Pane in the Panel

Besides sun catchers, I also like to experiment with hanging panels.  Not the big full window type panels, but smaller panels, averaging 7 to 10 inches square, that can be hung in front of any size window.

Here are some of my latest designs.

Found a Geode slice and thought it might make an interesting focal point for this bevel and rust colored copper panel.

A pretty little Angle is at the center of this sunny yellow and orange panel with copper accents.

 

Pink and green striped glass bring this lovely butterfly to life in a delicate pink and mauve panel. Perfect for a patio or garden window.

One of my favorite combinations is green and blue, which is reflected in the diagonal bevel panel. I was delighted that this was one of the first panels that sold at my last show.

 

 

 

 

This bevel and blue glass panel caught the eye of a woman who wants to commission a window for the bathroom of the house she is having built. She loved the clean, clear look with just a touch of blue and wants something bigger to fit the new window. 

I may be a small studio, but I do have a very strict Quality Control system. His name is Arthur, my studio cat. It's his job to make sure each piece is finished, cleaned and polished and that all packaging is suitable for shipping.  As you can see, he approves of  this new box.

 

Crazy Custom's

At least once during every Art Show, someone will ask me if I can do a custom piece. The answer is usually a cautious "YES", depending on what they have in mind. I have discovered that there are some pretty, shall we say, creative, people out there! The first thing I do is make sure I understand what the client has in mind. Things like color, size and theme. Then I have to make sure they understand what can and can not be done in glass. And lastly, and this is the fun part, create a design that will give vision to their ideas. 

Here are a few of my favorites. I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed creating them.


For a lady that sells Premier Jewelry. She wanted a card holder that would showcase her display.

                                                                 

 
For a Baby shower.  The theme of the baby's room was the Jungle. I went with a Mommy and Baby Giraffe.














This is a custom piece for a group of Heart Attack survivors who now have pacemakers, or what they call "Wired Hearts".

 



A couple had a friend that was taking his vows to become a priest. They wanted something special to commemorate this very sacred event.

  

A friend of mind wanted to have something special made for her Pharmacist, who has been a huge help and a good friend during some very serious health issues she has had to deal with.  












A client asked me for a special Baby Gift. Apparently the parents are decorating the nursery with the alphabet and everyone was assigned a letter. Her's was the letter "J". She told me that the Father to be was a fisherman and could I incorporate fishing in the letter. This is what I came up with and she loved it. 



It's fun to think outside of the box.  And I get some of my best ideas from my customers and clients. I hope to be able to bring you more of my custom pieces as the year continues. 

Thanks for stopping by.  

And make sure to check out fellow artists, Marge Paul's of Ardath Studios at www.ardathstudios.blogspot.com and Denise Donaldson of Sticks and Glitter at www.sticksandglitter.com

If it's Broke, Fix it.

 A couple of months ago I got a call from a women in the neighborhood who had two leaded glass sidelights (long windows on each side of a front door) that had been damaged. She wanted to know if I could fix them for her. After visiting her house and looking over the damage, I agreed to repair them and add a layer of clear Plexiglass to the outside of the sidelights to help prevent further damage. The home owner was restoring the exterior of her home and wanted to include as many of the original architectural details as possible.

Front of broken Sidelight.

     Damage at the top of the Sidelight

The hard part about this repair was that the glass that was broken was in the middle of the entire panel. That meant an almost total deconstruction. I started by having a wood working friend help me remove the panel from the wood frame. While I was busy fixing the glass, he sanded, re-stained (the inside), painted (the outside) and sealed the beautiful oak wood work.

 

    Damage at the bottom of the Sidelight

 

De-construction of panel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

                 New glass added and re-construction completed

                   Cementing the glass and lead, then cleaning with Whiting and the panel is ready to be installed into its wood frame.

Installed Sidelight with protective Plexiglass layer for protection.

As the homeowner continues to renovate her home, she wants to have several of the leaded glass windows in the downstairs rooms repaired. I'm proud to be able to help restore and bring some of the original integrity back to the lovely old homes in my area. It's an honor to help preserve the past.

Bevels are the Best

I love working with bevels, those clear, sparkly pieces of glass that catch the sun light and fill a room full of rainbows.  You can't help but smile when you see the sun shining through a window full of colorful glass and shining bevels.  As you have seen in some of my previous posts, I use small bevels for some of the sun catchers that I make, like the "Pet Shop" series and the "Keepsake" pressed flower series. And if it's appropriate, I try to work bevels into many of my custom replacement window designs as well as some of my decorative window hangings.  Square, long, ornate or simple, bevels add a classic and finished look to a piece that is designed to catch the light.

  





One of two matching foyer windows designed for our century home.

                                                                        12" x 7" Clear and Blue window
hanging with wire and beads.

8" x 8" Pink and Clear window hanging with wire and beads.

11" x 8" Smoky Lavender and Clear window hanging with wire and beads.

10-1/2" x 6-1/2" Clear and Lemon Yellow window hanging with wire and beads.










                           

                                                        Custom window hanging panel 

                                    for a gentleman's study.

Collaborating with another Artist

One of the fun things that happened recently was the chance to collaborate with friend, neighbor and Artist, Marge Pauls.  Marge has been commissioned to create one-of-a-kind art for everything from restaurants to album covers and she publishes her own line of note and gift cards.


