Some glass is meant to be looked through. Other glass is meant to be looked at.
When Tisch Mills artist Mike Morris finishes one of his etched glass creations, it definitely falls into the latter category.
When one Green Bay homeowner wanted to add an individualized touch to a large, newly installed six-piece wrap-around shower enclosure, he contacted Morris, who etched the gray-tinted half-inch tempered glass panels with a floral design.
"It became the focal point," Morris said. "They took the shower and brought it to life."
Etched glass can dress up interior or external entryways as well as glass hot tub or pool dividers. The dividers allow in light, but help give the area privacy, he said.
Sometimes etched glass can distract the eye, such as in the case of a gun cabinet or kitchen cupboard. Morris also can add accents to dress up a piece.
"I took a beautiful cabinet and turned it into a phenomenal cabinet. You work with the piece," he said.
The artist, who etches in his rural studio nestled among pine trees, can turn almost any piece of glass or mirror into a customized work of art, whether it's found on doors, room dividers, display cases, table tops, cabinets, hutches or entertainment centers. He also has done school, restaurant, church, casino and corporate work, including company logos.
"The glass is the functional part. The etching adds the art to it," Morris said.
Designs have included leaves, flowers, pine trees, fish, birds, animals, water, boats and abstract shapes, to name a few.
"If it's glass, you can etch it. There really aren't many limitations," he said. "We can work with the room décor. We can make anything you want. It's only limited to the imagination."
"When I bought my house I put in a built-in gun cabinet with two panels of glass," said Chuck Alsteen of New Franken. "(Mike) did a head of a 10-point buck on one side and a strutting tom turkey on the other. I didn't want to put plain glass in there. I just like the look of glass etching more than anything else. He does beautiful work."
Jim Mohr of Mishicot also asked Morris to dress up the glass on his gun cabinet.
"I had seen some of his other work. He's very talented and he always … goes that extra mile," he said. "Rather than just have plain glass he personalized it. I had a nature scene etched on the glass and it brought up the value of the gun cabinet."
Probably the most difficult piece to etch is a mirror because it requires having to create the design in reverse, Morris said.
When placing a mirror or glass piece in the home, it's important to consider where it will be placed and what will be reflected in it, so Morris asks questions and does his homework before starting any project.
He uses three techniques: single-stage etching, which is the one-dimensional technique of the three; shading, which gives the art depth using a feathering technique involving a slight change in pressure; and carving, the deepest and most time-consuming of the techniques. "That's when you get the feeling that it's alive," Morris said of the latter.
An etched glass piece can take from one hour to two weeks to complete and can cost from $35 to several thousand dollars, said Morris, who also does wood carving.
He recently used his glass etching skills to collaborate with Manitowoc wood artist Lennis Green, owner of The Green Woodworker, on a three-piece wood and glass wall hanging called "The Statement," which was recently on display at Gallery 110 North, Plymouth.
The self-taught Morris, 54, has been working at his hobby of etching glass since 1976.
"I had a motorcycle and I was bored one winter and I took a nail and scratched in a design. It turned out neat," he recalled. "I've worked at glass companies for 35 years so it was a natural progression."
His second piece was a mirror depicting the metamorphosis of a woman into a butterfly, made using a sandblaster.
Morris has long since progressed to professional tools, such as an air eraser, and hopes someday to turn his hobby into a full-time business. He sketches the designs on paper before he begins on the glass.
"It's all done free-hand. It's all original," said Morris who does not duplicate his works. "My mother was very artistic. I just did it. I don't know how to explain it. When you get started on it, your hands take over. It comes from a source I can't explain. It's something I'm passionate about and enjoy doing."
