-By Jennifer Thiele Busch

Renowned textile designer Suzanne Tick has brought her considerable knowledge of woven textiles to yet another medium, and the results celebrate the best of both materials. Invited by Deborah Newmark, design director of Skyline Design, to create a new line for the Chicago-based decorative glass manufacturer, Tick delivered an elegant collection that visually combines the delicate intricacies and complex structures of woven fibers with the architectural, light-diffusing qualities of glass panels. "What makes this collection so wonderful is the way Suzanne is able to capture in glass the handcrafted elegance of a woven textile," says Newmark. "It's all about her passion and respect for both glass and textiles and their inherent qualities"

Suzanne Tick Glass™ A Collection in Whites for Skyline Design offers myriad possibilities that allow different looks and feels depending on the combination of options used. The line consists of 10 patterns, conceived in white (with appropriate selections in taupe and black plus custom colors), in varying scales with options to apply patterns using eco-etch™ or AST™ advanced screening technology on one or both sides of glass panels. (Eco-etch™ is an innovative process used in the decoration of glass whereby a 90-percent recycling gain is realized in the blast medium reclaim system. AST™ is a proprietary silkscreen process developed by Skyline that combines various digital etching processes and screening technology.)

Panels are offered in a host of sizes and thicknesses. Depending on the patterns and scales chosen, the results provide different levels of transparency, while the choice between etching or screening patterns, creates varying levels of depth and texture. In all cases, the patterns are enhanced by the translucent qualities of the glass, pushing the boundaries between textile and building material. The collaboration offers the best of both worlds, combining the durability, permanence, and easy maintenance of glass with the fluid, tactile qualities of textiles.

Making the collection even more appealing for the A&D community is the fact that certain patterns are offered in low-iron glass, which eliminates the greenish hue that is typical to most decorative glass products on the market. According to Newmark, low-iron glass provides a more neutral canvas since it is whiter and color-neutral in appearance. The patterns Graffiti, Cross Hatch, Crochet, and Crepe Lace come standard in low-iron glass, while Chain Link, Wire Knit, Weave Check, Facet, Kinetic Lines, Entangle, and Cantilever are available standard in clear glass and custom in low-iron glass.

Tick admits that as much as she knows about designing textiles, she had to learn about designing glass—but she has never been one to shy away from the challenge of a new material. "I've been working in the past few years on tectonic weave structures that feature a number of different qualities—transparency, luster/deluster, textural relief, layering/dimension, and scale—for both textiles and floorcovering," she explains. "Adapting patterns and weave graphics to a hard, flat, glass surface forced us to dig deep into all of those qualities. Transparency was easy; opacity became the challenge. We captured luster/deluster with different etching and engraving techniques. Layering/dimension was achieved by combining imagery—sometimes on one side, sometimes on both sides—using different technologies. Scale exploration was created using Skyline's AST technology."

"Suzanne was able to explore Skyline's many glass techniques with a fresh perspective," notes Newmark. "Luminous texture warms up the cold nature of glass, and a well-placed line, cross hatch, or weave softens its hard edge. The result is a collection that is so diaphanous it begs to be touched." See and touch it for yourself at NeoCon® at Space No. 8-6106. Circle No. 202