Tag: Atlantic Stained Glass
2019 Happy New Year!
The skills of Stained Glass Window making developed, ironically, in the Dark Ages in Britain, followed by France, then onward. Have you wondered why? As architecture became sophisticated enough that there could be large openings in the walls without the roofs collapsing, the weather needed to be kept out. There were no big sheets of glass so small pieces of handmade glass were fitted together with lead strips called cames. It didn’t take long for early glaziers to figure out they could make pictures with the pieces just like mosaics. Early pictorial reference materials were mosaics and illuminated manuscripts, themselves heavily influenced by Byzantine Iconography. The second reason this particular craft evolved where it did is the LIGHT! Northern countries like our own spend half the year with the sun travelling low across the horizon. The sun’s oblique angles project the colours of stained glass across the interior architecture. The very movement of the LIGHT became symbolic for the SPIRIT animating the body.
WINNER!!
I delivered this Humpback Whale Stained Glass to the delighted winner of the draw held at the Craft NS Winter Show! Thank you to everyone who visited!
CLASSES!
Sign up now for the first series of Classes scheduled to start on February 4, 2019. Click here for details. As always you can make whatever you want. I will help you know if your stained glass pattern is appropriate to your skill level, or if a few adjustments will fix it.
What’s happening at Rose Window Stained Glass?
Church Work
There are a few Church commissions underway as the year kicks off. Philip Doucette and I removed and crated Bethany United Church’s stained glass so they can get the wooden tracery repaired. We will repair the stained glass as needed and reinstall in the Spring. I trekked up to New Brunswick to repair a buckling window in St. Thomas United Church, Black River. What a beautiful province! Philip and I are also removing stained glass from the Atlantic School of Theology as they prepare to renovate the old building. One of the windows may well be going into permanent storage as its depiction of early missionaries is inappropriate as seen with current understanding. The best part of that window is the pink and ruddy plant foliage!
Custom Work
I delivered some interesting stained glass last season, and there are some creative one-of-a-kind custom commissions ongoing!! I have the BEST clients!!
Happy Winter everyone! Enjoy the sunbeams and twinkle and notice already how the days are getting longer! Contact me anytime!
HOT SUMMER 2018!
Exciting New Work!
I recently delivered 3 exciting stained glass windows! Here is a synopsis.
Lunenburg NS
Skullduggery Gallery
Last December I purchased a set of 3 very old windows circa 1850s, that had been found built in between the walls of the original Sears store in New Glasgow, NS. They were clearly made in the UK and featured painted stained glass Victorian bird stained glass medallions and pastoral scenes in enamels and vitreous paint. They are stunning and though I typically do not buy old stained glass, these were so exceptional that I could not bear the thought that they might be ruined elsewhere. At the time I did not know how I would use them but trusted that the opportunity to allow this precious glass to continue would present itself.
In April I was approached by a customer whose home was the same vintage and who needed a transom. He hoped for a steampunk style or some reiteration of Victorian Arts and Crafts era stained glass. Exactly what I was dreaming of!! Here is what we did.
Memory Glass!
My second project was a Memory Glass window using a grandmother’s plate, which had the flower motifs of the British Isles, and surrounding it with the names of all the women of 4 generations. In the border I used small pieces of vintage heritage stained glass from the New Glasgow windows.
Clockworks
My third project was a custom designed transom window including a medallion of clockworks surrounded by gold quarries. The customer collects Westclox alarm clocks! I used 2 rondels from the heritage stained glass windows from New Glasgow, and other fine pressed glass, vintage glass, and the coveted cranberry stained glass in the border.
Copper foil stained glass
In the gaps between painting and leading the previous 3 labour intensive stained glass panels I also made some copper foil stained glass for customers.
All my custom stained glass is designed to accommodate customers’ vision, aesthetics, timeline and budget, without compromising my own high standards!
NEWS!
In May my studio Rose Window Stained Glass was featured in the Craft NS Instagram Takeover! Here are some photos from around the studio. Upstairs I have an office with a library of books and a drafting board where most of my design work and stained glass pattern drafting takes place. The working studio with stained glass tools, stained glass supplies and workbenches is on the ground floor.
Upcoming SUMMER SHOWS!
As always my work can be purchased through me or from Made in the Maritimes, or the Designer Craft Shop!
I will be participating in the Peggys Cove Studio Tour on Saturday July 7 and Sunday July 8. Drop by the studio if you’d like.
July 20, 21 and 22 is the Craft NS Summer Show in Victoria Park! Hope to see you there!
