RON'S STAINED GLASS

In 2006 I was working on a gazebo area in the back yard with a rock retaining wall and rock floor.When I decided to make a stained glass ceiling for the gazebo. I picked out a picture from the Hubble Space Telescope book of a Ring Nebula that is on the front cover and page 32 "Images Of Star Death" that I thought would work well with a 12' - 6 side ceiling.

 This was my first try at stained glass and I was told that it might be to much to tackle on a first try but I went ahead and ordered approximately 150 square feet of glass.The green glass ball in the middle is a Japanese fish net float that had a heavy jute covering, from the 50's, that had hung on my mothers back porch for about 20 years.

 It took quite awhile for the glass order to get here so I did a full size lay out of the frame on the shop floor and bought the 3", 1 1/2" and 1" square steel tubing needed.

 Started with the 3" post as I was pouring the concrete floor and wall foundations. Once the posts were set I went ahead with the rock walls, set the cabinet and built the rock structure around the cabinet  and rock seating area.

 The ceiling frames are made with 1 1/2" tubing for the main outside frame and 1" tubing for the glass support, welded up on the shop floor then moved into place with my tractor and welded to the posts.

 The 3 side glass panels and cabinet door were an after thought inspired by my wife and she bought the statues, one the Angel of Patience and the other the  Ascending Angel. All of the outside of the glass is covered with GE Lexan plastic to protect it from wind, snow and hail.

 The concrete slab has been covered with a 1/4" stone veneer that I cut from rocks that were found on our property with my rock saw.

 The retaining wall is made with large rocks all from our property and are at the right height to sit on. The large one in the middle rolled off its block and broke my foot that set me back a couple of days.

 Below is the stone step entry way from the house.

 On the other side I made a field stone patio that follows the slope.

 A view looking south.

 The lady at the glass shop convinced me to try a small project before the large glass ceiling so I got a picture from my wife's needlepoint book, drew it larger and added to it for a 2' X 3' window and made the dragon lady, who has a Crystal in her hand and a peacock cape, as my first stained glass.

 My third project is a stained glass picture of my chopped and flamed 1951 Ford that was used as part of the display at the Grand National Roadster Show and the Autorama.

They now hang in our dining room window.

 Number 4 was a request from my wife for 2.5' wide by 5' tall stained glass of cranes for the master bedroom door that opens onto the patio.  This was to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary, she requested the cranes as symbols of longevity and happiness in marriage.

 Number 5 is a 4' X 5' stained glass  window  for our office to triple insulate the room from the afternoon sun as it got very warm in the summer. The bird is a creature from a book The Art of World of War Craft that I drew with a little spin on it to make it work for a window.

 The latest one, #6, was done for Dean of "Hot Rods by Dean" where I used the hot rod that is part of the logo used on his t-shirts with sun flowers cactus flowers and a road runner in the fore ground, Phoenix skyline and Camel back mountain.

double click on any of the pictures to enlarge for a closer look.