Red Dragon Glass Art

For the past several months, I've been working on this project for The Quilter's Lodge. The initial design meetings took place as the building was under construction, and I though it might be fun to share the design process of a large project like this. The finished project will consist of 2 panels 30" high and 72" wide.

I've been sampling glass for an upcoming project and one of the ideas I've had rolling around in my brain is creating the illusion of plaid fabric. The basic idea is to use various colors of stringer (thin rods of glass) to create plaid stripes. I was testing two methods of so I started out with two pieces of clear glass for the base.

Breaking the stringer into lengths the size of the glass square, I anchored them in place with Elmer's School Glue.

Though the idea didn't originate with me, I thought I could improve on the art glass dragonflies I've seen. I thought forks were an obvious choice for the body because the tines could be bent into legs. So I did some experimenting and the first attempt was a little awkward and bulky. The second attempt was more pleasing and here is the process for creating a dragonfly.

First select and cut the glass. I have glass gems of various colors that I'm using for the head.

I've been doing some remodeling and when it came to the kitchen it was the perfect opportunity to show off my glass skills and create custom panels for the cabinet doors.

Here is what the kitchen looked like before demolition began. Anyone who has been through the same process can appreciate what it means to pack everything up, live off paper plates and cook exclusively in a microwave for weeks.

A friend recommended me for this project, and it's been a fun project to work on. I love antique glass and designs. The craftsmanship is incredible and in the case of this piece, there's a bonus - hand painted signage.

It had a few problems, not necessarily due to age. It had been repaired before and when the panel was reinstalled in the door it wasn't properly supported by the moulding causing the glass to sag.

The latest project was another big one: 200 award medallions for the 40th Anniversary of the Utah Scottish Festival & Highland Games at Thanksgiving Point in June. The hardest part of the project was cutting 400 glass circles. But, like eating an elephant, the only way to approach a project is this is, one bite at a time.

After calculating just how much glass I'd need, and allowing for waste (that means glass breakage other unforeseen mistakes) I ordered in supplies and got started.

This commission has been under wraps during the creation process because it was a surprise for the recipient. Now that Christmas has passed I can share it with you.

A collaboration between the customer and myself - they provided a basic concept and I applied it to the final design. The process involves sketching and approval, editing and more approval. Having worked with this customer before on a previous project we'd already established a rapport.

A customer came to me asking if it would be possible to create a memorial to her mother and grandmother with a custom wind chime, something that would include a picture of them.

I've worked with fusing photo paper many times before and this was the perfect project. She brought a photo for me to scan and we talked about her family and mother and grandmother. From there I came up with a design, based on that conversation.

I've been working on this project for over a year now. When I began I thought it would be a great idea to document the process of recreating a piece of art from the remains of what used to be a beautiful piece of glass. After consulting with the customer over various options, we settled on a solution. Two pieces - an oval that can hang by itself in a window and a cut down version of the original piece that will be reframed in the original wood frame, also cut down to fit the new size.

I've been a bird owner for years. Anyone who knows birds knows they really do have moods. Angry birds isn't just an amusing game. This piece was inspired by a photo of a Macaw that, to me, looked unamused. It was a little different than the previous pieces because there was more white areas. I'd finally get to use Green Black for shading.

As always I started with a color sketch so I'd have plan for glass cutting and my black outline.