Old World Influences

I've been on a a bit of an ethnic journey, researching ornamentation from different cultures and exploring photographs of ancient works from Italy and southern Spain.  As well as fueling a desire to travel to Europe again sometime, this exploration has inspired some of my recent work.

The first notable example is a 10"x 22" stained glass window piece I created in using a pattern I developed from similar examples found through out a variety Mediterranean cultures.  The glass colours range from a deep blue, through turquoise to sea green are set out in a diagonal gradient pattern 

The lead joints are finished with a dark, black patina to enhance the colour vibrancy.

 

The second example is contemporary-style indoor lantern, paneled with stained glass in an elaborate pattern, influenced by the mosaic styles of southern Spain.

Clear glass is used for some of the design elements.  This allows the glow of the internal flameless candle to come through unfiltered.  The stained glass pieces range from terracotta, through various intensities of orange and yellow, to white and light chartreuse.

The lead joints on the glass panels have been left unfinished and polished to a high shine in order to co-ordinate them with the silver finish of the lantern frame.

These pieces were created as Christmas gifts, so they are not available for sale.  However, these patterns are available for re-production or re-tasking in other projects.

In the 'Den for Men'

In our home we have a room designated as 'The Man Room' or 'Den for Men'. It serves as a designated space for various indoor activities, video game play/design, office work and doubles as a spare bedroom for when we host overnight guests. It also tends to serve as storage for things we don't want to look at. In typical fashion, it is the room to which we have, so far, paid the least attention to aesthetics. Recently, my other half expressed a desire to improve the atmosphere in his recreational environment, but wasn't sure where to start. We decided that the room needed a new focal point on which to build, which became the impetus for this latest project of mine.

This piece is a bit of cultural fusion. My other half is strongly attracted to the intricate designs one might find in the art of southern Spain and maintains a certain nostalgia for the time he spent in southeast Asia years ago.  The pattern itself incorporates the desired complexity, while the colour scheme aims to capture an Asian-style vibrancy.  The glass itself is 'Water Glass', transparent with a hint of texture, giving an additional kick to the reflective properties of the glass. 

So with this piece completed, we have a starting point from which to complete the re-decoration of the illustrious 'Den for Men.

Eye Candy

This 9x9 circular sun catcher took much longer to design than to make. The concept for the design began as an extrapolation of an Islamic floor mosaic pattern, but evolved over time into this more modern, somewhat mesmerizing window piece.  The pattern in the center circle is intentionally off-set from that of the outer circle in order to provide more complexity for the eye.

The glass selected for this piece is a mixture of opaque and semi-opaque glass. The blue and turquoise pieces are the only colours you can actually see through. The rich colours take on a very different character when the piece has light behind it.

Let the Sunshine In

Unless I'm somewhere that I can ski, I'm not a big fan of winter.  Toronto, Ontario, is not exactly what you'd call a mountainous region, so I get a little sick of winter this time of year.  Thanks to the bizarre Toronto 'micro-climate', we've been spared most of the avalanche of snow that covers the rest of the province.  That, however, does nothing to alleviate the bleakness when one looks out the window.  My solution?  Add colour. 

Namaste

This Yoga Pose in Silhouette piece was designed for a dear friend who, after successfully seeing both offspring to full-time school status, has enrolled in a course to become a yoga instructor.  I thought a little inspiration might be in order.

Sailing to Byzantium...

This piece was designed by request for my sister and brother-in-law, who were looking for something with a Byzantine (or East Roman Empire) flavour in blue and green stained glass.  The design is a composite of several reference images I found of floor mosaics in holy sites from Turkey to Bulgaria. 

This is a window piece measuring 27 cm X 56 cm and comprising more than 250 individual pieces.  The center joints of the piece are done in copper foil, due to the degree of detail, but the border has been done in 1/4" came for additional strength due to the size of the piece. 

In this image, piece is shown on a light table, in reality the pieces that appear white here are transparent window glass.

Musical Notation in Glass

This piece was designed and built for a commission. The recipient is a musician.


- Posted from my iPhone

Mr. Dragonfly, The Sun-Catcher

Stained glass for kids -
something colourful in a recognizable shape (eventually, one hopes.)

A bit on the traditional side for me, but I'm all about the colours.


- Posted from my iPhone

Attic Windows

As I'm not a fan of curtains, but still like my privacy, I find that opaque stained glass offers an interesting barrier between my home and anyone lurking outside.  This piece was inspired by the quilt pattern known as 'Attic' Windows and provides just enough privacy for my kitchen window.