Hook Handmade

Ballerina Spotlight. Ready for cement and polish.

I’ve taken a bit of a glass hiatus over the summer since my shop has been sweltering, but my wife’s birthday is tomorrow and she’s been begging for ballet glass. This panel is 2’x3’, and is inspired by her last ballet, which was Beauty and the Beast. I’m using lead came instead of copper foil just to mix things up.

How about those colors?!

A long overdue shop upgrade complete! My second glass rack holds all of my opal and streaky glass plus my brass, zinc, and lead came. Thousands of dollars in material and tools all entrusted to Harbor Freight wheels. What’s the worst that could happen?

Almost too pretty to cut.

I'm excited to reveal my design for the Meridian Free Library that will be installed in Ann's Alley in downtown Meridian this summer. Inspired by a bookshop storefront and the stacks of books within, the six stained glass panels will surround a six foot high door revealing a single bookcase. The translucent glass palette of blues and greens will be accented by strips of yellow and orange. Certain to be vibrant during the day, the panels will transform at night when the layered colors within the glass will be revealed by a flood of back light. I'm grateful for this incredible opportunity to join my art and architecture to bring stained glass to the public, and to have my work stand beside the tremendous murals throughout the new pedestrian alley.

Someone should buy this before I get accused of stolen valor for having it hanging in my living room.

FOR SALE & READY TO SHIP!! - 20.5” in diameter stained glass Top Gun patch. Zinc frame with matte black patina. Pewter patinated solder. Lettering is hand painted matte black enamel fused at 1280F.

A short gap between commissions has given me the opportunity to make the first non-commission piece I’ve been able to offer.

DM or comment if interested.

$1,200 (free shipping in the lower 48)

When people ask why stained glass is so expensive and why I’ve been raising my prices, I just point to the price of solder. In the last 10 months the price of solder has increased 30%. It takes five pounds to construct a 36” set of wings. At $36 a pound that equates to $180. Two years ago that cost me $110. But it’s not just solder. The cost of copper foil has gone up 56% over the same time, which adds another $15 to each piece. I’m too afraid to deep dive into the price of glass, but I’ll tell you my last order for 10 sheets was $727, which included three 22”x24” sheets of red at $106 each. So, yeah, prices have to go up because the price of materials has gone up. Thank you, Economics 101.

Normally my lettering is made from individual pieces of glass, but the number of letters in this panel would have required hundreds of pieces of glass and pounds of solder that would have detracted from the overall composition. To get around this, I ventured into enameling. The letters are made from a glass enamel paint that is fired at 1265 F, which fuses the enamel into the glass. This was a new and exciting challenge that opens up a whole new world of possibilities.