Alton artist finds therapy in stained glass creations

13 Feb.,2023

 

Do you need stained glass beads solution? Choose us as your partner and we will provide you with a solution that will satisfy you.

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

ALTON — It’s art, but it’s also therapy. 

“I always kid my students not to call it therapy because instead of $6 an hour to learn it I’d have to charge them $200 an hour,” said Lynne Ulett, the founder and owner of the Alton Stained Glass Works and Tiffany Inn in downtown Alton.

Ulett has been making stained glass creations for more than three decades and teaching the nearly-lost art to others for almost as long.

“It’s always good to create,” Ulett said. “It’s a therapy, it’s hard to explain until you do it, you just get lost in the creation.”

Ulett’s shop at 412 E. Broadway is a full service operation that creates custom works of stained glass to clients’ specifications for such things as windows, fireplace screens, cabinet fronts, jewelry boxes, lamp shades, picture frames, or anything else that can be enhanced by the art form. The business also sells stained glass pieces and supplies for purchase in the store, and offers numerous classes in stained glass, mosaics, bead making and glass fusing.

The long-time downtown Alton fixture had its beginnings when Ulett decided to take stained glass classes at a St. Louis shop every week for a year and became hooked.

“I just couldn’t quit doing it, it was so fascinating to me,” Ulett said. “Then you get to a point of what to do with all the things you’ve made. I wanted to have a space to do it, so that’s what propelled me to get a studio.”

Ulett’s first studio was in rented space at the Mineral Springs Mall in downtown Alton. When a larger space became available at the Old Post Office Mall, she moved there and spent seven and a half years creating stained glass and conducting classes. A change in building ownership forced Ulett to look for new space, and she purchased the current Alton Stained Glass Works building in 1999.

The upper floor of the building was transformed into the bed-and-breakfast Tiffany Inn about 20 years ago and features themed rooms and a garden with a view of the Mississippi River and Clark Bridge.

Creating is never far from Ulett’s mind, whether she’s making something herself or guiding students as they create. 

“I want to continue doing it so it doesn’t become a totally lost art. It’s the idea of creation, taking different colors of glass panes and designing them into works of art,” Ulett said. “Working with your hands, and being able to do something from beginning to end and then look at it through the natural light, how the sun changes the colors of it throughout the day, it’s really a fascinating art form.”

Ulett and her students use special art glass in their creations. They utilize lead alloy to join the pieces of glass, or a process known as the Tiffany method where self-adhesive pieces of metal tape are wrapped around each piece of glass. Both processes require soldering to keep the composition together.

It takes Ulett about ten hours to create a 12 by 12 inch stained glass piece. Her longest project to date lasted three years and involved stained glass at Our Lady, Queen of Peace Catholic Church in Bethalto. 

Ulett currently holds all-day stained glass retreats at the Per Marquette State Park Lodge. She used to teach the art form at Lewis and Clark Community College and at area high schools. Ulett holds classes four times per week at her shop. 

When she’s not teaching or creating Ulett likes to take classes herself, something she has done in Italy, Aruba and across the United States. 

“My vacations are always tied in with stained glass,” Ulett said. “I’m always trying to find ways to learn more so that I can continue to teach more.” 
Ulett’s greatest pleasure is seeing her students make their own stained glass creations.

“It changes their lives. They look at things differently than they did before,” Ulett said. “They might look at a sunset or the sky and go ‘oh my gosh, that looks like a piece of glass I worked with.’” 

The Alton Stained Glass Works is open Wednesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wine and tea are available in the shop’s adjacent Artisans Lounge. Throughout it all, the owner’s love of the stained glass art form shows through. 

“At one time I thought about getting into art therapy using stained glass,” Ulett said. “I find that is the most satisfactory part of it, it really helps get students through some rough times. It gets their focus off of their problems.”

 

For more information stained glass beads, please get in touch with us!