Ed Lucia: Glass Artist

After college in the early 1970s, I found myself wandering between odd jobs in carpentry and shoe repair. Then I encountered a gentleman who was repairing stained glass church windows on his enclosed porch. It struck me at the time as a really enjoyable way to work from home, in a creative way, that I saw few people doing.

I was inspired to take a couple of classes in stained glass basics, and I started creating suncatchers in my free time. My friends started to buy them and I was having fun. Employed with a home builder at the time, I mentioned to him in passing how I would like to have more time to work on my new hobby. I’m sure glad I did, because it was his idea that I start working a 4-day week with him, so I would have more time to follow my interest.

Eventually I made a custom glass door and window for one of the homes, which led to more glass work with my employer and other builders, too. It became my full-time profession and my skills expanded as I taught myself how to bevel glass and deep carve.

Restoration of stained, leaded and beveled glass was added to my scope of work after many years of experience in the glass art trade. In the last decade I have incorporated polished Brazilian Agate and Geode stones into my work to create beautifully practical lampshades.

The lampshades are styled in the Tiffany tradition, but are made primarily of stone. It was seeing a photo of a Tiffany collector's office, filled with Tiffany lamps, that set me on a journey to create my own 'Lucia Lamps' using stone instead of stained glass.

There have been hundreds of projects over the years, from residential homes, to larger commercial installations, like the Washington’s music venue, and the historic Poudre Valley National Bank building in Old Town, Fort Collins. You will also see my deep carved glass in a feature wall at the McKee Medical Center chapel in Loveland.

Living in Colorado, the natural landscape and wildlife call me, which you'll notice, often make their way into my artwork.

A lot has happened over the last 40+ years in my work. Much of which was before our current digital age and great phone photography. Photographs of several of my favorite commissions have deteriorated with time, or were burned in the High Park fire in 2012, but this portfolio is a good representation of my work so far. I hope you enjoy.

Thanks for visiting,

Ed