This is the window I was assembling in my last snippet.

Fifteen years ago, I created this window for the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington, VA. The glass was hand-blown in Germany by the Lamberts Glass Company. They make around 5,000 different colors; I have access to around 1500. The glass has striations and bubbles, which bring it to life and separate it from the other materials in the architecture.

When I made this window, I mainly used zinc in my work. I like zinc because it makes such straight lines and nice curves. It also is much stronger than lead, thus requiring fewer reinforcing bars. Back then, a company, Chicago Metalic, had a catalog of around 75 profiles. By snapping them together, I could make wider lines in my windows and lines that came to a point. This made designing the lines as important as developing the glass. I also found the contrast between the two materials interesting.

This window has trees behind it. Trees, with their many leaves in motion, flicker the sunlight on the striations, giving movement to the glass, creating a jewel in the architecture.