A Work of Art...

My dear and extremely talented husband created this stained glass window and gave it to me when we had known each other for barely three weeks. Our first "big" date (besides our first "blind" date and a couple of looooong talks over pizza) was to attnd The Nutcracker ballet near Christmastime. And he gave me this amazing window for Christmas a week after.

He and his brother had a small stained glass design and repair business when he and I first met, and he's made approximately 50 windows, but none for the last 15 years (since the kids came along). When he builds his shop (which we'll work on as we can), he'll have an area dedicated to stained glass work. Having a well-lit and safe place to work is imperative. And he'd like to teach the kids now that they're older.

His mother, a noted artist (I'll post photos of some of her work later on), helped him with designing the dancer. In creating this window, he used both the lead caming technique along the outside oval and, on the ballerina herself, the copper foil method. The window, 28" tall by 20" wide, now hangs near my desk in our kitchen where the southern exposure lights it very well. This ballerina, a one-of-a-kind, is one of the loveliest stained glass windows I've ever seen, and I love owning it.