Texas Scape - Glass on Glass Mosaic Stained Glass Window

This window illustrates many of the features of the Texas Hill Country including cactus, bluebonnets, indian paintbrushes, fences, river, hills and the fabulous sunsets.

Glorious Texas - Glass on Glass Mosaic Window

This design features the colors of the Texas flag, sunflowers, purple cone flowers, indian paintbrushes, indian blankets, and bluebonnets.

Boot Bouquet in the Round-Multilayer Glass on Glass Mosaic

Another of the Boot Bouquets but this time the border is round.  It is multilayer and the background glass is clear so what is showing through is the cement driveway.

Here is a new window that was created with rhinestones, beads, and glass.  There is no grout so the piece is very bright and sparkly.  It is also very dimensional with the use of larger rhinestones and layering.  A few months ago I decided to try doing some Zentangles to encourage my creativity.  I found the process to be very frustrating and not enjoyable at all!  Now I realize that this new form of window without the grout resembles glass zentangles!

Commission glass on glass mosaic window

This is a new window that was created for friends.  They have a recessed opening above kitchen cabinets that was designed to house a television in the kitchen.  They reconfigured the kitchen and didn't want to use the opening for the TV so they installed remote controlled lighting and put this window in the opening.

This detail photo in the sun shows how the glass sparkles and transmits the sunlight.

Seeking Shelter - large mosaic stained glass window

This window is 24 inches wide and 36 inches tall.  The rabbits in the lower left corner were supposed to be Texas jack rabbits but for some reason just came out looking like cute little bunnies.

















Here is a detail photo of the bunnies!  You can also see the use of brass findings in the border of the piece.

Twice the Beauty - multiple layer mosaic stained glass window

Another 24 x 24 multilayer beaded tree.

Hummer Portrait - glass on glass mosaic stained glass window

This small window has a very detailed border made with small vitreous glass tiles, mother of pearl rectangles, multiple colors and shapes of vintage rhinetones, and multiple sizes and colors of beads.

Below is a detail photo of the piece.

Razzle Dazzle - glass on glass window with no grout

This window was completed several months ago but I never put photos on this site.  It is unusual because it was not grouted.  All of the glass, beads, and rhinestones are adhered with adhesive and no grout was used.  It is very bright and sparkly - although that doesn't show in this photo.  the background is completely clear so the grey you see is actually the cement driveway that I set it on to shoot the photos.

Here is a detail so you can see more of the construction of the piece.

Boot Bouquet - glass on glass mosaic window

Here is a new boot window that will be shown at Artisans in Fredericksburg.  It has two layers.  The border, boot, and a few of the flowers and leaves are on the front layer.  The second layer is recessed about an inch behind the front and contains most of the flowers.  This piece measures 24 inches by 24 inches.

The detail photo below is just the flowers and hopefully shows more of the dimension - you are able to see where the front pieces of glass overlap the ones on the second layer.  Also this shows the use of beads for the sunflower centers.

A Couple of new windows - Glass on glass mosaics

I took a little break from my mosaic work.  I wanted to concentrate on family for the holidays.  Christmas with the family was wonderful but I found I was getting grumpy and unsettled.  Guess what - as soon as I started working with my glass again my whole attitude improved.  I am trying to use a lot of color and be a little more creative.  This will be a wonderful year!

More photos will follow soon!

Hill Country Sunset - mosaic stained glass window

I haven't made a "Hill Country Sunset" window in a couple of years so decided it was time again.  This one has a lot of golds and purples in it.  It is 36 inches tall and 24 inches wide and will be shown at Artisans of Rocky Hill Gallery in Fredericksburg, Texas beginning today.

The detail photo shows the use of beads and rhinestones as well as some beautiful art glass and some glass that has been painted with alcohol inks.

Texas Liveoak Window - multilayer mosaic stained glass window

This is my latest 24 x 24 Oak Tree window.  It has two layers with the border, foreground and some of the tree foliage on the front layer.  The back layer is the grass surrounding the base of the tree, the tree  trunk and branches, and much of the foliage.

This photo shows a more detailed closeup of some of the rhinestones and beads used in the window.

This detail photo may allow you to see that there are two layers of leaves (beads) creating the foliage of the oak tree.

