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Nowhere does history, art and glass come together better than on the windows of Santa Fe’s beloved La Fonda Hotel.
"History of California" © 1932 Raymond Bolton. Oil reverse painted on glass.
The utilization of glass as a “canvas” for original art has been around for some time, one that links generations and geographic regions across the SouthWest. While GLASSplash was created “organically” within a dialogue between Inspired Living’s design team and the artist homeowner for a recent Altadena, CA project, research of the topic of art-on-glass reveals a long and storied history.
On the West Coast, GLASSplash founder John Patterson grew up admiring a mural on glass that hung over his great uncle’s mantlepiece in the Hollywood Hills. Ray Bolton, born in New England in 1900, became a renowned muralist and artist whose glass panels and painted mirrors could be found gracing the roof garden at the Waldorf-Astoria, the National Women's Country Club in Washington, and the walls of The "San Pedro Room" in The Towers, a venerated hotel in Brooklyn.
Bolton’s “History of California” was meticulously back-painted on glass, depicting a desert composition of desert and cactus during the period of the Frontier West. The composition includes a Navajo rug, cowboy boots, a Winchester Rifle, and the original land grant that lead to the creation of California. Once completed, the glass was mirrored in an “antiqued” silver that added to its rustic appeal.
"To celebrate a Friendship" © 1937 Rebecca Salsbury James | Oil reverse painted on glass.
In New Mexico, home of GLASSplash co-founder Jeffrey Valdez, another east-coast artist was also drawn to use glass in lieu of canvas. Rebecca Salsbury James was a self-taught American painter, born in London, England of American parents who were traveling with the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show. She settled in New York City, where she married photographer Paul Strand. While her early works utilizing reverse painting on glass were floral still lifes, when she moved to Taos in 1933 the local culture began to influence the subject matter of her works as she incorporated tinwork and colcha embroidery into her compositions.
Nowhere does history, art and glass come together better than on the walls and windows of Santa Fe’s venerated La Fonda Hotel. For decades, guests have been enchanted with the whimsical works of Ernest Martinez that grace the multitude of windows in La Plazuela, that feature a folk-art interpretation of flora, fauna and Native designs.
GLASSplash’s numerous collections have been developed incorporating many of the elements that inform both of the founders’ familial backgrounds. Jonathan Juanico's “Acoma” brings the unmistakable graphics of Sky City to glass instead of clay. “Big Skies” share the beauty of the Southwest utilizing the camera lens to capture the inspiring lands of New Mexico.
