Painting with glass takes Avery Shaffer’s expertise with color and light further than canvas can. “There’s something magical in pure color and light versus what you get from reflected light off a canvas,” he says.

Shaffer’s custom-fused glass paintings, candle shields, and other art are available at Pluto Gallery, which evolved in 2005 as an offshoot of the adjacent Ellenburg & Shaffer Glass Art Studio on South Elm Street.

Shaffer, who has a bachelor of fine arts with a concentration in painting and drawing, admits he had not studied glass before entering a business with George Ellenburg, who was apprenticing with Linda Powers Studios. Nevertheless, the timing was perfect. “We were at a point where we were looking to start a venture,” Shaffer says, “and [Powers] was looking to move to the beach.”

In 1997 Shaffer and Ellenburg bought the business from Powers and began selling unique leaded stained glass for windows, doors, and domes. Although people often think of traditional stained glass in churches, Ellenburg and Shaffer developed their glass for homeowners and commercial settings, and the company just celebrated its 10-year anniversary.

The team works directly with customers to design customized windows with a variety of colors and textures. “We personally believe everyone should have at least one stained-glass window in their house,” Shaffer says. “Any window in the house that is just a clear window with no glass, we can measure and custom-design and install our glass.”

But despite this artistic career, Shaffer says he felt like he needed a further outlet for his creativity. The explanation for Pluto Gallery, he says, is that “as an artist I was feeling limited by the lead lines that come with traditional stained glass.” Placing a lead line around every change of color sometimes undermined the artistic effect Shaffer was working toward. But when he paints with glass, the reflections created by light on the surrounding surfaces become dynamic.

Shaffer says he faces an additional creative challenge with fused glass due to interactions within the kiln. In fact, Shaffer painted the same composition in glass four times, and each looks different. “Fifty percent of the work is produced by the kiln,” Shaffer says. “Part of what I embrace is that dance with the universe.”

To display his 1/4- to 3/4-inch-thick glass paintings, he’s experimenting with natural base stands as well as wall mounts. “I just feel like they’re made to be viewed,” Shaffer says.

The production processes differ for the two types of glasswork. For stained glass, a customer will pick a design or Shaffer will draw one, and once it’s approved, the fabricators cut each piece of glass and assimilate them, then solder the lead pieces together. In contrast, painted glass is fired in the kiln for five hours, and then it cools for 18. Shaffer uses molds that shape his graceful bowls and candle shields. Some projects may incorporate both types of glass art.

Prices range from a $6 ornament to large, intricate pieces valued at $7,000, ensuring that “there’s something for everybody,” Shaffer says.

“I love what I do,” he adds. “To me, the best art is art that is beyond the person that’s creating it. That’s what makes us respond to it — that quality in that piece that reflects all of us and what’s important about humanity.”

Speaking of art…

What do you enjoy most about glass? Limitless possibilities and light passing through pure color. What’s the biggest challenge? Finding customers. Educating the public on what they could possibly have. Who influenced you? Mark Rothko. He’s an abstract impressionist painter. It’s a simple abstraction, but very emotional and vibrant. His work is very geometrical and has a lot to do with shape, color, and light, which are things I work with constantly. How do you overcome a creative block? In my stained-glass career I’ve always used my painting and fused-glass work as a way of breaking through doldrums or slow periods. That’s one of the reasons that side has its own name. It’s a hobby coming into an art form. How do you explain the possibilities of glass? I would definitely recommend people look for original art that speaks to their soul. I would explore artists’ studios and gallery spaces and follow your heart.