Monday, September 1, 2008

Putting The Pieces Together


On the cover of a maaag-a-zine! Sure, it happens to rock stars, olympians and movie stars. Oh, and movie stars and their babies!!
It doesn't often happen to us salt-of-the-earth stained glass artists. Well, I was fortunate enough to have it happen--but not by me searching it out. I learned there are always things going on behind the curtain that we're not aware of and made privy to.


This was the case for me after building 33 windows for a newly constructed Arts & Crafts style cottage on Lake Michigan. An unbelievable opportunity may avail itself to us only after we have done our due diligence and are ready to receive it. I'll go over the steps that led to the cottage (and my windows) being published in Old-House Interiors magazine. The story of the cottage construction was not just any story, but the cover story for that month's issue of the magazine.


The single most excellent event that has happened to me as a stained glass artist. It all started when I was approached by "Charlie". He wanted me to do a stained glass window for him but he wanted me to build a prototype using his specifications. Another local artist had done a prototype window for him and it was not what he had asked for. I really learned the importance of giving the client exactly what they want. Which means you may have to search and search to find the correct materials for the project. When the client asks you for diamond lites don't give them squares turned on point. That means that each lite will be longer than it is wide and look like a diamond. Capiche? (Understand?) My Dad used that word all the time when I did work for him.

Okay, anyway, "Charlie" also wanted me to use 3/4" wide lead came. As you know, that is not a commonly used lead came width, but as you also now know, give the client what they want. Rebar was also to be used in each window as each was approximately 26" wide and 60" long. Each pane was to be clear double strength glass. Each stained glass window was to be overlayed onto the thermal pane Pella windows installed in the cottage. Pella even made and attached the molding strips needed to hold my windows in place. That was HUGE as it saved me the work of trimming out each window with molding strips, once I began installing the stained glass. But the factory installed strips still had to be notched out so the rebar would fit and the molding strips would sit flush against each stained glass window.


As you create diamond lite windows, each has to be constructed to such exacting measurements. Necessary, so when you are looking at them from a distance every, I mean every, line is straight. And I'm talking about as many as 50-75 lines matching up with the one next to it. Straight up and down lead line would be tough enough, but each lead line for a diamond lite is built on a diagonal. So, in next month's newsletter I'll tell you about the step by step construction process.

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I really couldn't say it any better! Underneath their cool, calm and collected exterior, Taureans differ greatly from all the other signs of the zodiac. Taureans manage to discreetly stay apart from the crowd, even though they have a well-earned reputation for being socialisers. They will let others get close, but only so close as they want them. Some claim that trying to get your point across to a Taurean, should they not want to hear you, is rather similar to talking to the trees – they simply won't budge. And, there is no such thing as an open-book Taurean. Their feelings, fears and desires often run far deeper than anyone around them would guess. Like the butterfly that chooses to remain hidden in its cocoon until it is ready and prepared to emerge, so the true Taurean spirit remains hidden behind a veneer of day-to-day activities. That's why Taureans are sometimes regarded as snobby, withdrawn, boring, or even sulky.