Broken Leaded Glass

"Hylas..." complete

2010-07-19T20:52:00.001-04:00

Waterhouse stained glass progress pics

2010-04-13T19:19:00.003-04:00

I've been more productive over the past few weeks, it's almost assembled.

City of Kettering Commission

2010-01-18T23:58:00.001-05:00

http://www.ketteringoh.org/newweb/departments/cultural_arts/cularts_cs_glass.php

Submitting my resume for this soon. Crosses fingers

Cut piece #165

2009-10-25T16:29:00.003-04:00

L & J told me not to hurry on completing this piece but it's still going to be awhile before it's done. Just missing the section to the right of the guy and some overlay pieces to simulate bodies under water. Then assemblage and some paint.

That and they're good friends. If I finish it sooner rather than later, they can pay later LOL.

Homebrew store logo piece

2009-09-05T17:15:00.002-04:00

The best beer store in the Miami Valley is opening a separate store front for beer, cheese, wine, and soap making supplies. I was looking at the logo on their website one day and thought the design would transfer to stained glass well. I talked to a friend of mine that works there and he suggested I work something up to present to the owner to see if he wanted to go forward with it. I ran into the owner at a beer tasting last weekend and he had already heard about my idea. He said, "Yeah, we could do that". I had most of the material, except for the orange on the foxes body. Matching it as close as possible, I proceeded to scale the design 4 times as large as the copy I had. So now it's 28" round. Cut the pieces, only 39. And today, I assembled and soldered. The above picture is where it stands now. Next step is to cement it, work putty between the glass and the came. Then, I'm going to paint the details of the face. And finally, solder some hooks on the back for hanging. "Should" be ready for the stores grand opening. Which is soon.

Cut piece #92

2009-08-30T00:05:00.002-04:00

When I cut the glass for a piece, I number the pieces with a sharpie. One, to see how many pieces actually go into it. And two, in case they get mixed around I will know exactly where they go within the pattern when assembling. Sometimes I don't really want to know how many pieces I cut. Take the posted picture for example. I just cut piece number 92 today. Does it look like it's anywhere close to being completed, No. Thus telling me, I have a LONG way to go before the fun of assembling starts. I'm not complaining, every step is important and needs my full attention. But it's that whole delayed gratification thing. Must keep head down and focus on the light at the end the tunnel.

I'm Alive!!

2009-08-01T09:43:00.003-04:00

Yeah, believe it or not, I'm finally back at it and making some progress. I've been Beer Geeking out and although not nearly taking as much of my time, writing music reviews for a magazine a friend of mine publishes. First issue I participated in will be out mid-August.

Anyway, back to glass. Glass has been purchased, the pattern has been drawn and now it's time to get down to bid-ness. It will take some time to get all the pieces cut but pics of progress will be more forthcoming than, say, the last post on this project. So stay tunned.

Artist Spotlight: Xia Xiaowan

2009-04-05T16:49:00.002-04:00

Google is a wonderful thing. Occasionally I will search Google images for new ideas for Stained glass. After digging through thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands, I come across something fantastic. Enter Xia Xiaowan, a Chinese artist that uses special pencils. I work with glass & have no idea what he uses, wax maybe?? But Xia Xiaowan doesn't just draw on one piece of glass. The drawings are layered on different pieces and stacked in front of or behind one another. It creates an optical illusion and essentially a three dimensional drawing. I've been drawing since elementary school (I'm 32 now) and this technique blows my mind. To be able to think about drawing in multiple dimensions makes my brain cells curl up in a ball, hide in a dark corner of my skull and gently rock back and forth muttering to themselves. Amazing!

