Cindy is FOR the Birds and Gallery Glass!

Gallery Glass has a new friend. Cindy contacted me back in June with some valid frustration over not being able to find Gallery Glass products. She is just beginning to experiment with it and has been doing avid research. Unfortunately, many of the products that are mentioned in old Gallery Glass books have been discontinued. So we had some lengthy discussions about alternatives and sources. But we worked through most of her problems and got her on the road to successful glass crafting. This is the first photo that I've received. Understandably, she is thrilled with the results and has more projects in mind. I exclaimed over the photo because I have several pairs of Cardinals and Chickadees that frequently dine at my bird feeder. I feel like they are "family". Here is what Cindy says about her project. "I needed something to protect my Vermont Memory Quilt from the morning sun. I designed and made that quilt, all without knowing how to quilt, and it's Queen size. It won first place at the fair the year it was completed! I don't dip my toe in the bathwater, I just jump in. I saw Gallery Glass at Michael's and thought, 'I can do that,' so I did. I'm hooked now. I hope I'm immortal so I have enough time to make all the Gallery Glass projects and quilts I want to."

"The transom is 16"x36" and with the exception of the original bird patterns (with modified Cardinal wing and tail) all the drawing was done freehand by me. The border ended up this way because I originally wanted to have all the rectangles the same size and all one color for uniformity as I'd seen in many examples of stained glass, but after having my paint start to dry before the entire rectangle was filled, I removed the ugly paint and started to lead again, making my rectangles all different sizes. I realized this was kind of cool because now, I could have a sampling of a bunch of different colors as a contrast to the 4 or 5 colors in the piece! I used every color of Gallery Glass that I had on hand at the time. I found some of the colors dried really beautiful and therefore were used 2 to 4 times in the border. I brought it to work one day to show my coworkers when an employee whom I didn't know approached me and offered to buy it--on the spot! A terrific testimonial for Gallery Glass!""I love Chickadees. I have had a pair of them nesting in one of the two Chickadee boxes now for the last couple of years. I love how they trust me enough to accept the box that's only 10 feet from my sliding glass door. I've been a fledgling grandparent about 4 times! Sadly a house wren came in about 2 months ago and built his dummy nests in BOTH the Chickadee boxes, and I don't know if he destroyed any Chickadee eggs while he was pulling out their old nest. If he did, the Chickadees may not return to the box. I will try, though. Well, he spent about 5 weeks calling for a lady wren, starting up promptly at 5am. I'm kinda sad that no lady was impressed with him singing his guts out. A new box will be going up soon, farther out in the yard, and maybe he will have better luck next year with the ladies."

"I remember when the Chickadees first chose the box. I wasn't aware at first that she was building a nest; all I heard from the inside was a tap. Tap. tap tap tap. Tap. I had to laugh out loud when I thought that she was in there hanging pictures on the walls!"

"Last weekend I had THE thrill of my life (or is that the trill of my life?): I was sitting in the parking lot at WalMart of all places when I heard the sweetest call of all time. I looked and looked and there in a tree was a Cedar Waxwing!!! My second favorite. Then I heard the same call again only this past Friday, and spotted the little guy in the tippy top branch of one of my Aspens!! So on Saturday I flew (no pun intended) to the nursery for a Serviceberry bush to attract them in my yard! I've had such a fun variety of birds visiting me, from Eurasian (?) doves (the ones with the little black slash on the back of the neck) to Bluejays, Towhees, Goldfinches, of course Hummingbirds (who zoom in really close and hum me even without a feeder) even a Hairy Woodpecker stopped by. I love my birds."

"I have two more large transom windows at the back of the house over the sliding glass door and its sister window. Had planned for two more bird pieces but couldn't even get started with an idea. I've decided instead to modify an authentic antique rose motif, which is actually perfect because I love antiques too, and I like that it will be "simple." That'll be a while in coming but I can't wait to share it with you, too. It's going to be gorgeous."

I love Cindy's project--on a number of levels--and can hardly wait to see what she does with the other transoms. The multi-colored border is a unique idea and adds a measure of whimsical drama to the piece. The leading and painting are well done and the overall composition is excellent. Notice how she chose to ignore the dividers in the transom which allowed her to have one design rather than 6 repetitive motifs. It is possible to do this because the design is painted on a glass insert that she had cut to size, so the dividers are behind the artwork. I would have done the same thing. Good planning. I think we will see a lot of Cindy this winter. She is very busy in the summer, but will have more crafting time after frost. Thanks for sharing your love of Gallery Glass AND your love of our feathered friends!