Customer Reviews
What You'll Get
Artistic expression can take the form of a vibrant painting, a stunning sculpture, or front-yard hedges trimmed into the shape of longing. Let creativity blossom with today’s Groupon to The Glass Workbench in Saint Charles. Choose between the following options:
- For $20, you get a 90-minute glass-painting workshop for one (a $40 value).
- For $75, you get a 90-minute glass-painting workshop for four (a $160 value).<p>
Nestled in a nearly two-century-old building sheathed in Burlington limestone, The Glass Workbench houses more than 500 kaleidoscopic colors of glass for aspiring artisans to adorn during glass-painting workshops. During the 90-minute class, friendly instructors arm crafting companions with all the necessary materials before guiding them through the basic painting techniques needed to forge a one-of-a-kind pendant from fused glass. After firing custom creations in a house kiln overnight, staff fastens a chain or loop of licorice to pieces, which students can pick up two days after the course. Sunlight glints off the showroom’s retina-grabbing spread of artisanal glass pieces, which neighbor a retail hobby store stocked with mosaic forms and original design books penned by authors made of stained glass.
The Fine Print
Promotional value expires Jun 13, 2012. Amount paid never expires. Limit 1 per person, may buy 2 additional as gifts. Limit 1 per visit. Valid only for option purchased. Subject to availability. 48hr cancellation notice required. Must be 10 or older, under 16 must be accompanied by a guardian. Classes are non-transferable. Merchant is solely responsible to purchasers for the care and quality of the advertised goods and services.
About The Glass Workbench
The Glass Workbench—a stained-glass and glass-making specialty store—began as a family-owned enterprise in 1975. Back then, owners Glen and Joanne Bishop chose an old-style building on South Main Street to create their shrine to the age-old art of glassmaking. Now on the National Register of Historic Places, the building's 2-foot-thick Burlington limestone walls enclose the shop's inventory of supplies and books about glass arts. They also house mosaic stained-glass artworks by Julie Bishop Day, Glen and Joanne's daughter, who developed the stepping-stone technique for glass decoration. Local crafters take advantage of glassmaking workshops and admire the work of the staff's resident artisans, whose custom stained-glass pieces portray nature imagery and legendary moments in history such as when Ben Franklin invented Windex.