The light which falls through the windows “italicizing everything it touches” writes the American poet Billy Collins. The light which illuminates a stained glass laboratory has the power to transport you into a sublime world where every detail is filled with meaning and poetry. Painting glass is like capturing light and fixing it on an invisible and concrete sheet, made of matter and art.

We are in Turin with Paola Grua, Master of Glass Art, in the heart of her Vitràge, an artistic laboratory certified as Artisan Excellence of the Piedmont Region. Here Paola plans, designs and creates fine artistic stained glass windows following the tradition of the ancient glass art technique, but above all following her inspiration and passion for her work.

Her main client is L’ Officina dei Giardini, within which she works in the decoration of windows for conservatories, orangeries, gazebos, pavilions, pool houses, bioclimatic greenhouses and every glass and metal work that human ingenuity can conceive. At the same time, a work dedicated to a more limited niche is growing, or is returning, that which appreciates and requires artistic painting on glass, in particular with the high-fire technique, which today very few master glassmakers are able to practice with knowledge and art.

2024 is a special year because Vitràge turns thirty: three decades of passion, of technical and artistic evolution, of life and professional choices. We retrace them with Paola Grua, chasing the light that reveals paintings and drawings, in her laboratory.

How did your adventure with glass painting begin and when did your art become so unique and precious?

At the end of my academic studies I was fortunate enough to meet the master stained glass artist Pietro Morino Baquetto, who gave me the opportunity to direct my artistic knowledge towards the wonderful art of cathedral stained glass and grisaille glass painting, also called “a gran fuoco” that means kiln-fired.

The perfect immersion in what is a passion, as well as a job, the daily practice and the in-depth study of the technique have made my painting increasingly personal and reflective of my sensitivity, the profound expression of my soul.

Where does the design of a stained glass window begin?

The sketch is the starting point for any artistic work, a scale project to be presented to the customer for approval. The chosen subject and effect will determine the techniques and materials to be used for each specific creation. The stained glass window can be made of glass mosaic or entirely painted with high-fire, or even mosaic with high-fire details.

The sketch is translated into a preparatory drawing (the cardboard) in real size, from which the cutting lines are identified. Once the glass has been chosen, we move on to the actual cutting following the traces of the design: thus the shapes (the templates) necessary for the project are generated.

What decorative techniques do you use?

I specialize in grisaille painting, or kiln-fired, a unique technique with which the glass is painted on both sides (design and colour) and goes through several firing phases which fuse the two parts together for a result of exceptional beauty and durability. I also use decorative sandblasting and glass fusion.

The glass window then takes shape with different binding techniques: lead binding, with which the glass panes are assembled like a cathedral, closed together by special lead profiles; or Tiffany binding, which welds the glass pieces with special copper strips.

Vitrage also works in the restoration of period and ancient stained glass windows, how does it work in these cases?

Artistic restoration involves an in-depth study of the glass, in order to replicate the missing painted parts. Various grisailles must be tested on different colored glass, until the perfect result is obtained to be inserted into the damaged glass.

If, however, the glass is not painted, I simply look for the most suitable one in my department store of antique glass. Restoring a stained glass window is as rewarding as its creation: the stained glass window tells its story, allowing us to glimpse the mischief and secrets of the person who designed and set it up at the time.

Painting on glass is a bit like painting light. What are you most passionate about in your work?

When I start painting it’s always an Epiphany. I experience anticipation and surprise every time I open my firing oven, or go to test new glazes and new grisailles. Glass is a living material and every creation fascinates me for the thousand unpredictable nuances it offers.

Tell us about “that time…” your work required and gave something special.

I had to tackle a very challenging job that gave me great satisfaction: painting the walls of an internal elevator, in a four-story house. I created 36 square meters of high-fire painting alone, in six months of work and a lot of used material!

I remember the worn brushes on those windows: having to replace them every time was a bit like saying goodbye to good collaborators, but the final result was as exciting as the customer satisfaction.

After thirty years, what is your greatest wish for the future?

In the first years of activity I had difficulty detaching myself from the work I had done: for me it was like abandoning a creature, then over time I became more generous, leaving my clients the happiness of a work to be admired, with its colors changing in every time of day and in every season of the year.

After 30 years of activity my desire is to continue to create, for my own satisfaction and that of others. Furthermore, it would be nice to meet the interest of someone with the same passion to whom I could pass on the technique and love for this work, which I received and loved in his time. I am thinking of young enthusiasts who want to carry forward the art of this beautiful world colored with light and reflections. The dream is a laboratory in which to teach my art.