Soda Ash & Sand is a stained glass studio located in Chattanooga, Tennessee.  We design, fabricate, restore, and install leaded stained glass.  We specialize in traditional kiln fired painting techniques and do contract painting for various stained glass studios across the United States.  Be it traditional or modern, secular or non-secular, we work directly with our clients to help them achieve their goals, from the initial consultation to the unveiling of a new or restored piece.  Creativity and innovation go hand in hand with our commitment to craftsmanship and skill.  

Soda Ash & Sand is owned by artist, Amber Droste.  She is a classically trained painter with a BFA in Painting and Art History from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY, and a Masters Degree in Painting from Washington University in St. Louis. She spent a year abroad studying painting and fresco restoration at the Art Institute of Florence in Florence, Italy.  Though her formal education was spent studying painting and art history, she has spent the greater part of the last decade focusing mainly on stained glass, working in highly respected studios in Boston and Colorado and now running Soda Ash & Sand.

“I am at a very exciting time in my work where my skill set as a stained glass artisan has caught up with my ambition and innovative ideas as a fine artist.  I want to make stained glass contemporary and engaging.  Little has changed in this discipline in more than 900 years, and while I respect the skills and history of my craft, I have far too many ideas to just sit back and be content with the limitations of my chosen materials.  Through experimenting with different techniques, I hope to make stained glass not just a craft, but fine art.  I strive to produce creative and expressive works that rise above simple window decoration.”   - Amber Droste