After moving to Portage la Prairie in 1976, Ruth Brownridge wanted to meet people in her new community. She took some ceramic courses at Cantage's Ceramic Studio, then visited the Arts Centre and came across stained glass artwork. She notes that she had received teaching in painting and pottery, but when Lita Owens gave a course on stained glass, she realized that would be her passion.
"It started small, just working, cutting, and making sun catchers to get the experience. Then as I went along, the pieces just kept getting bigger and bigger."
Brownridge explains that you begin a piece of stained glass with a pattern, then cut each glass piece and grind them.
"I have a grinder, so it smooths off the edges. Then we put a small layer of copper foil around the whole edge, and that’s what the solder is going to stick to. That holds the whole piece together. Once I get all the pieces cut and ground, I solder them together and put a metal zinc frame around it to give it structure. The copper stays on with a little adhesive on the back."
She notes that she then burnishes the copper onto the glass using small tools.
"Once the solder heats everything up, when I’m putting it on, the glue is really just burnt off. So, it’s the solder that holds it all together."
She showed a lampshade she’s currently working on, which will be comprised of six panels. The panels are tack-soldered first, and then she solders all the edges to hold the lamp together. Brownridge adds the project will take about two or three weeks.
"It’s not for the faint of heart. It’s time-consuming. I think with each craft a person enjoys, they find the patience to do it because it does take longer than some other projects. I’ve had my work for sale at the Art Centre for a long time. I took a break for a few years, but now I’m getting back into making a bit more. I’ve done quite a few commissions for homes around Manitoba, and I have some larger pieces at Lion’s Prairie Manor. There’s one on the second floor that you can see from 9th St. It has doves flying. I believe it’s about four feet by two-and-a-half to three feet. It gets pretty heavy, so there’s a limit to how big I will make a piece. I’m just working on my own."
Brownridge adds that there’s no limit to how large a piece can be, but the bigger it gets, the more reinforcing it needs.
"You might see some really large windows. Every foot and a half, a piece of rebar needs to be soldered to it to maintain its strength. When you get that big, steel can also go all around it. It’s all the same glass, but this technique is copper foil, while another technique uses lead. Lead is wrapped around each piece, and that’s what holds it together. Once we put the lead on, we put putty between this H channel to give it strength. That’s how the old windows were made—with lead in between."
Of course, the most important part is the glass and the style and colour of the glass.
"When determining the cost of a project, some glass is manufactured in rolls. The glass is in its molten stage, then rolled and given its texture. The colour comes when it’s in the molten stage. Different minerals and chemicals are added to the mixture to create the colour, and the texture is made when it’s rolled through a machine. A very common one is a clear frosted texture. This is all done before I buy the sheets of glass. Some glass can be about $15 a square foot. When you get into hand-rolled glass, it can be $100 a square foot or more."
Brownridge adds that the number of pieces in a project and the type of glass used determine the cost.
She has what she calls her "stash" of glass. She shops for glass, finds something that fascinates her, and purchases it. She showed a vibrant purple background glass with yellow blotches, which was a hand-rolled, more expensive type.
"I’ll be drawing something, and I know what I’m going to use to create that project."
Looking back through the years, she reflects on her favourite pieces.
"There have been many. I don’t know if I can choose just one. But there are some windows at McKenzies Funeral Home that turned out very nicely. I do a lot of prairie themes, like weeds and Big Lake, Manitoba, and all that. They have a replica of the tree from their business cards. On either side, there are wheat motif pieces, and they’re quite large and special. But I also enjoy doing restoration work, because now it’s there for future generations to enjoy."
Recounting her various endeavours with stained glass, Brownridge notes she has been involved with the ArtSmarts program.
"That was a very important project for a certain time. I got to teach students in schools how to cut glass and grind it, and we created a project for the school. At PCI, Yellowquill, and I think Crescentview, too, there is a stained glass project in the office window that was made for the school by the students. It gave them an opportunity they might never have had to learn how to cut glass. It was a little scary for them at first, but you just have to be careful. It was a very good experience."
She notes that Yellowquill School also created one of the pillars outside PCI, the one with the Dreamcatcher in it.
"Everyone gets involved, and it’s good for the class because they’re working on one project, all together. Everyone has to get along, and it’s very rewarding for them and for me."
Brownridge says she has also taught some classes at the Arts Centre in town, while others have come to her backyard shop where she works to get a kickstart on their journey with this art form.
