Just Another Star

In an ongoing time of military action -- family members of those in the service want to show their support and pride of their loved ones serving in the military both here and abroad.

The blue military star has been an outward show of support for more than 60 years and will continue to be.

Shown above is a slight variation of the stained glass blue military star panel. This particular panel was requested by a woman whose son is currently serving abroad.

Her request is on its way to her via FED EX. I hope she enjoys the panel as much as I enjoyed making it.

Christmas Tree in the Moonlight

As I was in the studio last week listening to my iTunes (Van Morrison) I was inspired to make a moon-beam and Christmas tree stained glass panel.

If you look at the photo just imagine five pretty evergreen pine trees lined up in the forest. You can also imagine the light of the full moon casting a shadow from the trees onto the amber-colored forest floor.

Happy Birthday EGA

During the Autumn of 2006 - a small group of glass artists got together via the internet and formed (what is now called) Etsy Glass Artists or EGA.

Etsy is a website where all items sold are not only hand-made by the artist but each store is managed by the artist as well.

Check out etsy: here

EGA is a juried group of artists who use glass as their medium of choice.

In order to become a member of the EGA - guidelines must be followed and current members must vote the prospective members into the group. Acceptance is based on positive feedback from numerous customers, quality of work and dedication to the cause.

Our goal is to promote the art of glass and encourage one another to be inspired and successful.

In the first few days there was Willowglass, liskidder, vickileigh and aekeith making up the first few members of this talented bunch of women.

Over the past year we have had many, many women and men join our street team and, unfortunately, a few did not make the cut.

EGA recently celebrated the first birthday.

Just like all one-year-olds we can now walk independently.


Very soon - we'll be ready to run.

Do yourself a favor and check out the EGA blog. here.

Kabbalah Tree

I made this piece for a friend. I hope she enjoys it.

Yellow is the color of sunshine. It's associated with joy, happiness, intellect, and energy. The whispy yellow glass used to surround the entire piece represents the sun that surrounds us.

The basic element of Hebraic geometry is the equal-sided hexagram. It can be used to demonstrate the acts of creations. I chose this shape because I enjoy using geometry and specific shapes in my glass work.

If we take the hexagon to represent the days of the creation, we will see that each of the six creation phases join together to form another day. A seventh day is formed by doing nothing, by resting. I sliced the hexagon into six equal pieces to indicate that no day in the week is any more or less important than the other days. The seventh day (which is represented by the entire piece) would be the day of the week that is used for worship (meditation - yoga - thought - prayer). This day is not necessarily Sunday. It could be any day that you choose.

The clear glass which represents the other six days of the week were made using a 'vertigo' style glass. Vertigo (dizzy, out-of-sorts, unsteadiness) could represent the days of the week that are filled with work, kids, family events, grocery shopping, doctor visits, and all the other day-to-day tasks that fill our lives with disorder.

Lines drawn between opposite corners in the hexagon form another container: a cube with six sides. So by drawing three lines the hexagon transforms from a flat object into a three-dimensional one. This will play an important role in the new Kabbalah Tree.

Glass Rainforest

I watched the movie Apocalypto by Mel Gibson one evening this past week and was moved by the actors, the dialog, the costumes but mostly by the set of the rainforest.

The colors of the trees, flowers, rocks, animals, people and their habitat inspired me to try to re-create the essence of the film into a piece of stained glass.

The first photograph shows the pattern drawn out on the cutting table with the corners of the piece being precisely cut to include a flower in the center of each square.

In the second photo, you can see that most of the glass has been carefully chosen, cut and placed based on the color of the glass and how it will contribute to the overall piece.

During the making of a stained glass panel, I will often times change a piece of glass simply because it doesn't fit into the theme. This is shown in the third photograph. I replaced the square piece of green glass with a square piece of yellow glass to represent the sun.

Next you can see the finished piece. The dark blue glass represents the rivers flowing through the forest. Trees and plant life is shown in the confetti glass which holds specks of blue, purple, green and strings of black. The nuggets of glass are similar to the rocks which line the bed of the rivers and streams. Obviously the dark lime green frame around the entire piece is the color of the leaves on the tall trees.

The last photo shows a close picture of the glass nuggets in the left side of the glass piece.

Glass Bamboo

This glass panel was crafted using a beautiful piece of Bamboo-style architectural glass.

The center panel is a bit thicker and heavier than glass commonly used in stained glass panels. This center piece weighs more than 2.5 pounds alone.

I've surrounded the bamboo sculpted center piece of glass with some whispy green and white pieces of stained glass.

Trying to match the bamboo theme in the center - I chose a color of natural leaves to frame the piece.

In the first photograph you can see the clear panel set against a backdrop of grey concrete to capture the detail in the sculpture of the glass.

The second photograph was taken inside the home with a backdrop of a knotty pine porch in the background.

The entire piece measures 14.5" wide by 12.0" high. I've completed the piece with a dark pewter finish and attached a black chain for hanging convenience.

Almost Completed

The GUAM stained glass panel is almost complete.

Just a little grinding, taping, soldering, cleaning and framing left to do.

Stay tuned...

Guam - Custom Request

This is a photograph of a custom-requested stained glass panel in process.

The piece will be a tribute to the brother of a woman who helps care for my son.

Framed Confetti

(sold)

This little panel actually turned out much better and more vibrant than I imagined when I was designing it on the drawing table.

The dark royal blue glass surrounding the entire piece is so bright and so vivid that a photograph simply cannot capture the color of this piece.

Tucked in the center of the piece - surrounded by the bright, lime green rippled glass is a colorful rectangle of confetti-style glass. This one has shades of purple, green, blue and strings of black running through the clear background.

The first photo shows all of the pieces cut and laid out on the cutting mat. The next step in the process is to grind the pieces with a diamond bit grinder in order for the pieces fit perfectly next to each other. Copper tape is then applied to all side of each piece of glass. Next all the glass is soldered together using a combination of lead/tin solder.

Finally a zinc frame is added for durability and support.

Blue Bird of Glass

I was looking through a History book of my daughter's and saw some beautiful old windows made from separate panels of glass.

In addition to the pretty old windows - a bird was sketched into the picture.

So - I made a large stained glass panel of a blue bird flying outside.

Stack of Cubes

This panel was not only very tedious to make but also very challenging.
The challenge was to get all of the purple pieces to match up like they are the top of a cube sitting on top of another cube.

Using lime green and dark avocado green glass to compliment the purple, I cut, ground, taped and soldered the pieces together to form an interesting glass puzzle for the eye.

It is a 32-piece stained glass panel which measures approximately 9" square.

Not only have I seen this pattern on various web sites used to confuse the eye - but I've seen it used in quilt patterns and drawings as well.

The interesting fact about the two photos shown above is that the first photo was taken indoors and the second was taken in the sunshine. It's amazing the difference a little sunlight can do to a piece of glass.