Marta Bacon Shines Through Her Rose-Painted Glass
The work of Marta Bacon is featured in the book Glass Painting
For the First Time by Dorris Sorensen. This article appears in the publication.
Marta Bacon is from the new generation of glass
artists, carrying on the tradition of painters from the Victorian era. Born in Los Angeles, California, Marta earned an Associate
of Arts degree from Fullerton College. She continues to take college-level art classes to help her grow as an artist.
Presently, in addition to creating commisioned pieces, Marta teaches
painting for SCE to at least 80 students on a weekly basis.
"My canvas is glass," says Marta. "For me it is the best of both
worlds. I get the translucent look of watercolors, yet the paint moves like oil." Marta paints flowers or other scenes on
hand-blown opal-glass globes. Her painting is then fired at least three times so it becomes a permanent part of the glass.
Each piece of art is an original heirloom, signed by Marta.
Marta says that most people buy her lamps for their beauty rather
than their function. She believes the lamps reminds people of a grandmother's home or other place that holds special memories.
Her work is featured in homes all over the world.
Work on the lamps takes anywhere from one week to two months depending
on the detail of the design and Marta's schedule. "Even though I work every day," she explains, "it can take a while to finish
a piece because it is all done by hand. I am very fortunate because I love this work and it is something special to a lot
of people."
Artists Find Creative Outlet In Glass Painting
The following article about Marta's glass painting classes appeared
in the Walnut Highlander. It is written by Esther Chou.
In Marta Bacon's glass and porcelain painting
class, artists paint anything porcelain or glass, from gold-rimmed plates to inexpensive drinking glasses.
They draw inspiration from a variety of sources, including pre-made
patterns, picture books, even a floral-print paper napkin.
The delicate flower petals, subtle highlights and muted colors
they paint follow the style of an era hundreds of years ago. But sometimes, the painters will stray from the set style and
paint a giraffe or Chihuahua.
The students who attend Bacon's class are relatively new artists
who have found a creative and social outlet.
Lydia Marquez, of Rowland Heights said "It's keeping us from
becoming couch potatoes," she said.
Another painter, Mythily Vasudevan, said she finds the class therapeutic
for her rheumatoid arthritis. Some days, she said, the glass objects and brushes are hard to handle, but she has learned
to live with it.
On this day, Vasudevan, of Rowland Heights, the arthritis wasn't
a problem. "See my joints?" she asked, wiggling her fingers. "I keep moving it."
Students said their children are impressed by the work they have
created. Instructor Marta Bacon, of Fullerton, tells students that they're actually creating heirlooms.
"My kids are so surprised and shocked to see that I have a talent
to paint," Thompson said. She said her son regularly buys her art books. She has about 60 books now to inspire future works.
"He buys pictures that he thinks I can paint," Thompson said.
Because the objects are fired in a kiln, the paint is permanent.
New students usually start painting on inexpensive tiles found
at home improvement stores. From there, they can paint on jewelry boxes, pitchers, plates and lamps- anything porcelain or
glass. The students' artwork is on display twice a year at Mt. SAC and at the Los Angeles County Fair in Pomona.
Though the style of painting is Victorian, the class has worldwide
appeal.
"With the painting, it's almost universal," Bacon said. "It's
quite international."
In her class, Bacon has Russian, Hispanic, Indian, Chinese, Japanese
students, who sometime speak their native tongues in addition to English.
Some days after class, the students have a pot luck, sharing ethnic
dishes and trading recipes. The conversation ranges from gardening to apartment life to their children and grandchildren.
"We meet a lot of nice people," Shubin said, "We all help each
other."
You can contact Marta by emailing her at martabacon@earthlink.net
