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Functional Glass Art

 

  “I’ve always been fascinated with glass and how it captures the light,” Mandy Lancellas tells “Architect & Specificator” when we call her to discuss the work that has recently drawn attention from developers, art lovers and South Africa’s most upmarket TV shows. “I started working with glass in high school, using glass hobby paints to decorate wine glasses and other items to sell at craft markets for pocket money.”

Her current success shows little relation to these humble beginnings, with her glass artworks gracing some of the most opulent homes in the country. However, she retains a genuine modesty in spite of her achievements.

Brave beginnings

Mandy started experimenting with sandblasting after her father found a sandblasting cabinet at an auction. At the tender age of 17, Mandy took the bold step of starting her own company and Glass Art was born. “I learned through teaching myself the hard way. Nobody wanted to give me any of their trade secrets, for obvious reasons, and I must admit I’ve become very protective of my own secrets too.” Secretive she may be, but she’s happy to let us know that her work essentially consists of sandblasted and carved glass incorporating both colour and light.

“I love what I do,” Mandy enthuses. “We’re proud of every artwork we produce as each piece is custom-made.” Mandy works closely with talented artist, Jeanine Henning, offering clients personalised designs to complement their home’s interior. “Occasionally we work with templates, but most of it is freehand,” she adds.

Pure artform

Mandy is determined to keep everything bespoke, and mentions that carving cannot be left to a computer or machine to manufacture – as all carving is done by hand. “When you explain this to people, only then do they realise how much work goes into each carved glass piece. My main aim is to provide functional art and our work is used in many different functional applications such as windows, doors, decorative mirror, splashbacks, glass stair treads, balustrades, frameless shower doors and table tops.

 

“Usually, the client will come to us with a pattern or design concept and we then find the best way to capture it within the glass. The majority of our clients are architects and interior designers with a design concept already in mind. We then take this and convert it into either a plain sandblasted finish or into a suitable layout for carved glass or shading.”

 

Creativity on call

Mandy admits that it’s not always easy to be creative on demand and sometimes the challenges faced by certain projects can be daunting. “But rising to a challenge and getting to work on something new each day is just so refreshing,” she continues. “It’s amazing to see the expression on my client’s face when they see the final product. I love to have so much creative freedom.   I have come up with a lot of new ideas for interesting products over the years, for example, the decorative glass chopping boards for the kitchen, sandblasted glass nail files, carved glass with colourful LEDs and colourful mirrors with block mountings and back-lighting.”

 

Creative muscles

Projects give plenty of scope for flexing creative muscles with other design professionals. “We recently completed custom mirror artworks for the Sol Kerzner ‘One and Only Hotel’, which comprised double sandblasted mirror with colour application and backlighting, for a decorative cladding on the cashier counter and champagne bar in the boutique area.”

According to Mandy, it is the subtle details of the design that make the difference between classic and kitsch. “Sandblasting used to have a bad reputation because it was associated with mass-produced ‘clip-art/stencil’ designs – which don’t add much ‘life’ to the glass. That perception is quickly going out the window as design limitations fall away and as glass artists continue to push the boundaries.

Worth every penny

A quick glance at Glass Art’s portfolio reveals they manufacture extremely diverse art pieces, supplying export orders to clients as far aboard as the United States and Dar es Salaam. “People often look at the website and ask to see a pricelist, which I cannot give them.

“Every piece is uniquely made and the price will depend on a variety of factors such as the detail of the design, whether it will be carved or just sandblasted and shaded, the type of installation requested, the glass thickness required (it depends on where the glass will go – as the safety regulations have to be taken into account).

“We work hand-in-hand with some of the larger architectural glass firms when it comes to very large and technical installations,” says Mandy.

Renovation revival

In addition to new developments, Mandy assists numerous clients from the renovation market, where owners of older homes are updating their finishes with unique pieces that reflect the more classical style while still adding a modern touch.

“I’ve often worked on projects where we’ve put an interesting twist on an old piece, or ‘antiqued’ something modern. It’s nice to mix it up a little. I still get so excited when a client requests a custom glass design. It never ceases to inspire me to see what we can come up with next!”

Mandy Lancellas, Glass Art, Tel: 021 701-0822, Fax: 021 701-7782, Email: mandy@glassart.co.za, Website: www.glassart.co.za 

 With Thanks to :

Architect & Specificator Magazine,

Sept/ Oct 2009

Enquiries:

Promech Publishing

Tel: 011  7811401

www.promech.co.za