Grape and Hummingbird window installed - glass on glass mosaic stained glass window

This is what the Hummingbird and Grapes window looks like installed.  We designed the window to set outside the opening so we could utilize as much of the light as possible.  We hung it using a piano hinge on the top.  That way it can be lifted up to clean the window behind it.

Springtime Sunshine - Glass on glass mosaic window

This is a new 24" x 24" landscape window that I started at my demo at Artisans of Rocky Hill Gallery the first weekend of this month.  At the demo I completed the border and all of the flowers in the foreground.  I completed it when I returned home.  The border is made with vitreous glass tiles, beads, and rhinestones.  The tree leaves are both stained glass and several different colors of navette shaped rhinestones.  The wire on the fence was created with very small clear seed beads.  and the bluebonnets were created with several different rhinestones.

These photos show a little more of the detail.

Grandma's Red Roof - a mlti layer glass on glass mosiac window

I apologize for the quality of this photo but this piece was finished at a demo that I did at Artisans gallery this past weekend and I only had a phone to take a photo.  It is 24 x 24 and has two layers.  The front layer contains the trees, border, and all the ground work up to the fence.  The second layer is the house, sun and surrounding plantings.

This is what the window looks like when there is no light coming through it.  It was just propped up against a wall.

"Texas" a multi layer glass piece

This is a two layer piece that measures 7" tall and 16" in length. The front layer contains the border, a couple of bluebonnets on each side and the word "Texas" in gold beads.

This closeup shows more of the detail and how the flowers are created using rhinestones.  The ground is actually gold leaf applied to the back of the second layer of glass.  All of the additional bluebonnets and indian paintbrush flowers are actually on a second layer of clear glass that has been recessed about a 1/4" behind the front layer. 

This angled photo may allow you to see the separation between the two layers.  This piece is best shown when lighted from both the front and the back and changes in appearance with different lighting environments.

"Spring Beauty Pageant" - Mosaic Window demonstrating more uses of rhinestones and beads

Here is another 16"x 20" floral window.   It features bluebonnets, indian paintbrush, indian blanket, and sunflowers.

In this detail shot it is easy to identify the use of several different materials.  There are three different types of beads used in the border.  They have all been added while strung so they are standing up on their side.  After attaching them with adhesive I remove the string.  More E beads have been used in the background between the flowers.  These have been sprinkled on adhesive and most show the hole which fills up with grout - a few are on their sides so they don't show the hole.  Many different types of rhinestones have been used in the creation of the flowers.  They are always glued down with the flat surface (this is usually the front of a stone) of the rhinestone adhered to the background glass.

One More Garden Ornament - a Table Squiggle

I couldn't resist showing one more Garden Squiggle that I made to give my sister for a small house warming gift.  This was created using a metal lamp base with an old vase attached.  I then used 16 gauge steel wire and plastic beads to make the squiggles.






































I can see this sitting on a patio table - although it could also be put in a garden or flowerbed.  Glass beads could be used and they would hold up to the weather for a much longer time.

Mosaic Grouting Tips

I thought that I would take a few moments today to discuss some of my tips for grouting success.  This is another 36 x 24 window and is similar to several others that I have made in the past.  On this one I used  even more beads and rhinestones which I think adds to the beauty of the piece but can cause nightmares during the grouting process.  Because the beads and rhinestones are all differnt levels they add a lot of dimension and texture to the piece and really catch the light but grout is difficult to clean on these uneven surfaces.

When I mix my grout I make it very stiff -this keeps it from creeping under any pieces and showing through.  I wear rubber gloves and apply it with my hands rubbing it in very carefully around all of the different level pieces.  Then I stand the piece up with a light behind and my first pass at cleaning the piece is usually with a popsicle stick.  This allows me to remove grout from between the different levels.

After I remove as much grout as possible with the popscicle stick I then use paper towels to buff the rest off the surface of the piece.  This can take quite a long time if the surface is very textured and in our Texas heat the grout dries faster than I like sometimes so I work as quickly as possible.  As the piece is getting clean I sometimes use a dry toothbrush to remove grout from around the beads or rhinestones.  Although I have been doing this process for several years now, I seem to make it harder on myself each time by using such a variety of materials.  I am conviced that is what makes the pieces unique and I always like a challenge! 
If you are planning on using rhinestones and beads for the first time I would encourage you to start small and good luck!

This is the finished window.....