Hidden Spring Designs:  Master Artisans, Concrete and Glass

 

 

Hidden Spring Designs is the artistic collaboration of husband and wife team Rob Matthews and Leslie Guinan.  They were drawn together by a shared aesthetic and love of fine craftsmanship. Their gorgeous work is a celebration and contemplation of the beauty in the world, both the natural and human, and the places where they intersect.

 

Rob has been a stained glass artist for 30 years.  He has created gallery pieces and commissions throughout the country and worked with prominent architects and designers such as Clodagh. An avid gardener and former owner of a landscape business, he often thought it would be wonderful to find a way to bring stained glass into the garden.  During the last 12 years he has turned his talents to doing just that.

Leslie is formally trained as a furniture maker.  She began woodworking as a creative outlet while working as an environmental lawyer.  She was seduced by the touch and smell of the materials and overwhelmed by the satisfaction she found in the creative process.  Before she knew it she was hooked.  She quit her job and spent a year at the College of the Redwoods Fine Woodworking Program.

Rob and Leslie cast original, hand-cut glass designs in concrete that is stained and/or textured.  The matte surface of the concrete provides the perfect foil for the luminous and iridescent glass used in their work.  Rather than being merely a medium to hold the glass, the concrete has become a canvas for their unparalleled skills with concrete stain.  They create one-of-a-kind benches, tables, and art for the wall.  Much of their work can be outside year 'round.