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Friday, January 22, 2010

Butterfly Stained Glass

This was a really challenging piece to design and create, but I love how it turned out. It hangs over the front door of our house, like old transom windows used to do. I love butterflies, and they are symbolic in this stained glass piece, as they represent my daughter, Jennifer, my husband, John, and myself. The butterfly on the far left is me, the little one (natch) is Jennifer, and the one on the right, with the outstretched wings, is my husband.  My mom told me once that it made her think of John as protecting us. I think that's very fitting.

Butterfly Stained Glass

Butterfly Stained Glass

The colors are much more vivid in person. The background glass is a marbled-look green, while the butterflies are red-violet. It's all leaded glass, which is my preference because it's easiest to work worth (though not the healthiest, I admit).  I don't create glass every day though, so I don't worry too much about the lead exposure.

There is really something very rewarding about creating a drawing, which becomes a pattern, which becomes a lot of tiny, cut pieces of glass, which ultimately become a beautiful piece of glass art.