During this give away, anybody can come to the studio to watch the work in progress. It will only cost you a can (or more) of food to give to a local food bank. Interested stained glass artists can sign up for a class that will allow them to help work on these windows with me. They can choose between the restored process or the new process. More details will follow as the date gets closer.
As always, Pictures In Glass provides free preliminary consultation for restoration and/or new glass work. Feel free to give us a call about any questions you may have about this program or other projects you may have in mind.
St. John Lutheran Church
St. John Lutheran Church in Farmington, MI had some major renovation work done. At that time, the church did not have the money for stained glass. For about four years, the space behind the altar remained covered with a white curtain background. When the money became available, they hired Pat Deere, at Pictures In Glass to create the window you see here.
Although all commissions are different, this one was especially so. One of the church members, Pamela Shapiro, was the artist on the project. She and Pat worked together to be sure her design would work for a stained glass window. Together, they traveled to Chicago to pick out the right glass. It was a constant check of the glass with lights on, lights off, natural light, and man-made lighting.
Youghiogheny Stipple Glass was chosen for the entire background and Uroboros Fibroid for the suns rays. The sun rays are actually overlaid onto the glass giving it a 3 dimensional quality.
The photo shown here can be found in The Guild Sourcebook Of Architectural & Interior Art #22 in the Liturgical Art section (page 178), or by going to Guild.com.
St. Dominic Catholic Church
St. Dominic Catholic Church is a smaller church community with some beautiful older windows that have been in the process of repair/restoration for a few years. Previous windows in the church were releaded by Pictures In Glass and reinstalled in the bell tower of the church.
The panel shown here comes from the windows behind the altar. They were in pretty bad conditions with many pieces of glass missing, others repainted probably by a well meaning church member trying to keep the costs down, and the lead and glass bowing throughout.
Pat Deere carefully removed the windows, disassembled the panels, recreated the pattern for the background pieces on the computer, silk screened the design onto each piece of glass, and put the panels through a number of firings in the kiln to try to match as closely as possible to the original pieces. The medallion shown here, was a newly painted piece to replace the missing panel.
Pictures In Glass has worked with churches in the past with a maintenance plan that allows them to have their windows restored, as their budget allows. For more information about that plan, contact Pat Deere by phone or email and the details of your project can be discussed individually with the responsible people or committee members.
Blessed Savior Church
When Blessed Savior Lutheran Church contacted Pictures In Glass about repairing and or restoring their stained glass, it was accepted immediately. This little country church has a community of people that are very passionate about their building and keeping it in good repair. The church building sat empty for a number of years, and as empty buildings sometimes find, they suffered from the boredom of kids putting BB holes into the windows.
Some of the painted panels required repainting and some of the glass needed to be replaced. The glass was in surprisingly good condition in some areas, and those panels were left alone. Some of the wood was deteriorated causing the windows to fall in their frames. This movement caused a lot of cracks in one of the windows and extensive work needed to be done on it. That window was totally releaded prior to being reinstalled.
If your church has glass that is 75-100 years old and it hasn't been examined by a professional, you may want to give Pat a call to have it looked at. The initial visit will cost you nothing. Often, you will find that your windows are ok and will remain that way for a number of years. It is a good idea, however, to plan for future work to keep your stained glass investment in good shape. Sometimes early prevention can keep your maintenance costs down.
