About
Steve Racine has been producing stained glass since 1980 in a variety of styles. For a decade he worked under the tutelage of Gordon Henderson, a third generation glassman where he added the knowledge of a master craftsman to his own repertoire.
Steve Racine earned his Doctor of Letters from Drew University, with honors, where his dissertation entitled "The Henderson Family of Stained Glass Craftsmen" earned the Dean James Pain Prize for Best Interdisciplinary Research. His continued study of the history of stained glass artists, craftsmen, and studios operating in the New York metropolitan area is greatly aided by his vast collection of original materials which informs his own work.
Racine Art Glass, llc. is fully insured All work is produced using the best materials and is guarenteed.
When your window is completed, restored, or repaired it will bring beauty and joy to you.
Gordon Henderson standing before his Nativity window designed and painted by F. William Baker, Associate of the Royal College of Art, United Methodist Church, Chatham, New Jersey. Gordon considered this to be one of the finest and most original Nativity windows ever produced.
Gordon Henderson always signed his windows including the name of the designer who is too often anonymous. He felt that their grandchildren should know of and be proud of the work.
Gordon Henderson measuring window opening at the United Methodist Church in Chatham, New Jersey for his last major commission, c. 2005
Steve Racine removing original glass panels at the United Methodist Church in Chatham, New Jersey, c. 2005
Gordon spent most of the day advising and telling me to speed up the work or we wouldn't make any money. I spent most of the day in the freezing November rain with water dripping from a leak in the gutter running down my neck. I reminded him I wasn't getting paid, he was - I learned - he laughed.
As a youngster, I always dreamed in color and was fascinated by stained glass windows in churches; I knew early that someday I would make windows myself. In 1980, after an industrial accident I began making small stained glass boxes and panels and was surprised that visitors wanted to buy them; a business was born. I stumbled about wanting to learn on my own, develop my own style without anyone else's influence, and experiment. I did manage to do so. A fortuitous introduction because I needed a piece of old glass changed my vision and goals.
In May of 2000, I began an association with Mr. Gordon Henderson, a third generation stained glass craftsman. This association, apprenticeship, and friendship lasted until Mr. Henderson's death in his 91st year in 2010. I learned traditional installation techniques, glass painting & firing, and a variety of other timeless tips from one of the most versatile glassmen still active in the country. I could fill a book with the stories and directions. In fact, I did, writing my dissertation titled The Henderson Family of Stained Glass Craftsman.
Don, as most called him, worked for generations with his father Ernest Henderson operating out of their Rutherford, New Jersey shop. Ernest grew up in the trade apprenticing with his father's firm Henderson Brothers which existed in New York City for more than forty years. Henderson Brothers worked with most of New York's prominent architects and did work at the Henry Clay Frick house on Fifth Avenue, Yale University, Princeton University, and hundreds of other locations. Ernest left fulltime employment at his father's firm (where he continued to free-lance) to try making it on his own. He worked at Tiffany Studios, Henry Erkins Studios, and the J. A. Whaley Lamp Company before establishing himself as an independent glassman. Gordon often spoke of his memories of playing in his father's shop as a small boy. Ernest Henderson did work at the Biltmore Hotel, the Janssen's Hoffbrau House in New York City, and prominent churches including St. Patrick's Cathedral.
Gordon Henderson entered the trade full time immediately after World War II working along side his father for several decades before taking over the business in the early 1970s. Gordon set windows and did repairs for some of the most prominent firms including: Charles Connick Associates, Boston; Wilbur Herbert Burnham, Boston; J & R Lamb Studios, Wykoff, NJ, Payne-Spiers Studio, Paterson, NJ; and Willet Studios, Philadelphia. Through his long-time partnership with his father and his own initiative he also worked with many of the leading small firms and independents including: James Bosland, Paterson & Wykoff, NJ; Rudy Buenz, Newton, NJ; Tommy DiGiacomo (artist), Clifton, NJ; Marchese & Hamersma Studios, Clifton, NJ; George Durhan & Son, New York City; J. Gordon Guthrie, New York City & Dobbs Ferry, NY; L. W. Heinemann, North Bergen, NJ; A. Raymond Katz, Chicago & New York City;; Roland LeComte, New York City; F. William Baker, ARCA, artist, designer, & glass-painter, Oak Ridge, NJ; John Rivell Stained Glass, Newark, NJ; Karl Mueller Studios, Belleville, NJ & Zephyrhills, FL; McLaughlin Studios, New York City, Lyn Hovey Studios, Boston; and Luther Studios, Paterson, NJ.
Gordon also worked with and consulted for many prominent institutions, authors, collectors, businesses, and researchers including: The Metropolitan Museum of Art; The Corning Museum; The Morse Museum, Winter Park, FL; Lillian Nassau, LLC, antiques and Tiffany experts, New York City; Paul Crist, Paul Crist Studios, Santa Fe Springs, CA; Alistair Duncan, Tiffany expert & author, Vice-president Christie's Fine Art Auctioneers; Alice Cooney Frelinghuysen, Metropolitan Museum of Art & author; Barbara E. Kruger, stained glass conservation, historian, and author, research assistant Michigan Stained Glass Census, Hartland, MI; Phyllis Partridge, author/researcher on the firm of Duffner & Kimberly; Virginia Raguin, author & Director, The Census of Stained Glass in America; Bruce Randall, former Mr. Universe and Tiffany collector; Julie L. Sloan, President, McKernan Satterlee Associates, New York, prominent figure in American stained glass restoration; Gay Walker, author and former librarian, Preservation Department, Yale University; Patricia Pongratz, author and researcher, stained glass; Helene Weis, archivist , librarian, & designer, Willet Studios, Philadelphia & Historian, Stained Glass Association of America; and H. Weber Wilson, author and owner Architectural Americana Antiques.