacy glass, sandblast techniques
Posted in Floral Designs, Recently Completed Work, Techniques & Effects, Tree Designs, Windows | No Comments »

A little history: Sans Soucie’s beginnings

September 9th, 2009 by lgannett – Comments (0)

2 of 4 Tiffany windows reconstructed

After writing the last blog about stained glass, I got to thinking about some of the beautiful, original work done by Sans Soucie and its beginnings, which prompted me to ask Chauncey’s Mother, Bonnie, to share a little bit about the history of Sans Soucie, how things got started and if there were any particular projects or pieces that stood out in her mind as she reflected on the “early days”.

“The original start-up business was called ‘Classical Glass’ and started in our garage, in Newport Beach, in 1974. Sans Soucie Studio began work in the hi-desert of California, in Pioneer Town, 1976. Moving from a barn on Pipes Canyon Road to a glass front shop on the 29 Palms Highway that many locals will remember because of the big white “tipi” that sat in the front parking lot. The County offices never could find a restriction to cover that placement and so the tipi remained until some member of the Agua Caliente Tribe purchased our tipi. Of course they didn’t know how to put it up. The Cahuilla never used tipis.

Commissioned by "Save the Whales" Foundation, Long Beach, CA

Yes, the only focus in the beginning was classic leaded glass panels and lamp shades of various beveled, hand blown antique glass and Tiffany opalescent, still made by the same factories that Tiffany commissioned. (Stained being something entirely different that we only came close to duplicating with air brushing some years later).

For neophytes, the very first project, in 1974, was one of the finest, most intricate and complex that we ever did. A huge dream commission that consisted of two entry side lites measuring, approximately 4′ x 8′ on each side of massive wood entry doors. It was an intricate floral design of vines, leaves and beautifully shaded opalescent flowers. I went absolutely crazy at Hollander Glass in Long Beach, selecting the glass. The windows were so heavy that they had to be braced with steel rods, heated and bent to conform to the vine pattern, braced across the panels. Doubt that we made any money on the job but it was a wonderful first learning experience. vintage ss7

Several other jobs come to memory from either sheer size or sheer prestige.

In 1975, while visiting for a wedding in Canada, we were commissioned to do an entire kitchen ceiling. The pattern and colors mimicked the hand painted floor tiles in rich tones of gold and purple.

Room Divider for Rusty Pelican Restaurant, Houston TX

For Jack Knox, (< see page 10 of pdf download) (Jack was always incredibly good, not only at providing work for us, but allowing us free creative expression), we created a round master bedroom window/headboard of Peacocks and Peonies, installed in the front exterior wall of the home.

The very ultimate was a custom beveled entry for the Rusty Pelican Restaurant, Newport Beach, a design of huge flying Pelicans commissioned by the RayGal Design firm that I designed.

Chad (who still assembles the majority of our stained glass pieces today), leaded both of those projects in the 80’s. He also re-constructed a 4′ x 8′ Tiffany commissioned piece, taken from a home in Pasadena, California.

vintage ss6

“Stained glass” took root in Cathedral windows after the middle ages. As I recall the history, the formulas for making richly colored blown glass was lost during that time we know as the dark ages. The antique glass could only be mimicked by hand painting clear glass with colors that were then fired to “stain” the glass. There are still a few old glass houses around the world that specialize in “stained” glass. We visited one such work shop in Paris that had been in multi-generation operation. Both here in the US, and in Canada, there are a limited number of companies that specialize in the repair and reconstruction of old stained glass windows. Clients have to wait years for work. The unique beauty of a “Chartres Cathedral” is the jewel like gleaming of the original “antique glass” made with ancient formulas of lead and arsenic, but the glass is hand cut and hand leaded using the same process that we use today.”

Tags: antique glass, architectural art glass, glass history, painted glass, sans soucie art glass history, Stained Glass
Posted in Cabinet Glass, Floral Designs, Foliage Designs, Glass Facts, Liturgical Designs, Stained Glass, Traditional Designs | No Comments »

Bank of America Glass featured in Glass Magazine

September 1st, 2009 by lgannett – Comments (0)

The industry publication Glass Magazine, featured an article about the glass we did for The Bank of America Tower at One Bryant Park, New York.

The tree bark texture glass is suspended as a large "cube" of ceiling glass, inside the main lobby entrance.

The article was released earlier this year, but is continually posted on their web site, inside their “Photo Gallery: Green Great Glazings” section. The project was the first featured in the section, and is listed among many other notable “green” projects or buildings such as the University of Colorado’s Research Complex, (which won the Project of the Year award for more than $3 million projects from the Colorado Glazing Contractors Association. Also featured is an article about special Nano-coating used on glass at California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, California.

Glass Magazine serves the architectural, retail and automotive glass industries and is published monthly. We have been receiving the magazine for a number of years and find it to be a very informative resource for product guides, industry profiles, industry stats and informative coverage.

Tree Bark Texture of the glass at Bank of America Tower, One Bryant Park, New York

See more photos and a short video presentation that tells the whole story about the glass at One Bryant Park inside the Featured Projects section of our web site!

Tags: abstract design glass, architectural art glass, bank of america one bryant park, etched carved glass, textured glass
Posted in Abstract Designs, Ceiling Glass, Commercial Projects, Sans Soucie Art Glass News, Tree Designs | No Comments »

Sans Soucie
Art Glass Studios, Inc.