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Tiffany Lamps are beautiful in a "visit to grandma's" way, but Michael McLane is energizing the art with a fun dose of space opera. His handmade stained-glass lamps make characters like Boba Fett and Master Chief look like they'd fit perfectly in a World War I-era parlor.
McClane is a self-professed geek who got into stained glass by watching his father dabble in the art form, creating statues of sedate subjects like butterflies and people golfing. "I was familiar with Tiffany stained glass lamps and saw the building process as a technique which could easily be used to create unique 3-D art pieces beyond the simple domes or cones," he explains.
Peacocks, flowers, and other natural beauties are traditionally the motifs employed by artists working in this style, but McClane had a different perspective. "It just seemed like a natural progression to make something like Boba Fett's helmet in stained glass. Honestly, I was shocked not to find pictures of the idea online by someone else, as it seemed that obvious to me."
While his inspiration comes from pop culture, there is still a lot of designing that has to be done to turn high–resolution video game models into stained glass where the "pixel" resolution is about half an inch square. "I love creating details but have to often step back and make sure that the details are not distorting the overall shape of the project," he says. "When working on the Halo helmet lamp, I quickly realized that I had to limit the details at the front so that the proportions would be correct. I often find it to be a fine line between getting enough detail and holding the shape so the artwork is recognizable."
McLane produces his lamps the same way Louis Comfort Tiffany did — meticulously assembling them one piece at a time on a 3-D form, with each full taking 40-60 hours. He's dedicated to the ancient craft, but also excited to leverage modern technology. "Pepakura is a great tool for me. For the Iron Man and Halo helmets I build up a Pepakura model to compare against as I build up the stained glass replica. I would often have them sitting side by side on the table as I try to maintain the proportions as I add pieces of glass." He also credits websites like the Replica Prop Forum and the 405th Infantry Division as invaluable information resources and sources of reference materials for his projects.
Lamp making is still a hobby for McClane, who is a metallurgical engineer at a steel mill, but he has opened an Etsy store. He also works on commission including a project for Daniel Logan, who played Boba Fett in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones.
McLane says he has too many projects in mind to list, but Optimus Prime is in the works, homages to Storm Troopers and the Imperial Guard, and a replica Rocketeer helmet.
"Coming up with cool projects isn't an issue," hes explains, "it is simply finding the time to create."
All Photos: Michael McLane
