Commissions

Each piece is unique as it is handmade.

Your Commission starts with a free, no-obligation consultation. This allows me to understand your requirements, offer suggestions, see the area where your glass will be situated and for you to ask any questions.

I usually make rough sketches to see if I am on the right track and, if we agree to proceed, I will then produce formal drawings for your approval.

Each commission differs in scope so timescale and quotations can only be worked out once all factors are known.

Please get in touch to ask for a free, no-obligation consultation. There is often a waiting list for commissions.

Below are some previous commission examples and details of how they were produced.

Sainted Footballers

This large panel was requested by a football fan who reveres Diego Maradona, particularly. We decided that it should be called The Sainted Footballers and it includes likenesses of Lionel Messi and Maradona plus details such as the World Cup and halos created with silver stain.

Personal references are dotted across the panel: the names of friends and family and the Prince logo.

As this was due to be within a cottage with small windows it was decided to display it as a hanging piece. It has a galvanised steel frame and hangs in front of a back-lit alcove.

Sunflower windows

I met a couple at a craft fair and, after a lovely chat, they bought a sunflower roundel for their kitchen window.

They started renovating their listed cottage and got in touch to commission two sunflower windows. The arch-shaped transom was designed to echo the cottage's original glass (long gone but we based the design on a neighbouring transom for reference).

They chose a favourite selection of colours and a sunflower to complete the design.

They also had an internal window to fill and we decided that they should have sunflowers all over the cottage giving their home a sunny, happy theme.

The internal window used most of the same colours as the transom so they complement each other beautifully.

Three Peak District Door Panels

An enquiry came in via email to create three panes for a front door within a cottage in the Peak District.

We mutually agreed to a video consultation due to distance - this worked very well! We got to know each other, we could chat spontaneously about likes and dislikes and I could see the door and it's position in terms of lighting.

This lovely couple wanted images relating to their beautiful surrounding landscape plus several elements that had personal meaning.

They kindly shared these photos of the panes in situ and I love the way they work within their beautiful home!

Whispering Knights Landscape

This piece is a fully leaded window fitted within a cottage in Broadway, Cotswolds.

The lovely lady who commissioned it was interested in certain themes including certain flowers, a fox chasing a hare and the Whispering Knights which are the standing stones seen here silhouetted against the moon. They are part of the Rollright Stones which are located on the Oxfordshire / Warwickshire border. These are a mysterious and very ancient complex of neolithic age and bronze age megalithic monuments.

The Whispering Knights part of the complex is a set of standing stones that are actually a burial chamber and the older part of the site. The monument got its name as part of a legend about the king and his army who were outwitted by a witch and turned to stone. The stones appear to be leaning towards each other, hence 'whispering'.

A lovely, fun window to make. A larger kiln came in handy here as the piece of glass for the hare is quite large.

Here are before and after images plus proof that stained glass can be lovely after dark too!

Robot Transom

A quirky commission jammed with personal references - the customers were heavily involved with the design of the transom.

It features a representation of the view from the back of their house and the pose of the two characters was influenced by 'American Gothic' by Grant Wood!

Mr Crow Landscape

This was a commission from a lovely lady in Texas! A large, hanging stained glass panel with the characters and colours she particularly specified. The crow was the main focus and blue green glass is revealed in the painting to give him a flash of oily colours in his feathers.

Coincidentally, during the making process, I was reading a novel set in Texas where black birds (with blue flashes) called grackles were described. I got very excited thinking maybe this character could be a grackle and be local to Texas. (On looking them up they are a little different). Chatting with my commissioner about this she tells me she has a friend who feeds the grackles every day. They are so intelligent that they bring her little gifts when they know she is due to give them food! We decided to call the snail shell and acorn cup within this piece gifts from Mr Crow.

As this is free hanging it is finished with a metal frame for structure and strength.

I really loved making this and was so happy to receive this picture of the piece in situ.

See the whole process for the creation of this piece within the techniques page!

It's been lots of fun to create this stained glass transom, not least because my commissioners are old friends. Luckily one of them was able to turn her hand to wood-working and fitted the panel in a most professional way!

Coombes Edge Transom

This large transom was designed by workshopping with my commissioners, exploring their local views, on the edge of the Peak District, hearing about the history of their lovely house and incorporating elements that are important to them.

This piece is packed with personal themes: Stanley Strutt was a young man who used to live in this house but died in WW1. The poppies are a memorial to him.

There is a Mill tucked into the landscape which relates to the village's history - there are still mills and ruins of similar throughout the village. Curling ferns are prevalent locally and are a nod to an old friend. 'Whoda thowt it' is the name for the spit & sawdust public house that this home used to be!

Jackdaws flock together in the area every morning & evening, trees are important to this couple and they themselves are represented enjoying the landscape, as they do daily, walking their dogs in the centre!

The Renovation of Old Birtle

This beautiful 15th Century cottage is being completely renovated.

'Birtle' is old English for 'Birch Hill' and this really describes the landscape in the area. The commissioners for this piece wanted these two internal windows to reflect their local landscape, including dramatic hills, birch trees, ruined mills and the plants found in their garden. Also included are the family pets, Mabel the dog and Reggie the cat. There is a beam carved with the date 1671, which makes 2021 a 350 year anniversary so we added these dates.

This project started during lockdown so we had video conversations to discuss the windows and this helped me see where they'd be situated - light is important with stained glass!

Careful measuring of window areas and sharing of photos for inspiration got the project underway. We decided to do two landscape-based windows, one daytime, one evening. This keeps them related (they will be seen within the same wall from one room) but with contrasts in look and feel. Six weeks later two windows are ready to be installed.

If you'd like to see more about this renovation project search 'The Renovation of Old Birtle' on Facebook.

Each of these stained glass designs is unique. Many use varying techniques and processes.

The examples on this page were bespoke commissions so are not available to buy .

Please see the techniques page for more information on how these are made.