Joe Ratliff

Born and raised in Texas, this artist has been everywhere, man, and many places have created memories in my mind. These are MY EYES ON TEXAS. Primarily from the West and South Texas, I have pulled these memories from my mind and created stained glass art representations of what I remember growing up in Texas: from the Sandhills in Monahans, to the Gulf Oil lease right outside of town, to the bald eagle in Big Bend and the mallard ducks along Mustang Island, to stately old courthouses, and mostly high sky sunsets. Ten years ago, I set out to learn how to create a stained glass window three feet in diameter because I had a round circular window in my house that needed stained glass. I didn’t want to pay anyone else to make it, I wanted to do it myself. So for a few years I took lessons and made sun catchers, and finally decided to test my skills by entering a stained glass collage in the State Fair of Texas themed arts and crafts contests. I primarily use the Tiffany copper foil method, but have made some pieces with lead came. I won second place that year and that convinced me I was ready to make my window. Since then I have entered many more stained glass pieces in the State Fair, with many seconds, thirds and honorable mentions, but have never done art or craft shows. When the pandemic hit, I was at home, so to keep me from getting bored, I decided to start making stained glass scenes. My art is detailed, with many pieces containing over 200 cuts of glass. Now I have enough to consider an inventory that I can show, so that prompted me to enter the Main Street arts festival as an emerging artist.