ENCORE GLASS

Introduction to Encore Glass

I've been working with scrap glass since 2006, and it's a really satisfying hobby. Because I was raised by Depression-era parents, one of my favorite activities is taking "junk" and making something decorative and/or useful.

[Click on images to enlarge them.]

Left: #26 Antique picture frame (10"x13"), broken necklace, and blue glass scraps

I was inspired by a decorative window some friends bought from a woman who uses white grout to affix craft glass to old wood-framed windows. The grout adds extra weight to an already-heavy window, so I use a clear-drying glue instead. This also allows more light to come through the window.

My first window was made from the lid of a cold frame in my garden, marbles unearthed in the yard, broken plates and mirror, and a handful of those craft stones that are used to add weight to flower vases. The blue stars are the tops of glass swizzle sticks I'd been carting around with me for 15 years. (You never know when something's going to come in handy!)

#1 "Sorrows of the Moon" 15" x 24"

When this window was finished, it seemed to call for some poetry, so a few lines from Baudelaire's "Sorrows of the Moon" are inscribed on the frame: "On a silken avalanche of clouds, the moon, expiring, falls into a trance, impassive, as the great white visions file past in procession, like unfolding flowers."

Initially, I had a hard time finding wood-framed windows, but when Spring came, several friends and neighbors replaced their old windows with new ones, and I fell heir to the discarded frames. Now, salvaged windows fill my little workroom on the back porch.

Thrift stores are a great source of plates and other flat glassware. Once people know that I value broken glass, it's amazing what they drag out of their basement cupboards. (I don't turn anything down.) I also use salvaged hardware to hang the finished windows. Glue is my only real expense.

I chose the name "Encore Glass" because I like the reference to being called back to the stage, the idea of discarded glass being summoned for a repeat performance.

After this piece was finished, a little poetry popped into my head, so I wrote it on the frame.

Here's what my displays look like when I take the windows to arts/crafts fairs.

Gallery

#11 24"x24"

#3 26"x30"

#69 14"x31"

#53 14"x20"

#72 20"x24"

#87 9"x11"

#88 9"x11"

#15 9"x9"

#47 10" x 28"

The two pieces below are for lovers of pink (you know who you are!).

#48 20" x 24"

#49 21" x 24"

#51 (3 separate pieces) each 9"x11"
Vintage 1950 picture frames

#59 18"x20'

#s 57-58 The above windows are a pair made for some friends who had a long, narrow space to fill. The two 16"x31" pieces will sit side-by-side.

Below are some of the pieces I took to the Pocatello Co-op's 2010 "Winter Festival" arts and crafts sale.

#93 15"x28"

Above is #93 in the kitchen of the person who bought it.

#90 This 18"x32" piece includes glass snowflake ornaments.

#79 20"x24"

#83 This 12"x36" piece includes ocean glass and shells from the Atlantic coast side of Florida.

#81 10"x12"

#76 7"x9"

#73 This 6"x8" piece (above) is made with glass replica candies and a broken candy dish given to me by a friend. As much as I like to smash glass, I found myself wishing that this beautiful green dish was intact.

#34 16" x 24"

I donated the two windows below to Pocatello Co-op raffles.

#14 23" x 30"

#9 26"x30"

Tuxedo Cat #64 5"x13"

#62 6"x8"

#65 Ocean Glass and Shells 4"x14"

People often ask where to hang the decorative windows. Most of the windows look best when hung in a space that has full sun, at least part of the day. These two views of the same window (below) illustrate the difference between hanging a window against a white wall and hanging it near a source of natural light.

#41 12" x 31"

This window (below) looks very different with light coming through it than without.

#42 15" x 19"

The window below sits against a white wall, and the overhead light in the room highlights the colors. The middle part of the window is filled with tumbled glass I picked up on the beach in Jupiter, Florida.

#6 20" x 30"

Often, I just lightly sand the wood frame and leave it au naturel. Other times, I paint the wood. The frame below wasn't too bad on three sides, but the bottom edge wasn't attractive, so I white-washed the entire frame.

#19 23" x 25"

#5 19" x 48"

The circle in the middle pane of this window was made when I broke a plate in the bottom of a bucket and realized that I could reassemble the shards in a plate shape. Usually, when I break a plate, the pieces are pie-shaped or irregular. This window hangs on my front porch in good weather, and when the sun hits it, it glows.

It's difficult to get a good photograph of a window with clear glass. The photos below were taken with the window leaning against my oven.

The beveled pieces in these windows are salvaged from some old metal lanterns and candle holders.

Left: #43 20"x36"

Actually, the clear glass isn't entirely clear. "Seedy" glass contains what looks like water bubbles and streaks. "GNA" glass has small lines running randomly through it. "Jack Frost" glass looks like heavily-frosted windshield glass. Other clear glass may have bumps, ripples, or sculpted lines.

#44 19" x 30"

The yellow window (below) has bumpy glass (upper right and lower middle). The yellow star is the top of a swizzle stick.

#37 23" x 27"

A friend gave me some costume jewelry that she no longer wanted, so I used the chains, pearl strands, and earrings, along with clear GNA and colored glass.