Stained Glass

Stained, Leaded & Beveled Glass Windows from Artistry in Glass

Unsure how to order a stained glass window? Follow this unique and informative guide for insider information on the process of collaborating with a stained glass studio. Learn how to commission a stained glass panel in this comprehensive guide.

Learn how to choose the best stained glass design for your home and also which is better for your home – stained glass or etched glass.

Uses for Stained Glass in the Home

Stained glass windows can be used for privacy, view control, and, above all, jewelry for the home. See the videos below for examples in Tucson

Design Process – Contemporary Stained Glass

Technical notes relating to the project: lessons to learn from contemporary stained glass design.

The crucial objective for the interior designer and the stained glass artist is to avoid the cliche. In the vocabulary of stained glass art in Tucson, the archetypal cliches are the coyote howling at the moon and the saguaro. By having the courage and confidence to commission an abstract/modern design, our clients become the owners of a truly unique work of art. The distinction of the art is enhanced by the choice of top quality, handmade glass from the Bullseye and Kokomo companies. Of interest to cognitive neurologists is the way that the human eye (and then the brain) can extrapolate across considerable opaque gaps to follow design elements from the entryway sidelights across the central door panel. The inspiration for the design comes from John’s previous career as a geologist: irregular strata dipping to the east are disrupted (faulted) by large, curvilinear transcurrent faults (San Andreas type) and finally cut by linear igneous intrusions (beveled glass).

On a practical level, we achieve the important imperative of privacy by sandblasting/frosting the exterior side of the cathedral (originally transparent) glasses. For conservation and security, the vulnerable art glass is protected on the outside by clear tempered glass. Learn more about the design process for abstract stained glass from this interesting analysis.

Stained Glass Case Study #2:

How to get privacy in the powder room

Notes relating to the powder room privacy project: stained glass prickly pears to the rescue

The chief objective of this small picture window is to provide privacy for the occupants of the guest powder room (situated embarrassingly exposed adjacent to the entry courtyard). This is achieved by using opaque glass towards the bottom of the panel while leaving the top of the panel open for a view of the Catalina Mountains. We introduce a sense of irony and rescue the project from the banal by means of several subtle devices: the use of abstract (non-realistic) amber for some of the prickly pears: the selection of interesting, hand-blown Bullseye glass for other pads: the overlaid prickly pear fruit (which purists will notice is technically difficult to fabricate) and the departure from the strictly figurative in the childlike, folk-art representation of the sun’s rays.

Stained Glass Case Study #3: Painting with Light

Notes relating to the power of sunlight to bring stained glass to life

Our wonderful clients from a ranch in Montana wished to celebrate their new life in Oro Valley with spectacular and optimistic panels for their entryway sidelite and two matching clerestory windows. The design is an amalgam of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Tree of Life with southwest influences rendered daringly in very strong colors which, fortuitously, transmit the rays of a low winter sun to make a spectacular afternoon light show on the tiled floor.

Stained Glass Case Study #4: Bathroom Privacy

Our customer’s Spanish Colonial home in the foothills of the Catalina Mountains features a Victorian-style bathtub in a lavishly decorated and tiled bathroom. Ample light is provided by three Pella windows – which unfortunately created nervous apprehension in the mind of the imaginative bather. The solution – stylish leaded glass with a frosted background providing privacy and light – and with the carefully calibrated self-indulgence of a few sparkling bevels. Chocolate-brown border glass picks up the tone of interior wood paneling while providing a perfect transition into the room: Kaiser residence, Tucson, AZ.

Stained Glass Case Study #5: Beveled Glass Entryways

Notes relating to the use of beveled and stained glass for entryway windows

Some of our most popular panels are made with beveled glass – continuing the great tradition of Victorian artisans who made beautiful and spectacular panels in the extravagant Gilded Age of the late 19th century.

The challenge today is that making custom bevels has become prohibitively expensive because they all have to be laboriously fabrication by hand on grinding and polishing machines. The solution, for affordable windows, is to use straight-line bevels that come in standard sizes like 1 and 1/2 inch squares and 1 and 1/2 by 12 in rectangles.

By skillful arrangement, elegant designs can be achieved which bring the traditional look of sparkling beveled glass at affordable prices. Contact Artistry in Glass with the approximate size of your panels for a free estimate and design ideas.

Stained Glass Case Study #6: Bright Cathedral Glass

Notes relating to the use of colorful cathedral glass

Cathedral glass is the name given to translucent stained glass which transmits bright rainbow colors as the sun shines through it. These windows are for the bold and adventurous customer who is not concerned about privacy but wishes to glory in multicolored light. Notice the wonderful surface textures that are indicative of hand-rolled antique glass.

Stained Glass Case Study #7: Abstract with Rondels

Notes relating to Abstract Stained Glass with Rondels

This striking panel includes bold textured glass, antique rondels, and colorful antique stained glass in a stylish abstract design. The semi-circular motif is cut by diagonal “fault lines” adding a note of tension appropriate to the current zeitgeist. Rondels are hand blown circles of colored glass made by the traditional Italian manufacturing method. An exciting contrast between the colored glass and rondels is provided by clear textured glass in reeded (top) and cross-reeded patterns. Abstract stained glass has the property of longevity – by avoiding the cliche nonfigurative designs do not go out of style.

Stained Glass Case Study #8: Abstract with Cornucopia

A Jeweled Spectacular Illuminated by a Lightbox

Follow this link to read all about our baubles, jewels and rondels

How to Commission your Stained Glass Masterpiece

For free advice on your stained glass project, email [email protected] with the following information:-

How to Order Stained Glass1) the shape and approximate size of your window (Include images if possible).

2) the style of design that you prefer ( tip: use google images to search for “stained glass” + an adjective like “beveled”, “contemporary”, “Victorian” or ” mission”, and copy/paste the images that you like). See this page for full instructions.