Value $700
Size: 21.5" x 17"

Value: $1000 per pair
Sizes: 15" x 35" and 14" x 32"

Value: $2,500 - $3,000 plus installation
Size: 69" x 21"

I made a panel for our new granddaughter's nursery in the Washington D.C. area. Her mom is a marine biologist and her nursery decorating theme is "Oceans"... I researched fish on the internet and found several interesting ones. Some elements, like the seaweeds and parts of the clownfish (center one, looking at you) were done freehand.

This one took forever! -- lots of very small pieces and many really strange and challenging shapes. I also changed my mind on the border -- I had planned on clear glass, but used iridized instead. You might also notice that the clown fish's tail changed shape from the design. I started with a trace of another type of fish head on and just AFTER I cut the tail fin, I noticed my clown fish reference photos showed a non-indented fin, so I redid it. With a marine biologist for a mother, our granddaughter deserves some level of accuracy in her fish! All these are real fish -- even the weird looking one on the left. The only thing that I ignored is the relative sizes of the fish. The blue ones can be big - 12 inches or more, but the orange clown fish should only be 3 inches long.

Final design

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When the kitchen project unexpectedly left us with two spare cabinets ready for glass inserts, we installed them in our laundry, an unlikely site for glass (and fancy cherry cabinets!). Our builder also used some other leftover doors from the kitchen project to create a hanging area over the washer.

My goal was to design something simple to make and impossible to see through. Color selection was more challenging than anticipated, coupled with an unfortunate accident in bringing home 8 square feet of glass.  After the first set was completed, I made a minor adjustment to the river running through the right hand panel, to end it at the outer border instead of at the 'grass'.

There was also a grand debate about whether they would look better with the outer border as the lighter or darker color, so I made one set of each. My husband and I each have our favorite version -- not the same ones!

The two color design options.

The window in our shower overlooks our side yard and a neighbor's home. When we both started trimming trees a couple years ago, privacy became an issue. Stained glass seemed the obvious solution, though there were a couple challenges. 1) The room's northern exposure on the bottom level of our home along with cobalt blue tile makes it pretty dark, so I wanted to keep the natural lighting. 2) Outside  installation seemed preferable, even though foil projects are not normally considered weatherproof. However the need to avoid the probable contamination of the window with soap, shampoo, and mildly hard water overrode that concern.

In the end, simplicity led me to install it outside without additional glass protection. I framed it in zinc and wood and it fit PERFECTLY into the opening of the existing aluminum window. We added wood trim and were able to hold the panel in place without having to nail into its wood frame.

So far, our plan is working. A nasty winter storm in January, 2008 (3 days without power) came from the northeast and pummeled the window and nothing leaked!

Installation from outside with similar aluminum window at left.

Value $800 - $950 each
Size: 20" x 31.5"  each

Value: $1,100-$1,500
Size: 37" x 45" 

Value: $350
Size: 16.25" x 13.5"

We replaced an old sliding window using obscured glass with a double casement window and clear glass in 2005. During the day, it is pretty obvious that there are so many trees between us and our neighbors that no one could see into this second story powder room from the outside. In the evening however, this natural privacy is not so obvious, so these panels were created to provide a comfort level for our visitors.

Glass was chosen to look good in both transmitted (daytime) and reflected (night time) light. Since then, we removed a large black acacia, opening up the view to some of the neighbors considerably when looking directly out the window. Even though the windows are not directly in line with the powder room facilities, the tree removal has made the panels feel even more useful than anticipated.

Completed designs.

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This panel was designed for a client whose condo bedroom window was exposed to a couple levels of hallway next to a small courtyard. They wanted privacy without having to draw the blinds, and had specific ideas about the design and colors of the panel. I did an initial design and adjusted it based on their input.

Because of the window this was designed for, I needed a strong line running thru the middle. To mitigate the impact of this 'hinge' (natural fold point), I used zinc came for the center and reinforced came along the edge of the largest circle. Its installation with wood framing on the top and along one side should also help its stability.

The panel was created using traditional lead came but instead of finishing with putty, I used a new product, No Days Glaze, which requires none of the curing normally needed for such a project. We installed the panel for them in August, 2007, and they are delighted with the results.

Panel installed in client's bedroom.

 
Panel in progress. Note that the panel is wider than my bench....

In drawing the blossoms, I noticed their similarity to apple blossoms and decided to use twigs from our apple tree instead of glass. Since a branch had fallen recently, I had something to work with, but it was still a bit green. I baked the 5 twigs in our toaster oven for an hour -- and was pleasantly surprised at the wonderful aroma! I also sprayed them with an acrylic preservative until they looked glossy and impervious to water, chemicals, etc. 

I completed the rest of the panel, including framing, before adding the twigs. I had set  them on top of the glass to determine how big of a hole to leave when cutting the rest of the panel. I foiled the twig ends and inserted them into their holes after elevating the panel about a half inch above the work space.

Close-up of installed twigs.

Design overlaid on door photo prior to actual creation and installation.

Value: $4,000 each
Size (each): 15" x 84"

Value: $450
Size: 16" x 15"

Value: $350
Size: 14.5' x 13"

In September, 2005, I completed a pair of panels for the Arlington Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Riverside, CA as a memorial for my mother-in-law. This design was featured as the Dragonfly February 2006 Design of the Month. (Dragonfly publishes the software I use for glass design.)

Glass was chosen primarily to look good with reflected light since lighting from behind was doubtful. However, I think the panels are improved with backlighting and the church agreed, adding track lights in the room behind the door to better show off the glass. The church photo below was taken on a sunny day with some backlighting from an open exterior door, prior to the track lighting being installed. The photo has been modified to remove the wood doors between the sidelights.

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I donated a panel to the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation (AIISF) for their 2005 fund-raising dinner. Because I liked it but it took longer to cut than I anticipated, I re-worked the design. The new version has pieces that are chunkier, to allow the texture of the glass to be more evident and also to improve the ease of fabrication. I also changed two of the types of glass in use because I was not completely satisfied with how they looked with limited backlighting.

Below: Two patterns demonstrating the different looks possible by changing glass samples. While the glass samples give you some idea of the final result, the actual glass has much more life.

The camellia was a last minute project that was completed (design to finish) in less than a week, working part time. I had found a photo in the newspaper and decided to see how it would look with one of my favorite pieces of glass, a Youghiogheny purple and pink mix. I worked with 2 sheets of it, to create the more sun-dappled petals in the center and the darker shaded ones on the edges. You can see how much difference there can be in some specialty glasses from one sheet to the next.

Below: The mockup, using the same glass samples as the final project. Recent software improvements allow me to shift the sample glass around on the screen to create a better approximation of the final product. The original design is the first one below, the design using the enhanced software is below it. Note what a dramatic difference this makes. All glass choices are identical in both images.