Murrine is an Italian term for patterns or pictures made in glass cane (long rods of glass) that are revealed when cut in cross-sections (like a loaf of bread).

California stained glass artist and innovator, Loren Stump, came to my attention yesterday when I was researching my Glass Half Full post. All of his work is fascinating, but I was most taken with his murrine work. Stump is entirely self taught, and yet, according to his peers, he learned instinctively and in record time how to work in molten glass. The detail on these pieces is intense, and they’re small. Like really small. Slices of the Madonna of the Rocks measure a mere 2 1/4″ x 1 3/16.”

In addition to his lovely clasically-themed murrine work, he also makes some other very creative glassworks, all available on his website.

And like many good artists, he’s willing to teach his techniques to anyone who’s interested. The video below is a murrine class he taught at the Corning Museum of Glass in upstate New York.