55+ art
Mastering the Art of Stained Glass Self-taught in stained glass making, former SU professor’s art helps assist Symphoria musicians By Mary Beth Roach
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rowing up in Essex, England, he loved to draw. Today, Robert Oddy, who turns 77 in June, applies his talents to pieces of glass, crafting them into richly colored stained-glass artworks. He put his interest in art aside as he prepared for college. He holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics, a master’s in computing and a Ph.D. in information retrieval. He has worked as a computer programmer and taught college in England before accepting a position at Syracuse University’s School of Information Studies in the early 1980s. He resigned in 1997, as he has stated on his website robertoddy. com, to “devote myself to creating stained glass art.” Within a couple of years of his arrival in Syracuse, he needed to find something to do at home, he said, and he started looking at stained glass, something he still finds a bit ironic. “It’s funny because I was surrounded by stained glass in England, but it was much older stuff. Medieval, some of it, and that didn’t really interest me very much.” 20
55 PLUS - June - July 2021
What did pique his interest were works from 19th and early 20th centuries, and he decided to try the craft out. He purchased a box of scrap glass, some tools and “just played with it,” he said. Oddy is self-taught in stained glass making, and over the years has studied the techniques of some of the masters in the craft, including Louis Comfort Tiffany. His studio, located in his home on the east side of Syracuse, is outfitted with two workbenches, a kiln, grinder, a ring saw, along with volumes of reference books. More than three dozen cubbies of various sizes line one wall, neatly filled with pieces of stained glass, and shelves line another wall, with assorted bottles of glass powder and chips. Several samples of his work are displayed in some of his studio’s windows, and the sunlight pouring in makes the colors even more brilliant. While he has made smaller pieces, such as lights and ornaments, he prefers working on windows and what
he calls stand-alone panels. He said his work is more representational, as opposed to abstract, often working from photos to create his images. Since his work, most of which is commission-based, revolves around a client’s desires, he can do an extensive range of subject matter and styles, as his website, bertrobertoddy.com, proves. Early on, he said, there were times when, upon the installation of the stained-glass window, the owner would host a party and invite people to view it. “We called them ‘window warmings,’” he said. His works often take several months to complete, but it’s the whole method that Oddy finds enjoyable. “I love the process itself. I enjoy cutting glass and shaping it,” he said. Before cutting that first piece of glass, however, Oddy has noted that he sketches out his ideas, works with his clients to arrive at a final design, and decides on form and color. Selecting the glass is one of the most important aspects, he said. As he begins his work, he cuts the glass into various shapes,
