A trip to Judson Studios

About a year ago my husband and I were driving around Garvanza, just a few blocks from our house, looking at the old and mostly decrepit Arts and Crafts and Victorian mansions along the Arroyo.  Sandwiched between two hideous apartment complexes we came upon an intriguing building that was different than everything else in the neighborhood.  We parked, and as we walked up the circular driveway a flock of hundreds of parrots flew by.  It turned out the building was Judson Studios.  I then signed up to take a studio tour.  Last week I received an email that a spot had finally opened up a year later!  Today, Los Angeles was overcast, cold and muted, I swilled my coffee and as I walked up the circular I once again heard the loud squawking of the parrots.  Judson Studio is a working stained glass studio, it has been in business since 1897.   Before this building housed The Judson glass studio, when the glass studio was in Downtown, it was The Judson art school where painting, drawing and architecture were taught.  It became the glass studio in 1920 when the art, architecture school moved to the USC campus.

This is the room where all of the windows begin.  First they are drawn on paper and painted with watercolor.  These first drawings are called cartoons.

Once the windows are approved the small pieces of glass are cut in this cutting room.

It was overcast but the light still shone through these are color swatches.

A work area, I love the looking glass.






Here is a giant kiln where glass is fired.  When a face, hand or other detail is painted with a glass based paint, firing makes the image permanent.  More on this later.  

Restoring an old Judson stained glass window from maybe 80 years ago.
Windows waiting restoration.
This artist paints the fine details onto the glass.  The paint he uses is actually very fine glass, it is fired so the image becomes permanent.
Lots of faces.
A lot of the work Judson Studio does is for churches.  This is a finished face, two identical ones were made.  The twin is in a church, somewhere.
Rays of paper rolls surround the face.