From award-winning kidsâ nonfiction author Susan Goldman Rubin, and radiantly illustrated by Susanna
Chapman, the picture book Dragonflies of Glass celebrates the innovation, determination, and ambition of the
brilliant woman artist behind the world-famous Tiffany glass
In the mid-nineteenth century, most women who werenât raising families became teachers or nurses. But Clara
Driscoll longed to be an artist, drawing inspiration from nature: from every flower, weed, dragonfly, and even
cobweb, on her familyâs farm.
In 1888, Clara was hired at the renowned Tiffany Glass Company, where Mr. Louis Comfort Tiffany was known
for creating gorgeous stained-glass windows for churches, theaters, and libraries. Impressed by her talent at
choosing and cutting glass, Mr. Tiffany eventually put Clara in charge of her own staff of 35 women designers.
These âTiffany Girlsâ sketched intricate patterns, chose dazzling colors and precise shapes, and carefully
soldered and placed each piece of glass to create stunning lamps, murals, windows, vases, and clocks. Yet
their names werenât always credited on the finished pieces, and when Clara designed the âWisteriaâ lamp that
would become Tiffany Studiosâ most famous, everyone assumed that Mr. Tiffany had designed it.
Today, Clara Driscollâs work lives on in museums, galleries, and private collections around the world. Dragonflies
of Glass celebrates the innovation, determination, and ambition of the unsung women behind many of Tiffany
Studiosâ masterpieces.
Includes a list of places where Driscollâs Tiffany art can be found; examples of Driscollâs Tiffany lamps and
archival photographs; endnotes; and a bibliography.