CLASSES and WORKSHOPS
No classes or workshops are currently scheduled but that may change! Possibly will book some in late August or early September. If you are interested let me know. Regularly scheduled classes will resume in early October!!
Have a wonderful SUMMER!
Winter 2018 came in like a LION at Rose Window Stained Glass!
I spent much of January living with the Sisters of St. Martha removing their beautiful stained glass from the Bethany Chapel and moving it to new locations. I also designed, cut, laminated and installed Stained Glass Art on my front lawn. For this project I used optically clear 2 part silicone that is designed to withstand re entry into the earth’s atmosphere! Let’s see if it can stand up to Terence Bay Nova Scotia!
Cantate Domino
Just before Christmas I created a commemorative window using gorgeous mouth-blown in Germany Lamberts graduated blue flashed glass, engraved and painted. Here are 3 views of the process of engraving, painting, and multiple firings, prior to leading and puttying.
The Sisters of St Martha, Antigonish
The Sisters are moving from their current Motherhouse to their new Shannex retirement home across the field. The new building will allow the sisters to continue their good work without the stress of caring for a large old building. Their beautiful Bethany Chapel had 40 lancet windows, made in 1963 at Rambausch Studios, NY. Each lancet was 40 ft tall, comprised of 10 panels. I was hired last summer to consult regarding relocation of the stained glass. Ultimately the Sisters asked me to organize and orchestrate the whole process, which I did with the help of 2 fine local men who could operate a scissor lift and follow the procedure I had laid out. All the panels had to be removed and crated, labelled according to their new destination, including a Heritage Gallery, a Chapel, and a Resource Centre. There were also 100 panels in the narthex to be removed and crated. In all, we handled 500 window panels. As they were removed, they were inspected for repairs, which I did on site before reinstalling into their new locations.
The windows are largely abstract with symbols of water drops and leaves throughout. There are 8 figurative windows. 8 Female Saints, 4 contemplative and 4 active. Here are some pictures.
Back in the studio
Classes have been ongoing throughout the winter. Here are some of the projects! 🙂 The final series of weekly classes before the Summer begins soon. If you and some friends of family would like a Half-day or Full-day Workshop in Stained Glass or Mosaic, pick a Saturday and I will arrange everything! Click here for ideas!
There have also been some very nice repairs and restorations brought into the studio this season! One china cabinet, passed down through the generations, originally from France and owned by Jesuits in Montreal, received damage by movers’ knees. What seemed like a disaster to the owners was fixed as good as new. After all, that’s what our profession is trained to do!! In the picture you can see my colleague Philip Doucette inside the china cabinet!! Another lovely Victorian transom needed a rebuild and the wooden frame stripped of its layers of paint – as expected, the frame is the original old growth oak. They don’t grow trees like that anymore! Click here to learn more about Stained Glass Repair. Free estimates! Click here for contact information!
New Work
There is a lot going on at Rose Window Stained Glass. Two original designs are on the drafting board. Did you know I draw and draft my patterns using pencil and paper? Oh, and an eraser! Such joy and a great intimacy develops with the work. Clearly computers have their place but honing skills the old fashioned way connects me with my predecessors and a long noble history I can only aspire to be worthy of. I almost forgot to say that I am thrilled to bits to be going to France for the first time this Fall!! I will finally get to experience the great stained glass cathedrals of that country!! I will keep you posted! Until then, I have exciting stained glass things on the horizon I look forward to telling you about. Come by and visit if you’re in the area!
November 18,19,20
Please visit me next weekend in booth 201 at the NSDCC Winter Show at the Cunard Centre! Introduce yourself!
November 27
Then come to our POP UP SHOW! at Anne Pryde’s home, 224 Club Road, Hatchet Lake, Sunday November 27th 1-4pm.
You can also find my work at these fine LOCAL SHOPS!
Made in the Maritimes
Sunnyside Mall, Bedford NS * 902-406-2222
5527 Young Street, Halifax NS * 902-406-3232
Designer Craft Shop
1099 Marginal Rd #116, Halifax *902-492-2525
http://www.craft-design.ns.ca/shop/designer-craft-shop
Rose Window Stained Glass
731 Terence Bay Rd * 902-402-3104
Crouchers Point Gallery * http://www.crouchersptgallery.com/
NovelTea Truro Bookstore Cafe * 622 Prince St, Truro * (902) 895-8329
Ross Farm * 4568 Highway 12, New Ross, NS * 902-689-2210
Check out this GREAT LOCAL online catalogue!
The LOCAL WISH LIST!
http://halifaxbloggers.ca/thelocaltraveler/localwishlist/
