In 2005 I constructed two sliding windows for our living room. It all started early in the spring when my wife Caroline and I were sitting in the living room and making plans to repaint the walls. We decided on two paint colors for opposing walls but wanted to add just a touch more color somehow. How to do that? Stained glass windows, of course! These would replace existing windows that slide in a track inside the window frame and inside the regular outdoor windows. Each of these inside windows measures roughly 20 x 28 inches. |
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And so the project began to take shape. It was not a DO-IT-NOW! project, but rather one done leisurely in spare time. Using computer software to develop the pattern, together we spent several weeks off and on, thinking about the design and about glass colors. Now it's early May 2005. After considering several ideas and a few variations of each, we arrived at the final design shown here on the computer screen. This is the right-hand window. It uses an idea from a southwest theme, and we added a lovebird in the center. |
The images below are from the computer design of the project, the mottled gray color representing clear waterglass (glass with a rippled texture). The two patterns are identical, mirrored horizontally for a left and a right window. I'll use copper foil in the construction with 1/2-inch zinc came for the outer perimeters.
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May and June 2005 were "purchase glass" months. Computer designs are really nice, allowing you to choose the "just right" colors and shades for each piece of glass. But when shopping for stained glass, the exact colors you so carefully chose may not even exist. So some changes and compromises may become necessary. After more than one trip to our local stained-glass-supplies store we finally acquired all the glass in colors we liked.