I know a thing must be cool if it’s featured on Visual News, Twisted Sifter, and Amusing Planet – 3 of my very favorite “artsy” blogs. And that is precisely the case with the amazing murrine artwork of Loren Stump!
The impressive artwork you see here employs an ancient 4000-year-old mideast glass technique called murrine. Using long rods of glass cane, intricate patterns can be built into a loaf like form, only revealing the hidden details when a slice is cut off. While you’ve probably seen the technique used in patterned glasswork at your local art gallery, you’ve never seen the astounding level of detail achieved in these reinterpreted paintings from Loren Stump.
I’ve taken the liberty of creating a mosaic from the images in those posts and a couple from Loren Stump’s website:
![loren-stump-murrine-4[6]](https://i0.wp.com/iwanticewater.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/loren-stump-murrine-46.jpg?w=231&h=231&crop=1&ssl=1 "loren-stump-murrine-4[6]")
![loren-stump-murrine-1[2]](https://i0.wp.com/iwanticewater.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/loren-stump-murrine-12.jpg?w=461&h=564&ssl=1 "loren-stump-murrine-1[2]")
![loren-stump-murrine-3[6]](https://i0.wp.com/iwanticewater.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/loren-stump-murrine-36.jpg?w=238&h=301&ssl=1 "loren-stump-murrine-3[6]")
See the original posts at Slice Into These Incredible Glass Artworks on Visual News,
This is Murrine. It’s Made of Glass and Can Be Sliced Like a Loaf of Bread on Twisted Sifter,
and The Art of Murrine: Glass Portraits That Slices Like Loaves of Bread on Amusing Planet
And don’t forget to check out Loren Stump’s Stumpchuck Website
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absolutely Beautiful 🙂
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Thanks Morgan! 🙂
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Yeah, I saw that on “Colossal”, too; but I was impressed ONLY by the solid block work, not by the little individual thinggies. Mind, I was REALLY impressed by that amazing blockwork …
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I was really impressed by the larger block as well M-R, but I thought the smaller ones were themselves cut from large blocks – like the cutout piece in the first image.
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Yes, but they shouldn’t’ve been. The amazing work is lost that way.
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Well, as the quoted text says, “Using long rods of glass cane, intricate patterns can be built into a loaf like form, only revealing the hidden details when a slice is cut off.” I think the whole point of creating the “loaf” is that multiple pieces can then be made from it, each with its own subtle distinctions. Besides, I’ll bet the multiple “slices” from that one “loaf” produce more income than would be gained from selling it as one piece.
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No ‘besides’ about it, Izaak ! 😎
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There are worse ways to make a living! 😀
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Dunno: imagine the WORK !
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I’ve seen some pretty cool video of artistic glass workers in action. Great work if you can make it pay! 😀
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It’s a fascinatin art/skill, eh, Izaak ? Many authors have set novels around it – Donna Leon and Dick Francis come to mind.
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A fascination indeed my friend! 🙂
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Wow, these are very impressive!!
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I agree Alex. I’d love to see him make one live! 🙂
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Just: Woawww! Great! Wonderful!
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Thanks Motomoto! 🙂
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