The Custom Design Phase

      After listening to my customer's wishes concerning the theme they would like their design to take, I sit down and begin to draw. Each design is drawn to 1/8 scale. The design sheet usually features several design choices and price ranges.

    The History of the Rodeo was designed for a private home in Texas; a huge ranch, actually! Kyla wanted a 6'x3' transom and a pair of sidelights 5'x20". She wanted to incorporate some of the things she and her family loved about the ranch and Texas.

    I always listen to my customer's wishes concerning the theme they would like their design to take, and when Kyla talked about her ranch the "history" was born. To me, the history of the rodeo is cowboys and girls doing their jobs. For the transom, to get that "old timely" feel, I designed an arched, 30's style, border featuring "hook-um-horn" branches. The bucking bronco is a Strawberry Roan owned by Kyla and she is riding her Appaloosa. Her daughter's favorite song is "Ghost Riders in the Sky", so the cattle all have red-jeweled eyes and the one in the front is breathing fire! The pair branding the calf is using a branding iron with Kyla's ranch brand cast in lead.

    The sidelights feature the disciplines of the current Rodeo. The hand-painted flags held by the riders "On Parade" feature the ranch name, the brand, and the Texas state flag. To continue the 30's feel into present day I used the lasso flung around the hook-um-horn symbol to create vignettes, to feature the rodeo disciplines, and pulled down a few of the flowers to complete the design.

      Once the design is complete, I color in the design. This helps me solidify my color and glass choices in my mind and gives the customer an idea of what the finished panel might look like. If something is not to their liking this gives us time to change it before we cut the glass. The colored copy also makes a great "cutting map". It is easier to see the sections of color that need to be cut.

The Layout/Enlargement Phase

     After the design choice has been made the design is enlarged to full window size and the pattern is numbered. When dealing with hundreds of pieces it's nice to know where they belong! I always want the customer to check the design enlargement before we begin to cut, then I can change it if necessary.

    The transom, originally designed as an arch, needed to be changed to a rectangle to fit the space over Kyla's fireplace. The job parameters had changed from the original design of an arched transom and sides for a front entry installation, to a back-lit light box over the fireplace in the family room with the sides placed in the exterior wall to get the full daylight. This change points out one of the reasons I always like the customer to come and O.K. the enlargement!

The Glass Cutting Phase

Each piece of glass is hand-cut, numbered, and placed on the layout pattern. Each color is cut in the texture direction that corresponds to the direction indicated in the pattern. A flower can appear to be opening, a bird wing will have feathers that flow to the wing tips, and clouds will float through a pale blue sky. I love to paint with glass!

    The Rodeo is comprised of around 3000 pieces of glass. I chose lots of Kokomo® opalescent glass and Bullseye® opalescent for the animals, background, and riders. I also used Uroboros® confetti streamer glass for the crowd in the bleachers. A opalescent glass is the most beautiful, liquid glass in the light! It allows lots of light to come through but it modulates it with color. It shimmers, it breathes, and it comes alive. The right glass selection for the animals makes the muscles ripple, in the landscape it shimmers with the heat of the sand, and it floats fluffy clouds through the sky.

    I used a clear piece of glass and etched "breath" on it for the horses and bulls. The "breath" connection was an important one in the design as it allowed a continuation of design rather than a static line of connection. One of my favorite parts of the whole design process is my glass selection!

    I always have the customer come in, or send photos to out of town jobs, and O.K. the glass layout before we start to build. That way we can change anything that doesn't suit.

The Building and Reinforcing Phase

“Once all the glass is cut we begin building. I love the way light works around the lead came that surrounds the glass pieces. I use the lead came like paint brush strokes; thick, thin, a delicate tracing surrounded by a bold stroke….the lead crates the design story in the light. When the entire panel is leaded we apply a steel reinforcement system. Each piece of steel is bent to follow the pattern, thus concealing the reinforcement system, as it creates both vertical and horizontal support for the panel.”

    Building the Rodeo was a long involved process. I used several different lead came sizes to weave in the pattern of the design. All the jewels and small detail pieces are wrapped in 1/8” lead. 3/16” and ¼” are used to work the light and to create brush strokes with the lead.

    My steel reinforcement system is the most important finish to the leaded panel. A 6’x 3’ leaded glass panel weighs approximately 90 lbs. with the steel reinforcement, and 65 lbs. without the reinforcement.  Leaded glass panels weight approximately 3.5 lbs per square foot.  Left to itself it would bend and fold in half. I bend the steel to fit the pattern and in the Rodeo there is a pattern of vertical and horizontal support that makes the panel very strong. An engineering marvel if I do say so myself!