GPQ Celebrates Twenty-Five Years in Business

Glass Patterns Quarterly is celebrating a milestone twenty-fifth year in business this year. It all started when a few friends and artists decided they wanted to show finished projects and walk people through the step-by-step process of a successful stained glass project and offer the pattern and complete material listing. Within the first year, we were introduced to a friend, the late Norm Dobbins, and began including a series of etching articles, and Paragon introduced us to Roal Enix and his "Getting Started in Fusing" tutorial. 

From the beginning, showing glass art at its best was one of our major concerns. That was remedied when another friend began to photograph the projects. The quality of photography in the mid '80s issues served us well as we submitted stained glass projects to major craft and wood publications in the industry. It really was one of the most important changes that catapulted the magazine's success. Good glass photography was the exception at that time, and we heard great comments from advertisers, artists, and readers alike.

The first issue featured the patterns of one stained glass artist and has since grown to eighty pages that include the work of innovative, expert glass designers from around the world. Their fresh and exciting new ideas for projects cover all levels of expertise in stained, leaded, fused, torchworked, blown, painted, beveled, and etched glass. There is also a pattern section included in each issue as well as an expanded introductory to stained glass geared toward providing beginning hobbyists with tips to ensure their success. GPQ is also extremely proud of the original work created by its two full-time, in-house glass artists and designers. Having a stained glass studio on the premises and plenty of friends in the business gives us the ability to show how products are used and to incorporate them into the projects you see in the magazine.

While we have adapted over the years to changing customer needs and interests, our goal has remained the same throughout---to provide an interesting and beautiful glass magazine for you, our readers, and to make sure that each featured artist feels valued and important. Last year our publishing partners and team attended no less than fourteen glass events in an on-going effort to meet face-to-face as many of our customers and artists as possible and hear their ideas for what they would like to see in the pages of GPQ.

Over the years, our customers and contributing designers have become friends and, in a sense, family. The same is true for our small but excellent staff. I believe the reason we have been successful is their commitment to excellence. Everyone from our circulation and editorial assistants to our copy editor and graphic designers are always working together to find ways to make Glass Patterns Quarterly the best glass art magazine you will find anywhere.

Celebrating twenty-five wonderful years in glass,

Maureen James

Editor in Chief

GPQ is celebrating it's twenty-fifth anniversary with a series of special offers available in this newsletter. Visit our website at www.glasspatterns.com to see

all our products.