Timberline Artist Part of Lost Mosaic Revival

Brian Kincaid is part of the revival of the fine-line grout mosaic process.  I was sitting as the curator-of-the-day at Timberline Art Gallery when Brian came in and generously spent some of his time explaining the history and details of the process to a small group of visitors and me.  His work had amazed me for some time because of the combination of exceptional craftsmanship and the beauty of his designs so I was delighted to find out more about him and the process.

His artwork looks like stained glass but is more closely related to mosaics, using grout instead of lead to hold the pieces of glass together.  The process requires meticulous precision as well as artistry in the choosing, grinding and placement of each piece of glass, so I was not surprised to learn that he spent his career as an engineer before being captivated by the almost lost mosaic process.  This process was popular in the 1850-1890 period and then died out as stained glass became more popular.  

About 20 years ago, a revival of the process began and Brian discovered it about that time.  He had been helping his wife with her stained glass projects and doing all the glass grinding for her.  He realized that this new-old process required that each piece be precisely ground and it seemed like a fit for his skills and interests.  One of the many interesting things Brian explained was the need for glass to "breathe," expand and contract with weather conditions.  He carefully designs in grout "cracks" to allow for the expansion so the glass does not break. (I think there's a life metaphor there.)

Brian is one of only five artists in the country doing this process and the only one in the west.  Timberline is honored to have him as one of its many talented member artists. Come in and visit some time ... you never know what or who you'll find here.