Stained Glass Panels Delight

victorian stained glass panel

Stained glass panels are a beautiful way to add a unique touch of creativity to your home. They bring together charming art forms, color and an exclusive and captivating play of light. These panels have been used since centuries and have added a touch of beauty to many ancient buildings, but most importantly churches, chapels and cathedrals etc. These days the colored glass panels are enjoying a place of pride in many homes with an added touch of a contemporary flare. The biggest advantage of stained glass is (which is also the core reason of its popularity since centuries) its ability to add privacy without blocking natural light. Stained glass windows look stylish, colorful and their contribution to the beauty of the whole area is immense. Not to mention the breathtaking hues which are showered around due to the play of light and color brought together in fascinating designs.

Stained glass panels are formed by using colored glass which has been cut into shapes and put together in the form of a mosaic to form a beautiful picture or pattern. To provide additional strength and stability to the whole piece, metal strips are soldered together so that the glass is held in place. The glass pieces which are put together are colored during the manufacturing process by addition of salts which impart different colors. This glass is then made into flat sheets which can then be cut using special glass cutters and pieced together as per the design. Many intricate patterns, designs and pictures can be created out of stained glass. In the churches etc they basically depict scenes from bible, in the modern homes they can be portraying beautiful flowers, trees, animals or appealing colorful geometric patterns.

Stained glass panels are most famously used for adorning the windows of modern day houses. However that is just one of its many uses. They also work great as sky light panels. The beauty of light filtering through the stained glass is absolutely exquisite. You can enhance the effect all the more by having “up lighting” to brighten them in the dark. They also work very well as a room divider screens. The kaleidoscope of colors that it offers will take the whole look and feel of your home to the next level. Have the stained glass panels installed near the entrance door and see how the hallway brightens with the natural light filtering through. You can also try the same for bathroom windows. Louis Tiffany gave an all new dimension to this art work when he designed lamps with stained glass. These are still in vogue and continue to reign as the symbol of style and artistic excellence. The Tiffany lamps are mostly made with opaque or milky glass. Some stained glass panels are made from textured glass too. It could be simply opaque or with a pebbly surface. Sometimes mirrors are also used for the same.

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Nautical Stained Glass by A Glass Menagerie

mermaid-stained glass window

A Glass Menagerie is a website by an artist who was born and raised in North Carolina who became interested in working with stained glass in 1993 as part of her hobby. At the time they were building a home and wanted stained glass windows made for it.  In 1996, the artist established A Glass Menagerie. At the beginning, she only had several pages of products and has eventually grown into what it is today.

Of particular interest was nautical-themed stained glass designs. The Nautical pages of A Glass Menagerie features a variety of kinds of marine creatures such as sailboats, sea shell, and mermaids – which is a virtual glass sea. A Glass Menagerie is pleased to customize any art glass window, stepping stoness or suncatcher of your choice in a rainbow of colors available in stained glass.
For people who are interested in Tropical Fish designs, you can collect fish suncatchers and hang them up at different heights in your window. Several fish sun-catchers are much bigger compared to usual sun-catchers. A Glass Menagerie is willing to make related deep sea and other marine creatures at your behest. Fill a bathroom window with a beautiful ocean scene. The nautical-themed stained glass of A Glass Menagerie make for wonderful presents even for the most discerning people. The art glass of A Glass Menagerie is made from high quality materials that will definitely make the windows in your home quite intriguing.  Each piece is hand cut and then soldered just like Louis C Tiffany did

After almost 2 decades of doing stained glasse, she has never grown tired of it. Designing and fabricating nautical-theme stained glass has been the passion of the owner of A Glass Menagerie. For more information on the nautical-themed stained glass products of A Glass Menagerie, kindly

Stained Glass Pricing – Why so much?

stained glass window

Just like everything in life you get what you pay for.   True quality and craftmanship cost more.  If you want poorly made,  cheap glass work in your home then it is available everywhere. Lots of home improvement centers have these poorly made, cheap glass available.  These are typically made in China or Mexico using the poorest quality of glass and materials and have no craftsmanship whatsoever.  These pieces are often cut randomly on a computerized water-jet cutting machine and then slammed together by people working  for less than minimum wage.  Would you rather have a Volkswagen or a Rolls Royce?  Sure, they can both get you where you are going but a Volkswagen will always drive and sound like a Volkswagen.  It lacks the polish of a Rolls.  Heads turn when a Rolls is spotted.  Has your head ever turned for a Volkswagen?  You get what you pay for.

Building a stained glass window is quite labor intensive and requires years of practice to hone your skills, and a great understanding of the tools and medias.  It also takes total dedication and passion for the work to produce a high quality panel.  All my work is hand cut, hand assembled, copper foiled, and soldered.  There isn’t a machine that can reproduce the fine quality of a hand-made piece of art glass.  It’s actually an insult to the art itself.  Louis C. Tiffany would turn over in his grave if he could see what was happening in the stained glass art world today.  We cut our hands (almost daily) and are exposed to harsh chemicals and dangerous fumes.  It can take weeks or even months to build a stained glass commission piece.  We draw the design, find and buy the glass, chose and cut all the pattern pieces, grind the sharp edges, lead or foil every piece by hand, then solder, patina, scrub,  and wax.  We have to make sure all squares are true and circles are round.  This isn’t what they do in China and Mexico in the sweat shops.  We have spent years in fine tuning our skills, thousands of dollars on tools and even more on glass.  So, you say ” Why do you do it?”  Because we are a fool in love.  Do you really want the sweat shop glass or would you rather have a piece that is custom-made just for YOU by an artist that has poured his heart and soul into it?  You decide.

To see my work and inquire about having a custom piece done just for you visit:  AGlassMenagerie.net