Evergreen

I live in a wonderful lake community in New Jersey. Many of the older homes are this amazing lake style; very 'Adirondack', large stone fireplaces, exposed beams, log cabins. Most of them were small, though, and they are almost all being re-built. Fortunately most homeowners here renovate with respect for the tradition and style of the lake.I was commissioned by one of these homeowners with an awesome lakefront log cabin. A new room was added on to the front of the house leaving two openings where doors used to be. She wanted stained glass windows to fill those spaces. The client requested something in the Art Deco or Arts and Crafts style. She was thinking abstract, but in out initial meeting she sort of lingered on the idea of evergreens being part of the design. I worked on some sketches, trying to incorporate the Deco and the trees. It stumped me for a while, but I know that if I just keep sketching, I'll eventually come up with something:

Well, I finally got the design worked out, and that's when Murphy's Law kicked in. I really shouldn't say that yet as I am still working on the windows and much can still go wrong, but these windows have really been a saga for me. Every custom piece comes with it's own issues and challenges. With this project, those issues just seem larger because the windows are so large (and my studio is not)! And I'm still waiting for some back ordered lead...

I'm being a bit of a whiner, but really I LOVE these windows. I'm so happy with the design, and I'm using some special and beautiful glass. I'm so happy with the way they are coming out, I'm just impatient to see them in their new, lovely lakefront home.

And when they are finally installed, I'm going to have them professionally photographed! I found a great photographer on Etsy who live right here in my town. Robert Socha does great work and these windows will deserve something better than my crappy photography.