New Commission piece

2009-02-25T18:43:00.003-05:00

A painting by John William Waterhouse titled "Hylas and the Nymphs", it's going to be roughly 24 x 36 and fit into a dining room window that has a thick sill. It will always have reflected light during the day, never getting direct sunlight. Something to take into consideration when choosing colors and getting the high contrast look of the painting. They mentioned they wanted to make it removable, so I'm considering using stained glass framing material, that way they can remove it when needed. Current stage is pattern making, I had a oversize copy made of the piece and am going to crop it within the size needed. Next, I'll trace where the lead-lines will be, therefore making a line drawing of the different pieces of glass. Then comes the glass shopping trip, always a fun part of the process. This painting will definitely be a challenge to reproduce in glass but if I don't challenge myself I get bored and tend to not finish the project. I will post more updates soon

New Tom Waits portrait idea

2009-02-09T21:40:00.005-05:00

I salvaged some frames from a church project and have been kicking around ideas for what kind of glass pieces to put in them. After several false starts, I've come up with a portrait idea involving one of my favorite musicians, Tom Waits. I'm going for an anti-church window look with iconography and symbolism to fill the edges and a large high contrast portrait with his signature pork pie hat. My goal with this piece is to light his face with a complementary color combination like in the above picture, using warm pink/red/orange and purple/green/blues. The inspiration for strange colors instead of skin tone comes from Matisses' "The Green Line". (See below)

Once I get the drawing done I will post more

It's Finished!!

2008-12-02T21:07:00.003-05:00

Wow, that took way too long. Besides needing to be more disciplined in my approach, it turned out well. I know she's is going to flip when she sees it in person. I've been showing her progress pictures on my phone but a 2x2 screen doesn't do it justice. I just have to attach hangers on the back and install it. I will post some more detailed pics and an installed pic later. What do ya think?

Back away from the peanut butter...

Artist Spotlight: Wim Delvoye

2008-11-25T18:05:00.002-05:00

Amazing pieces from an amazing Belgium artist. These are actual stained glass pieces created by attaching x-rays to the glass. He calls this body of work "Gothic Works", if you look at them closely you can see a couple kissing in one, and some exterior piercings in another. Another series he produced was a man and woman friend coated themselves in Barium (x-ray goop) and posed themselves in various, shall we say private, positions and had x-rays taken of them. Personally, I'm not willing to expose my genitals to Barium, let alone dangerous radioactive particles but the end result is fascinating. I was telling a friend of mine about these pieces and he suggested finding old glass x-rays and incorporating them into MY work. So stay tuned for what I come up with mixing stained glass and dental x-rays. In the meantime check out http://www.wimdelvoye.be/

Jesus with a smoke and a beer

2008-11-13T21:22:00.003-05:00

In the spirit of full disclosure, I found this on google and the artist is unknown.
Now there's something you won't see on Sunday! What brand do you think he smokes? Kool, Camel, Marlboro, or wait Kentucky's Best. I'm disappointed about the Bud Light though. If I was the son of God I would drink quality, "Pumpking" from Southern Tier or "Backwoods Bastard" from Founders. Or maybe something created by my most devout followers in an abbey in Belgium like Orval or Delirium. I've always liked the quote from Benjamin Franklin "Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy."

Getting close

2008-11-08T17:26:00.004-05:00

Almost finished! What doesn't make sense is I took both pics from my camera phone but one of them the resolution stinks. Hmmm? Check back shortly for the finished piece

I take that back the resolution stinks on both of them lol

Artist Spotlight: John La Farge

2008-10-25T17:07:00.004-04:00

If you would like to see more
www.museumsyndicate.com/artist.php?artist=384

Update: slow going

2008-10-10T18:29:00.002-04:00

Brick by Brick continued

2008-09-22T17:42:00.001-04:00

Heart Association benefit show

2008-09-18T19:41:00.003-04:00

I had to put the Iggy window on hold for a very short time to finish this piece. It's going to be in the Heart Association benefit show at C2 gallery in the Front St. warehouse the last weekend in Sept. I wanted to do a tattoo flash styled piece. Instead of permanently on your body, you could have this permanently in your house. It will be selling for $250 and will include the antique frame. So come on by, see the show, buy something and support a great cause.

Starting to paint

2008-09-05T18:10:00.003-04:00

I let the cement dry for a few days and I rubbed the lead came with a patina. That makes the lead darker and therefor less noticeable in the overall design. ALWAYS WEAR LATEX GLOVES WHEN USING PATINA, IT IS CORROSIVE. After patina comes a finishing compound (carnuba wax) which cleans off excess patina and dirt, and makes the lead and glass shine. Then a detailed cleaning, using a sharpened dowl rod you scrape excess cement and wipe the surface of each piece. Typically at this point the piece is ready to install, but I've got a lot of painting to do.

