Bear Ridge Stained Glass, Charlotte, NC
Robert Beam is an accomplished Stained Glass artist. For Robert, working in stained glass allows him to draw upon his own sense of style, drama, and whimsy to combine a historic medium with innovative design for endless possibilities.
Born near Carlisle Pennsylvania, Cumberland County served as the backdrop for his education in art and craftsmanship and has continued to inspire many of his stained glass pieces. Robert currently resides in Charlotte, North Carolina which continues to impassion his work with its beautiful landscapes and diverse industry.
A self-taught artist, Robert has been working with glass since 1996 and has produced beautiful custom pieces for both commercial businesses and residential homes. His skills in glass span from exquisite window panels to three-dimensional fused-glass and the introduction of natural media into his designs. Robert’s work has been exhibited throughout the east coast.
Robert’s Stained Glass art is created by hand-cutting sheets of stained glass into different pattern shapes, then securing the pieces together like a puzzle using copper foil stripping, a hot soldering iron and solder. Typically, the result is a flat, colored panel or window. However, a second form of his glass art is created by fusing multiple glass pieces together in a high-temperature kiln and then shaping the piece using a ceramic form and following the same heating process. Because in this medium, Robert is working with glass that is pliable from the heating, this allows him to shape the glass into nearly any three-dimensional profile.
The almost mystical qualities of stained glass are what inspire Robert to create artwork in this medium. Glass is a frozen liquid that acts like a solid. It transmits light. The mood of each piece changes as the sun’s natural light changes. Sometimes it is very active, at other times seemingly reflective and passive. It mysteriously appears different each time it’s looked at. It will change as the seasons change, constantly offering a new view and new vision.