March 2nd, 2010 by Ron Branch

There is a sense of discovery that never goes away in glass etching – you’re never really sure how it’s going to turn out until it’s done. The glass work I did during the period so far described in the series of booth building posts happened basically in the late eighties. I had taken a part-time job as a “runner” in a Scottsdale company named Glass Design to make some money as I tried to begin college. I had never seen glass art before (or at least had never noticed it), and I remember touching sandblasted glass for the first time and wondering how they got that “on” there. Luckily it was explained to me before I asked the unfortunate question.

I had a proficiency in pencil art, and immediately knew I could do well in glass etching. They were doing simple shading techniques, carving, and mostly one stage peel and shoot stuff. I felt driven to see what I could do with it, and so they let me give it a shot. Within a couple weeks I had dropped my college classes and was working there full time, learning stained glass as well. I had only done a few projects with shading when suddenly a church wanted a huge etched Jesus. It was pretty exciting, and I wasn’t afraid. I should’ve been. I had never even tried doing a face before. It went well considering my lack of experience.

So here is a slideshow of surviving images from that time of intense learning. (just click on the photo)

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