A reflection of talent

Steve Talbott's Spokane Valley studio shows off his stained glass windows, glass door panels sandblasted with elaborate designs, and etched tabletops--but the name of his business, Artistic Glass, only begins to tell his story.

Over more than a dozen years Talbott has carved and painted wooden signs, created murals, designed themed restaurants, applied gold leaf to bank vaults, and created a trophy for a 1995 Senior PGA Tournament. Until last year, his business, founded in 1987, was known as Dimensional Designs.

Now glass is his primary focus. As the sign business in which he had started his career became more and more computer driven, Talbott wanted to concentrate on hands-on, custom work, says his wife and business partner Sue Talbott. He has worked to develop a market for his glasswork since the late '80s, when etched glass was fairly novel around Spokane, she says.

"The glass business has done well in the past several years," Steve Talbott says, so last January he changed the name of the business, and in April, Artistic Glass moved to a former photography studio at 413 N. University that serves as home for the Talbotts and their business.

He says he was drawn to glass as a medium for his creativity because of its beauty and the variety of things he can do working with it.

"Glass lets you do anything to it," Talbott says, and his portfolio of projects illustrates the versatility of both the medium and the artist.

Talbott paints glass, even applying gold leaf; he etches designs in it using abrasives that carve a three-dimensional look into the surface; and he works with stained, leaded, and beveled glass. His work can be seen in custom homes, religious settings, and a variety of local businesses, from restaurants to body shops to corporate boardrooms.

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