I created this window for the Fork Union Military Academy in Fork Union, Virginia, in 1990.

The beveled glass is 3/8 inch thick and beveled on our 1915 beveling machinery. The dark areas are emerald green blown glass.

The architecture is wood in a large Victorian farmhouse style.

Typically, most leaded beveled glass is 3/16″ or 1/4″ thick. However, you may occasionally find 3/8″ glass in some historical areas. I started using the thicker glass when I went through a period of working on large homes in and around Washington, DC. Many homes were built with unusually thick wood moldings, so I used the thicker glass to compliment the aesthetics.

It takes a lot of willpower to cut 3/8″ glass accurately enough to fit together in a 1/4″ wide channel. That’s within a tolerance of less than 1/16″, so all the pieces fit together, and the window turns out to be the correct size. Scoring with the tiny wheel at the end of the glass cutter around a paper pattern requires a lot of focus.

Then, grind and polish the angle with 1915 machinery—well, it takes a personality type I have spent much of my life trying to understand.
There are easier ways to make a living, with more money and many benefits.

While creating such a laborious, in my mind, work of art, I’m thinking about what a beautiful accent I’m building for a piece of architecture that will be there as long as the building is there.

It is a symbol of who I’ve chosen to be.