Look At This Fabulous Stained Glass, Glass Arts High School

Stained glass and other glass arts are being taught in this wonderful lycée(high school), specializing in creating artists for the future.

France has long recognised that not everyone wants to, nor is meant to follow an academic curriculum in a university.

Lycée Lucas de Nehou is just one of several throughout the city that offers a professional high school diploma, combining high school basics along with preparing the student to take on a career after graduation.

Most are in the arts, including the  culinary arts, but some are meant for industrial type trades too.

There are unusual trades of times past, such as watchmaking, hand cut leather art, piano tuning, art restoration and hand blown crystal making.

Paris being the capital of haute culture fashions, there are several training students in pattern and fashion design, including designing hats and embroidery.

Sunday was one of our first spring like days and I wanted to take advantage of it by walking to this special lycée in the 5th arrondissement of Paris.

Here is a pretty view of Sacre Coeur Cathedral in the far background just before I crossing into the 5th from the 14 approaching Port Royal.

Walking up Rue Pierre Nichol, I enjoyed taking another look at a vestige of an old grotto entrance to an ancient crypt where Saint Denis, the first bishop of Paris lived around 250, and later became a place of pilgrimage.

The whole school takes up some very historic and hollowed ground where the Convent des Feuillantines was located.

Victor Hugo lived at one time on part of the grounds and attended school here as well as Louis Pasteur.

This public high school was having their open door days to show off to the public student activities and the very creative arts being taught here.

I was greeted by the monitor where I had to sign in before being given a private guide to show me around.

Thibaut was a 4th year student, exclaiming that it was hard for him to believe he had been here 4 years, leaving his family south of Paris to study here.

His dream upon graduation was to continue his glass studies and eventually open up his own glass and wrought iron design store.

He was well aware of the historical site the school occupied, adding that there were catacombs underneath, a vast extension of those originating in the 14th arrondissement of Paris.

First stop was the glass and crystal  firing room, where he showed me how various forms could be used to make indents and designs in the glass.

Another room was devoted to what I took as etching, but was actually a technique called ‘sablage”.

This is where designs could be engraved on glass using fine pointed high powered sand guns that created patterns of designs on glass and mirrors.

There was a hug oven and several other ones of various sizes.  The art of crystal blowing was being taught at another school in the 11th, the only one in Paris.

I remember when visiting the Baccarat and Saint Louis crystal centers in the northeast corner of France being surprised when told that children of crystal blowers often took up the art at local high schools.

Across the vast tree studded courtyard was the glass cutting and polishing shop. Thibault explained that glass cutting is one of the first things one learns.

He explained that it entailed many hours of practice to master, without creating unwanted cracks. He added that they have a whole shed full of glass available to them for that purpose.

We then went upstairs where the art of  stained glass was being taught.  Some of the windows were decorated by student works, which I found beautiful.

It is an intricate art form where much patience must be had in putting together even small pieces.

First there has to be designs.

This pretty young student had been working over 8 hours on one very delicate looking and complicated design.

Cutting each piece of coloured glass by hand looked very time consuming as well, that took a very steady hand.

After cutting the stained glass, the process of fixing the little pieces into lead trimmings, was tedious too.

It looked like a lot of practice was needed to learn how to insert the pieces into the indented groove of the lead trimming without shattering them.

Each piece of lead trimming had to be first shaped and then cut to fit the length and width of the stained glass.

Whew! Using a special cutter, it looked like it took a fair amount of hand pressure to effect the cut, which she was doing with slanted endings made to fit each pointed end of glass.

Stained glass restoration is taught too, but it was for more advanced students aiming to get a higher recognised national diploma as stained glass restorers.

Some of these advance degrees can lead to even a bachelors or masters degree in arts.

A student was in the process of restoring some old stained glass that had been partially covered with concrete.

She had the stained glass soaking under a towel of a strong smelling solvent, before very delicately trying to scrape it off with scaring or breaking the glass.

She explained that this project was for a private client who wanted to create a stained glass doors and stained glass room partition.

She went on the say that the school rarely took on private projects, unless that if offered a veritable teaching platform for students to learn.

As you can imagine, there is a tremendous need for stained glass artists restorers with all of the ancient stained glass windows in the many church and cathedrals throughout France.

The majority work as freelance artists, though some are employed by the state.  Apparently one has to be totally impassioned in doing this art, as she felt they were not paid as highly as they should be considering the amount of time and talent required.

The advanced degree students take on more complicated projects of using glass as an architectural medium in creating walls, ceilings, panels and creating these very pretty lamps, which I thought were all marvelously designed.

My last stop was the school’s “boutique” where one could buy student creations at super bargain prices.

 

 

 

 

 

I was tempted by these adorable stained glass plant markers, but I took home some really lovely hand moulded glass vases, one red, the other blue hued for only 2 euros each!

Going back down the old staircase, I marveled at this very dented and chipped ancient marble step, that looked like the original . It must have been trampled by thousands of feet of ordinary folks like me, but certainly also by those of Victor Hugo and Louis Pasteur!

After lingering in the courtyard to take some more photos, I suddenly found myself alone and with all the grey doors closed.  I had a small fright and slight panic when each door I attempted to open to exit was closed.

Having some flashing visions of spending the night  and calling the police explaining that I was locked inside the courtyard of the Lycee, my one last attempt finally opened up leading into the entrance!

Alleluia, free at last!   Wonderful and informative visit, but not one to get caught locked in with all those historical ghosts surely lingering around as well!

One thing for sure, is that I will never look at another stained glass window again without being even more astounded by all the talent and work involved in its creation!