Thursday, April 28, 2011

Stained Glass

My wonderful husband is a Toxicologist by profession.  But, away from work, he has many interests and talents.  He is a really good cook, he has a green thumb and enjoys gardening, he can paint beautiful pictures, he enjoys kayaking, and he is a stained glass artist.  Over the years, he has made stained glass projects for special occasions and as gifts for those people that he loves.  He hasn't had very much time in the past few years to create with stained glass, mainly because of our kids, household projects, our kids, church commitments, our  kids, helping his parents, our kids, household repairs, our kids.....you get the picture.  Hopefully, he will have more time in the next few years to get his work area re-organized and have the time to create beautiful stained glass works of art.  I can't wait to enjoy them!

My sweet husband...and no, he really isn't a grouch.  But, he will ham it up for the camera, especially when he is encouraged by our daughter.  I bet he didn't expect this picture to reach the Internet...hahaha!

Yes, this is what he really looks like.  My husband , the stained glass artist.

My husband's father was a landscape architect and had his own landscaping business.  My husband created the beautiful stained glass tree, below, as a gift for his office.  It now belongs to my daughter...but, we are gratefully taking care of it until she is ready for it.  It looks beautiful in our living room...

As stated above, this stained glass tree was proudly displayed by my FIL in his landscaping office.  When he retired, it was moved to my in-laws beautiful log home.

Before my in-laws built their log home on a lake up north, they had a small cottage with a large picture window overlooking the lake.  My husband made these stained glass panels that were placed across the top of the picture window.  The colors were so pretty with the sun shining through them.  When the cottage was removed to make space for the log home, he saved the panels.  Our plan is to frame the panels in two vertical groups of three and hang them in our living room windows.  We will be so happy to have the sun shining through these panels in our home!

Of all of his stained glass creations, this is one of my favorites!  My husband made this for his mother; it used to hang in their log home.

I grew up in this house and have some pretty great memories of my childhood here.  See, that little window on the second floor, the one in the middle?  That window was in my Mom and Dad's bedroom.  As a gift for my parents, my husband made a beautiful stained glass window for this space.  My father absolutely loved it!  Scroll down to check it out!


Since my father's death, my Mom has moved into an apartment.  She brought this window with her and it is now proudly displayed in her bedroom.  It really brightens up her room...and is another one of my favorites.

My MIL, FIL, and  brothers-in-law really love(d) to sail.  This is their joy...their Hobey Cat.
I will admit, even though I didn't have any idea how to sail, I sure loved to ride on it.  I distinctly remember one time when we were sailing, we lost wind across the lake, and had to get in the water and paddle back pushing the Hobey.  I loved it!  My husband made this for his parents so they could enjoy the Hobey Cat all year long, especially in the winter.  It now belongs to my daughter and reminds us of all the fun we had up at the lake.

My husband made this for my parents.  The "doily" was made by my grandmother, my father's mom.  The glass protects the doily and displays it sooo beautifully. 

This is another gift that he made for my parents with dried flowers displayed inside. 

My husband made a number of music boxes.  This one belongs to my mother. 

My husband made this dried flower arrangement and the glass "terrarium" as a gift for both his parents and my parents when we were married.  The "lace" flowers were made of the same lace that was in my wedding dress.

My husband made a number of these leaded glass votive holders.  They are especially pretty at night with the light reflected on the glass.

My husband made this pretty little blue bird for his Mom.  She is a true bird lover and enjoys watching birds to this day!

Young and in love!  This picture was taken in my apartment when we were dating, about to be engaged.  The rest of the stained glass creations, below, are all gifts given to me by my sweet husband.  I forgot that he was so romantic.  Of course, they are all my favorites, too.

This is a music box that he made for me.  Purple is one of my favorite colors.  But, even better, the music box plays "Moonlight Sonata."  My honey used to play it for me on the piano...I love that piece.  Want to hear something morbid?  I want "Moonlight Sonata" played at my funeral.  I have no idea why!  (It's the only part of the funeral that I have planned. ) Anyway, I love my music box and still listen to it every week!! 

This is one of the yellow roses that he gave me when we were engaged.  He dried it, arranged it, and preserved it in this beautiful glass box.  It was been on our bedroom wall since the day we were married.  I love it!  (p.s. He inscribed " I Love You" really tiny on the side.)

This beautiful lamp was my wedding gift from my husband.  I love daffodils and tulips, as you can see.  I think it is truly beautiful and his workmanship is perfect!

 The icing on the cake, a stained glass frame for our wedding picture.  We haven't changed a bit!

My honey...I sure picked a good one!  

Hope you enjoyed my husband's stained glass creations!  I really enjoyed sharing them!

Have a great day!

3 comments:

  1. Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww, LOVED this post, Gayl! Thanks for sharing all your memories with your bloggin friends! tmv

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  2. Beautiful creations!!!

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  3. We also are lucky to have a couple of his creations!! Sally & Don

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