Glass

I took an adult education class in the early 90s to learn the basics of working with leaded glass and loved it. There is a lot of magic in glass: light brings it to life, you can cut it and reassemble it like a quilt, you can break it, you can melt it, you can combine it with other materials… The only bad thing is that it seems to fight back sometimes: breaking where it chooses, moving in crazy ways once the kiln is closed, and those vicious little shards that get your finger tips. But there are the many happy accidents when things are even prettier with a touch of sunlight than you ever expected.

Three-Panel Suncatcher This piece is about 10″ tall with the hanger and fringe. I fired this in a mini-kiln and this is one of those projects with a mind of its own. Originally, all three panels were the same length, but the bottoms of the outside panels took a walk in the kiln and separated from the other sections. I just said, “have it your way” and made those panels shorter. Turns out, it is so much better.

Gothic Romance I made this doll outfit with a mosaic glass corset. I cut apart a mug that my husband and I bought on a trip to China Town in New York early in our marriage. The corset laces up the back. After I completed this project, I found that Alexander McQueen’s design house had also made garments incorporating mosaic glass.

Snowflake with Chanelier Baubles I like to use recycled/repurposed components whenever possible. This snowflake used teardrop crystals from an old chandelier I disassembled.

Sidelight Panels with Irises I made these panels to fit into the sidelight panels on the sides of an entry door. They are mirror images of each other except that the left panel has a bee and the right one has a butterfly. With light coming through, the glass colors are very transparent and bright.

Gemini Suncatcher I use round prisms from old chandeliers to make suncatchers that represent constellations. This one is Gemini (the twins) with the bright stars, Castor and Pollux made with slightly larger crystals.

Business Card Holder This card holder is made with nuggets and little glass tiles.

Tandem Window I made this window for a tandem bicycle shop called Tandems East–a fabulous place to find the perfect bike (http://www.tandemseast.com/). An interesting feature of this window is the lettering, which is an overlay of black glass and U-shaped lead.

Koi Pond Window This leaded glass window has 3 levels of glass which gives it a nice feeling of real depth. This was my 3rd glass project and still a favorite.