Well, a couple of months ago, we were attending an Art Fair featuring hand made items.  There was a vendor who used pictures from magazines and put them under plexiglass shapes and made them into magnets.  As we stood there exclaiming what a clever idea that was, we suddenly had an "Ahh haa" moment. "With your art work..." I said. "And your glass and wire work.." she said.  And the idea was born for our collaborative pieces which we call "From The Heart Creations". 

We decided to start with Marge's Angels, which she originally created as Christmas Cards for friends and family.  For four years in a row she did a different Angel and every card was signed and numbered.  (We had ours matted and framed.)  So it was an obvious choice to start with these as ornaments and gifts. The four Angels are: Wisdom (yellow, pictured), Joy (green, pictured), Love and Peace.

When  we were asked if we had something that would make a nice gift for a new mother, we did a piece that  featured Marge's Mother & Child.

And what could have been a better birthday gift for our mutual friend, Gloria, then an ornament with Marge's piece of art work named.....Gloria.

This one is called The Fire Bird, and it was commissioned as an album cover for a collection of military band music.

And if you would like a one-of-a-kind Wedding gift, may I suggest the Love Birds.  It makes a wonderful keepsake.

Asked to create some original art for a local restaurant, Marge tapped into her inner Art Deco spirit and came up with these wonderfully colorful works that captured just the right sense of fun and elegance and were just what the owner was looking for. 

Diva in green, and Femme Fatale in black and gold.

 As you can see, I had a lot of fun adding whimsical wire and beading.

 And here are a couple of my personal favorites.



Friends,  a puppy and a kitten snuggling up on a cold winters night.


                                      &



A Joyful Noise, a bevy of gamboling birds that always make me smile. 








I'd like to Thank Marge for allowing me to stretch my creativity by incorporating her wonderful art work into my glass and wire pieces. Hopefully this is just he beginning.

One of the things that I love about doing stained glass is turning peoples ideas into reality.  I get to be creative, try new techniques and learn new things.  Here are a few of the commissioned pieces I have recently created.

At a show last year, a lady noticed my
bevel pieces and asked if I could 
put some pressed flowers in them. 
I figured it was worth a try.  I did
one as a prototype and she liked it
so much that she order 10 bevels 
with pressed flowers from her 
fathers funeral, and gave them to 
her family as memorials.

A young man from work has a girl friend
who loves pigs so he wanted a surprise
for her birthday.  Both their names 
start with "S", so I personalized this 
piggy with an S in each ear.  She was
tickled pink and thought her boyfriend
was terrific for giving her a 
one-of-a-kind gift.

I got a call from a friend asking if I 
could make something for a new baby.
The baby's name is Charlie and the baby's 
nursery theme is Jungle.  After a couple
of days of mulling over ideas, I decided that
nothing says "Jungle" better then a monkey. 
Featuring hand cut silhouettes and the baby's
name worked in wire and crystal, it should
be perfect in the nursery and make a special 
gift for my friend to give to the new parents.

 A friend of a friend of a friend saw a picture on Facebook, of a heart that I had made as a raffle
prize for a Valentines event at another friends 
store. She sent me an e-mail and asked if I 
could do something for a group she is part of, 
who's logo is two hearts with the number 2 in-between.  
This is the prototype I came up
with. If they like it, I will be proud to make
this as an exclusive design just for her group,
Heart2HeartSisters, a support group 
for women surviving heart disease, 
heart attack survivors and ICD or 
Pacemakers bypass surgery Patients.
 http://www.heart2heartsisters.com/h2h.html

Working with glass, being creative, trying new 

techniques, and making clients happy...that's a

win, win in my book.

Welcome to Pane in the Glass

Inside this blog, you will see a sampling of my handcrafted one of a kind creations. I have been creating with stained glass for over 20 years as an artistic outlet.  As part of my creative process, I have continually tried to incorporate recycled and reclaimed glass and materials into my work.

When we moved into our century home in Cleveland, Ohio, I designed and created several stained glass windows to add to the design of our house. This led to my designing, creating and repairing stained glass windows for other homes in our area.  

I have been designing and creating sun catchers,  charms and glass ornaments as gifts for family and friends for several years.   So enjoy your look around and feel free to let me know if there is anything I can create for you.  I would love to turn your ideas or designs into a one-of-a kind gift for someone special in your life.

Sharon Martyn

Pane in the Glass

This was a commissioned Mobile for an office with high ceilings in a converted  warehouse.  The recipient, a cat lover, wanted lots of color.  This piece is 4-1/2 feet long from the grid to the bottom of the long blue cat.

                    

                                          

                                      And of course you can guess what my inspiration was

for the "Pet Shop" series.

"Garden Dreams",  inspired by nature.

                                                                              

Green Glass & Wire Dragonfly Sun Charm ( 5" )

         Pink glass & wire Butterfly Sun Charm      
        ( approx. 5" )

        

Re-claimed Glass Sun Catchers & Vintage Friendship Spoon & Fork  Charms
"Serving up fun, laughter and friendship."

The "From the Heart" collection is a collaboration of original art 

by Marge Pauls and glass & wire work by me.

 

A couple of  my custom ordered hanging window panels

Red & Yellow Glass Dragon Fly  hanging panel
 approx. 8" x 10"

Green & Yellow Glass Leaf  hanging panel
 12" x 6"