Assembled and cemented

2008-09-05T18:05:00.002-04:00

Over Labor Day weekend I finished assembly and worked a putty inbetween the lead and the glass, which is called cement but it isn't the same stuff they make sidewalks out of.

In progress, over half complete

2008-08-19T20:38:00.002-04:00

A new project: Iggy Pop stained glass

2008-08-16T18:02:00.002-04:00

The original album cover art for Iggy Pop's "Brick by Brick"

First, I measured the window at the clients house. Then, I had an oversize black and white photocopy made. I picked out the glass to be as close as possible to the original colors (note: this piece won't be viewed with light coming through it) Here's where I'm at now, only about 20 pieces left to cut. When I finish cutting out the pieces I'll lay the pattern on the work table and start assembling.

phil in the circle

2008-07-20T11:42:00.000-04:00

Cool video of an artist using stick figures

2008-07-02T17:46:00.002-04:00

Wow!! I found this on ebay, only $3750.00. Worth every penny if not more.

The finished Mucha piece

2008-06-22T21:31:00.003-04:00

It's finished and installed. I want to thank The Anderson's.

Face is painted

2008-06-15T19:21:00.002-04:00

Almost done

2008-06-11T20:49:00.002-04:00

"Dramburg Kirchenfenster"

The Real Mucha stained glass

"Ecole de Nancy"

Another step closer

2008-05-26T19:49:00.005-04:00

Piece is assembled by Monday evening. A pretty productive long weekend. Next step soldering. Mmmm, fumes!

I think this is all you'll get until the piece is finished. When light comes through this piece it will buckle knees. The final result will be shown on June 14th.

The Mucha piece

2008-05-22T19:59:00.009-04:00

Above: Detail shot of the woman's face, photo taken Thursday morning

Full view, photo taken Thursday morning

Full view, photo taken Friday morning

Piece completely cut, photo taken Friday afternoon

Starting to assemble, photo taken late Friday afternoon

Old Dayton Daily News sale

2008-04-26T15:20:00.003-04:00

Last weekend there was a sale at the old Dayton Daily News building on Fourth & Ludlow. Touted as everything must go, wander around in the six floors of this building and if you find something you like, you buy it. I read about it on Friday and was bugging the shit out of Mel to get there early on Sat. morning. I'd be surprised if he wasn't there, Sandy Mendleson, buying truckloads of shit to sell at a jacked up price. Not that there's anything wrong with buying low and selling high, I just have no remorse for someone that just sold a whole floor of a building full of scrap metal to China for a million dollars. Anyway, the sale, Mel says let's start at the top, on the top floor we find D.L. Stewart's office, Ron Rollins' office and lots of movie press kits. Mel informs me they're not worth buying. The editorial department was more entertaining than the advertising department, office cubical hell, blah. Then I turned the corner and saw it... a light table, and it was marked $125.00. In a hurried panic I fumbled around for the switch and after a what the hell or two, I found it. It worked and I wasn't leaving it's side until I purchased it. Just then, Mel's sister shows up with her boyfriend. "Here, grab the other side of this", it's a fucking heavy duty table luckily it slides easy. Following the signs for the elevator we slid this table straight to the cashier getting puzzled looks from other shoppers. Going there, I didn't expect to find something I desperately needed. I had planned on constructing one with the leftover lumber from my table, isn't it weird how things happen that way?

Stage 2 complete

2008-04-13T15:43:00.002-04:00

After the fiasco of getting the lumber from Lowe's to the studio. Who knew it would be so difficult to construct a large work table? I vastly underestimated my wood-working skills, but I managed. I finally completed my work table, custom built to my height and could probably stop a Mac truck.

Broken Leaded Glass new HQ

2008-03-29T18:03:00.004-04:00

It's empty now but it will be ground zero for stained glass art! My shitty picture doesn't do it justice, 600 sq. ft. of potential. More, much more later

Judith Schaechter's stained glass

2008-03-24T17:13:00.002-04:00

Go to www.judithschaechter.com/Home.html

2007-12-28T10:59:00.000-05:00