Stained Glass Repairs & Restoration

Repairs are a pain in the patootie – no way of trying to make it a fun part of being a stained glass artist.  I do repairs for two reasons 1) the item is broken and needs to be put back together. And 2) it is honoring the original artist and the art form.  I’m not sure which one propels me more, probably number 2.

In five or ten years or 100 years, I wouldn’t want a creation of mine to be thought so little of as to not garner enough value to the owner to be repaired. Perhaps after purchase my identification tag became illegible or even removed so the owner of the piece no longer knows how to contact me to repair my own art piece. Perhaps where they originally purchased the item is no longer in business so they have no recourse to find me. I hope that another artist will be willing to repair whatever harm may have happened to my original design to repair it with skillful hands and a happy heart.

The gentleman who brought me this had at one time in the past commissioned a stained glass window of his treasured private plane. As a pilot for many years, the only tangible memento of his many hours in the sky was this 30-year-old stained glass panel created to resemble his craft.  The restoration helped preserve his memories for many more years.

Every repair has a story but space doesn’t permit all of them. The following are a few of the repairs/restorations completed through the years but without their stories.