Expression: traditional,
representational, liturgical, non-objective, abstract,
contemporary, and adapted styles.
I remember as a boy being
in the studio my father Warren Padovan founded in 1947. I was fascinated
with all the sights, smells and activities… the smell of soldering and
wonder of molten lead… the hundreds of sheets of beautiful colored glass…
the smells of linseed oil and kerosene… the glass being cut into delicate
shapes and leaded together piece by piece… and the painting of artwork on
the surface of glass and seeing it glowing cherry red when being fired in
our gas kiln.
I would sweep the floors,
stretch lead cames, putty windows, whatever I could do to be there. It was
definitely a cool place to be. And since I loved to draw and paint, the
sketches and full size drawings of the work in progress fascinated me. I
remember finally being old enough to cut pieces of glass for the first
time, and lead them together. I knew then, this was for me.
After several years in
the Marines I returned home to help my father full time in the studio. I
also worked for many years with master glass artist Bruno Clagnon. I was
indeed very fortunate to study and learn from them both. In the 25 years
since returning to the family studio, my passion for glass has continued
to grow.
The art and craft of
stained glass has enriched our environments for many centuries, and we at
Jersey Art Studio are proud to continue this tradition as a labor of love.