Rick L. Silas:
Inventor and patent holder on Cold Bent Glass & Shattered Laminated Glass Technologies.

Workshops now being Offered!

Rick L. Silas has been a working artist for the last twenty five years in Canada. After five years of formal art studies, in Montreal and Calgary, he abandoned traditional mediums in favor of contemporary materials. In an effort to support himself while developing this new art form, he approached large corporations such as glass and plastic suppliers to take his work in trade for their materials. This allowed him to experiment with the new chemistry of these materials, without the usual financial constraints experienced by most young artists. Silas’ canvas became tempered plate glass, his paints the latest in liquid polymers and spray enamels. Twenty-five plus years of experimentation and thousands of pieces of successfully executed art and commercial installations has proven him to be a master of this dynamic medium.

In 1995 Rick Silas was commissioned to create a sculpture for the lobby of a major corporation. The sculpture was to include a “cracked ice” glacier effect. The glass industry-supplied products proved unsuitable for the massive scale needed. Silas had to develop a new, perfectly flat glass product, through experimentation, in order to finish the sculpture. The resulting “shattered glass” has been patented in Silas’ name with the registered trade mark of “ Silastial™.”

Silas also developed a way to shatter and bend tempered glass at room temperature while maintaining structural integrity. This process allows him to bend the glass around existing structures, such as stair railings, without machinery or the high cost of a hot glass installation. This Cold Bent Glass can be cut by conventional hand tools, be shaped into furniture or architectural features, or be used in molds for mass commercial production of curved glass.

Silastial Art Glass and Cold Bent Glass can be laminated in many layers like plywood for utility, strength and safety. Only moderate modification is needed to convert plywood-handling technology for mass production of Silas’ hand-milled product. A beautiful, value added product, this new glass technology recycles much of the glass industry’s waste tempered glass.

Rick L. Silas continues to pursue his artistic and inventive muse in British Columbia, Canada. Surrounded by the natural beauty of the province, he is inspired to create his signature glass paintings, glass sculptures and wood carvings.