Wesley's Stained Glass

My stained glass interest dates back to the early 1980s in Santa Barbara, where I took my first stained glass class after graduating from UCSB. I've been hooked ever since. My first big project was a 24" x 24" panel which I built in a tiny studio apartment. Imagine building a panel on a small coffee table with one of the original Junior Glastar grinders. It was designed and built for our wedding. It is an original design with the double happiness character merged with the yin-yang symbol that is surrounded with our names and two love birds. The glass is mainly Spectrum and Kokomo. One of our bridesmaids was a florist at the time, and she turned the design into a floral centerpiece.

My main interest is in Tiffany-style lamps. I enjoy the challenge of working in the 3-dimensions, and the great satisfaction of completing a big project. I am a member of the Association of Stained Glass Lamp Artists (ASGLA). The ASGLA is based in Washington state, and publishes a yearly calendar of stained glass lamps.

This was my last big lamp project. It is a reproduction of the Tiffany 18" tulip lamp. It has over 900 pieces, and contains Bullseye, Uroboros, Armstrong and Kokomo glass. I used the Worden lamp mold and pattern, which was a real challenge to fit with the Odyssey hardware. The base is 21" tall and contains a 3-light cluster. The lamp was donated and auctioned at my daughter's school auction to raise money for the school. The border pieces were lengthened from the original pattern size to make room for the signatures of her classmates and teachers from the school. I transferred the signatures with carbon paper, and etched the names with a Dremel tool. Then I filled the etched lines with gold enamel paint. This made for a striking effect when the lamp is lit. It was a lot of extra work, but the results were quite nice in the end.

The ASGLA creates an annual Community Quilt for the calendar and to display at trade shows, and other sites. The quilts are based on a section of a Tiffany pattern or some other lamp pattern. The members of the group submit their interpretation of the square, and all the pieces are assembled into a frame for the completed quilt, that appears in group's calendar. The quilt pieces are approximately 6"x7" in size.

Lazy Daisy Lamp

This lamp was adapted from the "Lazy Daisy" lamp design in the Stained Glass Lamp Art book by Luciano & Colson. I used blue water glass for the middle two border rows, and etched the signatures of all the students in my son's 8th grade graduating class. This lamp was also auctioned to raise funds for the school..

20" Floral Border Lamp

This lamp was built from a Worden sectional form and pattern, and contains 390 pieces, and glass jewels for the floral centers. This was the first Tiffany style lamp that I built for my sister-in-law's house.

13" World Globe

This globe is made largely with Spectrum and Bullseye glass. The colors in the globe depict the climate zones. The globe sits on specially designed base, and can rotate. The hardest part of this project was soldering the inside seam at the equator after joining the two hemispheres.

Mini Grand Piano

The piano keys are made from thin strips of copper foil that are wrapped around the glass piece, then a solder bead is applied to each strip. The pieces of glass candy inside the piano were bought.

Cala Lily Window

This window was my first leaded panel, after having worked exclusively with copper foil for many years before. I took the lead glass class from Tom Stanton, owner of Holy City Art Glass, and inventor of the Stanton stretcher. This window is located in the master bathroom of my house.

Bamboo and Cala Lily Window

This window is the largest panel that I have made. It measures 2' x 6'. I used clear glue-chip glass for the background. It is located in my living room, and faces the front of the house.

The one on the top left is my tulip square for the 2007 Spring Quilt. You will notice that the brown textured glass that I used for the ground is the same glass as the background glass in the skirt of the 18" tulip lamp. The one on the right is my panel for the 2008 Black-eyed Susan Quilt. Quilt squares are good for using up all those scrap pieces of glass.

Glass Mosaic Rooster

This is a 14"x16" glass mosaic panel on wood that I made in a mosaics class by Christine Stewart, who has written five books on the subject. Mosaics are a great way to use up all the scrap pieces of glass from the many panel and lamp projects, and mosaic projects can be completed in a much shorter time than a stained glass project.

Eagle Scout Mosaic Plaque

This is a 12"x11" glass mosaic plaque on wood that I made for a friend's son who earned his Eagle Scout badge. The design is a adaptation of the eagle scout cloth badge. The eagle consists of Spectrum pale gray waterglass mirror. When working with mirrored glass, apply a spray varnish to the back of the silvercoat mirror so that it does not chip when cut.

Mosaic Hurricane Lamp

This is a 10" high hurricane lamp, with an original design containing two lovebirds sitting in some bamboo trees under a full moon. This was made for a wedding present - the names of the lovebirds are on the base of the lamp. The glass was leftover pieces of Bullseye and Spectrum glass from previous lamp projects, and millefiore for the eyes. Weldbond glue was used to stick the glass pieces, and red grout was used to finish the lamp. Here are 3 views of the same lamp.

Mosaic Panda Tabletop & Trivet

This is a 16" round mixed media mosaic tabletop. It is an original design and contains stained glass, ceramic tile and mirrored glass. It was made during a class by Laurel True at the Institute of Mosaic Art in Oakland. The tabletop was a gift to Becky for our 25th anniversary. A matching panda trivet was made to go with the tabletop.

Mosaic Lazy Susan

This is a 15" round glass mosaic lazy susan. It was made for a wedding present for a couple who own and operate Audible Treats, a music publicity and marketing company in Brooklyn, NY. The design consists of several elements from their website, and is made to look like a vinyl record.

Mosaic Valentine Heart

This is a 14"x14" glass mosaic heart made on a concrete form. This project was made in the Valentine Hearts class at the Institute of Mosaic Art in Oakland, taught by Tracy Broback. Tracy pre-made the heart forms out of sytrofoam, fiberglass mesh and concrete with a wire armature and metal bracket for hanging the piece. The design is a composite of several images from a tatoo book.

The set of four panels on the right are for the 2009 Pond Life Quilt, and the designs is based on an Andon lamp. The waterlily, frog and fish pieces are constructed with copper foil and solder. The dragonfly piece was constructed as a glass on glass mosaic (stained glass on clear glass). I used Weldbond adhesive and Captains Blue grout to build the dragonfly piece.