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I ended up spending a few hundred dollars on glass, not knowing anything about how to do it.” The movement and the surprise colors that emerged when I held it up to the light were intoxicating. “I fell into the art of stained glass when I took a friend to a glass shop in Patterson, NJ,” Shlafer recalls.“There I found myself picking up sheets of glass. She worked with Walton for the next 17 years until one day when. Schlafer created five oversized stuffed animals that stood up to seven feet tall. As luck would have it, a stage door attendant at the Martin Beck Theater personally handed her letter to Walton, who immediately hired her for the off-Broadway production of “Square One.” The job required both sewing and pattern-making skills. Upon graduation and the realization that fashion was not, after all, her direction, Schlafer mailed a letter and resume to film and Broadway set/costume designer Tony Walton. At first, I wanted to be a fine artist or sculptor but knowing that it was not a lucrative field, I opted to study illustration, then transferred into fashion design.” For me, color is a drug that can instantly lift my mood.”Īccording to Schlafer, working in glass originally came as a complete surprise.“My education was in fashion design with a degree from Parsons. I love the sheer beauty of the glass, pure rich color. I am constantly trying to capture just a glimmer of her perfection. “As an artist, the most humbling reality is that whatever we create is never as beautiful as Mother Nature’s art. It’s a technique that Alberto developed,” adds Schafler. “I learned a method of airbrushing in layers and removing paint to reveal the light, rather than painting the shadows. She uses traditional grisaille, a powder-glass paint that is applied with brushes and various mediums depending on the desired look. Schafler also learned the art of glass painting known as “silver stain ” hence the term “stained glass,” in which paint actually stains the glass. I feel very privileged to have learned from such a master glass artist.” I was lucky to travel to Siena, Italy and study under ecclesiastical artist Alberto Postiano, who comes from a line of Italian glass artisans,” says Schlafer. Schafler designs traditional stained glass using a “lead came putty” and a Tiffany-styled copper-foil method along with “glass fusing and slumping. “It was perfect for mosaic, so I created my first mosaic glass on glass work,” says Schlafer. The experience of working together inspired Schlafer to take Clemente’s painting, “Sun Serpent Road,” and recreate it in glass.
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In 2015, the pair had their first art show together at the Stray Cat Gallery in Bethel, NY. It makes the creative experience more unpredictable.” It is amazing how two minds can push each other to explore new directions. “It is natural for me to be collaborative, coming from a set-design background and collaborating with a team of designers. And what started out as a realistic nude became an abstract cubist piece.
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It looked much better, so we continued working on the piece together. I was stuck, and so Nick asked if he could do something to it and I said ‘sure.’ He took a knife and split it in half and shifted it two inches apart. Our first real hands-on collaboration was when I was working on a porcelain sculpture for fun. We have worked on pieces together, sometimes sketching at the same time or going back and forth. “Nick is my sounding board and design partner. “We instantly began supporting each other’s work,” says Schafler. Schafler and Clemente moved their collective studios along with their brood of pet cats-El Pud, Oli and Kali-and founded Light Curves Glass where they finally consolidated their talents. “We instantly fell in love with the mountain views here,” Scdhlafer said, “and the property certainly had enough space for our various studios. Initially, they looked in Orange, Ulster and Delaware counties, but branched out to Sullivan County when they couldn’t find the right place. Prior to homesteading in Sullivan County, the two were sharing a studio space in Sugar Loaf, NY. Neither of us was very familiar with Sullivan County a friend suggested we look at some homes in the area.” “We also wanted land and to be surrounded by natural beauty. “In 2002 Nick and I were looking to purchase a home to build and expand our life together that would provide us with space enough for our various art studios, including jewelry and stained glass fabrication scale-model making for theater, television and film traditional painting and drawing graphic design music and sound recording,” says Schlafer. However, before settling here, these two mega-talents looked far and wide for just the right inspiring space. Together they share a spacious six-acre property with multi-faceted art studios. Somewhere below the Neversink Reservoir live and work stained-glass artisan Joan Nicole Schlafer and her design partner, Nicholas Clemente.