PHELANLAND PERSPECTIVE: Stained Glass Pieces Made in 2022

Stained Glass Pieces Made in 2022

Presqu'ile Park Sailboat and Lighthouse

In 2021 I was contacted by David Brummel who got my name from my good friend from Tweed, Pam Bailey Brown. Pam has made her living as a potter and it turns out that David was one of her high school classmates. David and I had several email exchanges and shared ideas and photos in an online zoom meeting.

The Brummels have a home on the water in Presqu’ile Provincial Park near Brighton, Ontario where David loves to sail his Nordica 16 sailboat. He was also on the committee to restore the local lighthouse. He wanted something around the theme of water that would give the feel of waves. The idea for the pattern came from these ribbon and leaf windows that I had made for a previous client. From this came the idea to include a sailboat in one window and a lighthouse in the other.

His home has an open living room that is 2 stories high because the bedroom that would have been above the living room was left off when the home was built. These windows will hang in front of what would have been the upstairs bedroom so will be visible from the living room and also from the stairs going upstairs to the other two bedrooms.

He sent me a photo of himself in his Nordica sailboat and I found photos of the lighthouse online. I enlarged both photos and adapted them into a workable stained glass pattern. The Presqu'ile lighthouse has a unique shape and is quite famous for the crown at the top. The actual lantern top area had been removed years ago. I then found a photo of a similar top area and added it in to the design. I decided not to use the photo of David in his boat as it had no movement and this piece was to incorporate waves. I managed to find a different photo of the boat, reversed the pattern and integrated it into the design. Finally, I had to make adjustments with the pencil bevels to incorporate and balance out both the lighthouse and the sailboat and draw it all to scale. Since the longest pencil bevel available was only 12 inches I had to add another row of ribbons to adapt to the height required. The windows ended up being 24 x 30 inches, almost 9 square feet combined.

I used metal straws for the mast and boom of the sailboat as it is tricky to cut small strips of glass and they crack easily. There are a lot of very tiny pieces in the sailboat and the figure in the boat as well as the lighthouse which are very hard to hold when grinding and foiling. It is also challenging to make white glass appealing.

This is a good photo showing how the windows might look when hanging side by side in David's living room. The light coming through our window is just right in this photo. If you look closely you will notice the rainbow being made by the bevels and the lovely textures in the glass.

I found a wonderful piece of ridged glass that worked well to suggest the narrow strips of wood in the restored lighthouse. Last summer I discovered a type of clear glass that I had never seen or used before. I worked perfectly for the waved water portion of this project. With the lighthouse and the sailboat, both being white and the background being clear I had to choose the colours in the abstract ribbons at the top very carefully.

David had already requested that I use orange like the maple leaf pattern we started with so I used the two rondels, which suggest the sunset that colour. That required one of the ribbons also to be orange. This colour really dominates the ribbon portion of the window. I then added blue to the ribbons to match the actual colour of David's sailboat as well as green and turquoise pastel glass to suggest water.

In addition to the pencil bevels that add a real abstract feel to the piece as well as suggest rain falling down and water evaporating I used a variation of other textured clears behind the ribbons. There was a lot of fitting required behind these curvy pieces. The pastel blobs were used throughout to add strength as well as a bit of colour since there is so much clear glass in the piece. They also suggest bubbles in the waves.

Constructing this window took 85 hours and it was a very challenging project. As I get older it is much harder on the body parts with my arthritic thumbs and back but I stuck with it and am pleased with the outcome. I met David's daughter in Milton and she delivered the window to him when she went home for a family day in February. I'm happy to say that the window arrived safely and I have a very happy client. He said it was much more than he could have expected. I love the challenge of making unique custom designs for people but the best part, making their glass dreams come true.

Memorial Lilies

This piece was made in 2022 for my friend Phyllis after her husband Donald passed away. I wanted to make her something special to remember him by. I thought the entwined lilies would be a suitable symbol as they suggest the loving relationship they had as well as the Easter promise of peace and eternity in the afterlife. I told her it was comforting to think that Donald is no longer in pain and is resting in peace.

The funky lily pattern with a rainbow background had been calling my name for years so I used my rapid resizer to develop a black and white pattern. I started to make the piece by using up some stained glass sample squares I had been given by someone who used to own a stained glass story. As the piece grew found that the many coloured background squares began to distract from the design. Using actual glass just did not have the same effect as it had in the coloured version of the pattern. The Lilies needed to be the central focus.

So I took the piece apart and started again using Phyllis's favourite colour, turquoise behind the flowers. Then I added in the lime green rippled glass for contrast. Then I came across a piece of speciality glass that had another shade of lime green with hints of brown-mauve. Adding the hammered mauve glass at the top of the design added the final touch that made the piece sparkle.

I arrived at her door with a step ladder to hang the glass for Phyllis. It takes over the room in her apartment condo which has great windows with lots of light. Phyllis was thrilled and at the age of 87, she has never had any stained glass. This made my heart feel good.

Healing Heart

My friend Sharon Alvarez had her second serious heart surgery in the winter of 2022. She was very depressed and worried that she would not get the operation in time or live through the operation. Sharon is the sweetest and kindest person, always doing things for others. She was thrilled when I surprised her with this get well present. I told her that the heart represents her operation but the rose represents the beautiful person that she is inside her heart.

The rose was made with some gorgeous pink transparent glass in two shades along with two shades of green for the leaves. I had a small piece of pink and white swirled baroque glass which worked perfectly for the background heart. Then I decided to elaborate a bit by making a border around the piece and using lime green water glass for the corners and four different iridescent textured clear glass for the rest of the borders.

Sharon gave me a new idea when she suggested that the pink swirls made her think of the blood flowing through her heart.

Winter Cardinal

This 18-inch circle was made for Chris Meyer in 2022 to give her brother as a birthday present. It is a redo of the Four Seasons winter cardinal that I made for Jacquie Northey.

The cardinal looks quite real with his elegant red coat and piercing black eyes. It is very tricky to work with those small pieces. Try foiling that little eye and holding it up to the grinder without it shooting across the room. Notice the hint of orange in his beak, delicate feathers and textured breast. Nothing speaks winter like a red cardinal up against the snow.

The birch tree also looks very realistic in the black and white swirled baroque glass. I decided to use the turquoise swirled glass to add an artistic flair and this ties in nicely with the turquoise faceted jewel at the top of the circle.