Clear Lake, IA, a town of 7800 people is 30 miles south of the Minnesota border on I35 heading toward Points south. Our hotel is a few feet from the lake shore. We visited John Larsens stained glass studio on a farm outside of town surrounded by cornfields. John is famous around here for the restoration of the windows in the Historic Frank Lloyd Wright Hotel in Mason City, a dozen miles off. He has been doing glass for 30 years. His studio is in an old barn, and everywhere you look is knee deep in remarkable hand made glass panels. Stacked on Johns table are 6-8 books on Wrights designs and the original cartoons used to restore Wright s windows. He knows every piece of glass, of lead,copper or zinc came. He knows which can be reheated and. Slumped or fused,which are devilishly tough to cut, which change hue in bright light. John searches far and wide for original glass from old demolished buildings one cast molten glass square with a rare Ibis design, in a clear purple about 6 inches square that I I had never seen before. John is among the best at his craft anywhere in the US. It was a privilege to spend an hour with him and be reminded what excellence in craftsmanship looks like.
Posted on: Thu, 18 Sep 2014 21:22:48 +0000
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