Dragonflies of Glass

From award-winning kids nonfiction author Susan Goldman Rubin, and radiantly illustrated by Susanna Chapman, the picture book Dragonflies of Glass celebrates the innovation, determination, and ambition of the brilliant woman artist behind the world-famous Tiffany glass In the mid-nineteenth century, most women who werent raising families became teachers or nurses. But Clara Driscoll longed to be an artist, drawing inspiration from nature: from every flower, weed, dragonfly, and even cobweb, on her familys farm. In 1888, Clara was hired at the renowned Tiffany Glass Company, where Mr. Louis Comfort Tiffany was known for creating gorgeous stained-glass windows for churches, theaters, and libraries. Impressed by her talent at choosing and cutting glass, Mr. Tiffany eventually put Clara in charge of her own staff of 35 women designers. These Tiffany Girls sketched intricate patterns, chose dazzling colors and precise shapes, and carefully soldered and placed each piece of glass to create stunning lamps, murals, windows, vases, and clocks. Yet their names werent always credited on the finished pieces, and when Clara designed the Wisteria lamp that would become Tiffany Studios most famous, everyone assumed that Mr. Tiffany had designed it. Today, Clara Driscolls work lives on in museums, galleries, and private collections around the world. Dragonflies of Glass celebrates the innovation, determination, and ambition of the unsung women behind many of Tiffany Studios masterpieces. Includes a list of places where Driscolls Tiffany art can be found; examples of Driscolls Tiffany lamps and archival photographs; endnotes; and a bibliography.