Lighting up a passion
- Andrei believes that laziness is the only constraint for a master
- He has raised three apprentices
- It takes him about 20 days to make one lampshade
Andrei Dzyuba was on a legal career path that didn’t suit him, but life has a way of giving us second chances. In 2003, he found a website of a studio producing Tiffany lampshades and fell in love with the aesthetics of stained glass. Andrei felt that he could make lamps like that. It took him three years of diligent learning to reach a level of craftsmanship that enabled him to create his first lampshade. Many years later, his work travels all over the world. He makes various objects, but his speciality is Tiffany lampshades: “Turning a new lamp on gets me excited like a child!” he says. Andrei wants to preserve the cultural legacy of stained glass making.
INTERVIEW
I am mainly self-taught, but I did a month-long apprenticeship program at Vetrate Artistiche Toscane atelier, managed by brothers Gianni and Massimo Bracciali. I learned religious stained glass techniques and glass painting there. Best spring of my life!
Nature, art and the works of the masters like Louis Comfort Tiffany (after whom the Tiffany technique is named), John La Farge and René Lalique. Most Tiffany lamps are floral-themed, so I’ve collected a library of botanical books and relevant albums to get inspired by.
I remember the second one, it was a suncatcher. I posted a photo of it online and received constructive criticism from a stranger. If I think about it, the woman who gave me feedback was actually my first teacher, and I am forever grateful to her.
I work with various techniques: classic (leaded stained glass), fusing, Tiffany method and a combination of all of them. The Tiffany method is my favourite: it uses copper foil wrapping instead of cumbersome lead panels, great for working on small details.
