Jay Gubitz and his Stained Glass Sculptures

You've all seen the usual stained glass artworks at cathedrals or deco building windows, but did any of you know about the artist who pioneered the usage of stained glass for 3D sculpture? Jay Gubitz turned the industry into an artform by innovating a stereotypical 2D media into new heights. Jay was always interested in the process of design, but began his career as a marketing artist. Eventually though, he found his way into glass by enrolling at several workshop courses at the suggestion of his wife, Elaine Gubitz. Using a basic foundation of knowledge from his lessons, he then built on them using trial and error methods. Through his own self-taught art methodologies, he was able to free the stained glass medium of its flat limitations.

Photography and Sculpture Artwork by Jay Gubitz

Jay often got his inspiration from nature, creating soaring depictions of eagles, parrots and other birds. He won several notable recognitions at the Gallery of Excellence at the Glass Craft Expo and the Glastar's competition. When he started, his works mostly showcased a semi-flat silhouette body with a few single layered curves. Later on, many of his avian-inspired sculptures like eagles and seagulls, started to have square bodies and more pronounced wing extremities. An evolution of his process gradually created more and more accurate depictions of wildlife and natural subjects. His most recent works have evolved even in comparison to his previous three dimensional sculptures. Now embodied with Gubitz' roundish organic style of placing glass, his artworks exhibit a life-like realism clad in a peerless technicolor glass exterior.