AdammsGallery

Leaking Leaded Glass Windows

Leaking  Leaded Glass Windows If you have older leaded or stained glass windows you may be experiencing leaks. You may see this as droplets forming on the lead came, and dripping down the window, or as a pool of water at the window sill. Remember that water flows down hill, so if you see water anyplace on the window or sill it is most likely coming from a place higher up. After the rain stops and the water dries you will see water marks where the water has dripped. DO NOT CLEAN these off. The dried spots will help us determine where the leaks actually are.     Leaks may be from dried out a flaking putty, or they may be from broken, or missing lead came. On older windows(65-100 years old), the smog and acid rains have disintegrated the heart of the lead came, and in many cases it just falls apart. Also improper repairs lead to weakened windows and cause leaks. If the leaks are caused from dried out and missing glazing putty we reglaze by forcing the new putty into the lead came between the glass and the lead. The right type of putty will last for many years. The correct putty is metal sash putty. It is either black or grey in color, and is oil based. It should not be thinned with paint thinner, or turpentine. This will only dilute it too much, and cause it to dry out and flake. Do not use white putty. It is meant for wooden sash. Also, by all means, DO NOT USE SILICON. Silicon may seal temporarily, but it will make a mess, and only increase the cost of a repair because it has to be cleaned off before a proper repair can be successful.                             Broken Came      If your window is very old and the lead came has gaps, or holes your window probably needs to be removed and releaded. In this case we rebuild your window with your old glass and new lead came. We will also replace any broken, or badly etched(water stained) glass. To reglaze the window we try to clean out as much old dried out putty as we can. Then we force the new putty into the lead channel. After the window is reglazed the putty needs to set up, so we need a few clear days. Otherwise the new putty stands a chance of being washed out in a heavy rain. On a large window it may take two or three applications before the reglazing is successful. Of course if we totally restore your window you will have a quality window that will last many, many years. IF YOU NEED US WE ARE READY !Adamm's Stained Glass   1426 4th St. Santa Monica, CA 90401  310 451 9390  adamm@adammsgallery.com

First Baptist Church of Los Angeles Stained Glass Restoration

                                                               

   The First Baptist Church of Los Angeles is a magnificent church. The church is located at 760 S.Westmoreland Ave., Los Angeles. The present location was built in 1927. It's magnificent sanctuary ceiling was patterned after the chapel of the Ducal Palace in Mantova, Italy. It seats 1,950 and is one of the most beautiful in Los Angeles.The 1980s brought to FBC a designation by the City of Los Angeles as Historic Cultural Monument No. 237 in 1981, and FBC hosted the Baptist World Alliance in 1986 where former president Jimmy Carter spoke.

     Part of the church is the Moore Prayer Chapel. It is a relatively small chapel with two beautiful stained glass windows each of which is 32" x 72" tall. The windows are predominantly blue being composed of various shades. The windows are etched and painted. The use of both hand blown glass and machine made cathedral glass is marvelous. Some of the glass is variegated (streaky clear and blue glass) with black painting in a flowing design. As often happens, the reason we were called is because of vandalism to the windows. Unfortunately both windows were broken in at the lower of two panels.

            
            

           Before Restoration                                                                   Completed Restoration                                                      

                                                                                                                  

     We were able to find exact replacement glass (Lambert antique for the hand blown, and Kokomo variegated for the cathedral). Our fabulous painter, Mary Orrell, did a fantastic job in replicating the original artists work, and both Alberto Marquez, and Armando Aleman performed their usual magic. I could not tell the restoration from the original, and yes the church was thrilled. Now we will be installing protective glazing on the exterior. This will be 1/4" clear tempered glass installed with circulation vents at the top and bottom to prevent any heat damage to the stained glass.

Custom Stained Glass Heart Windows

                         

   Who doesn't like hearts? Quite often we have long time customers that want to add a window or two to their home. Sometimes they have bought a new home and would like a special window for it.Here is another set of windows that we added to the sitting room of a wonderful long time customer. We installed a pair of identical, but smaller heart windows in the bedroom about 7 years ago, and she always wanted to finish the job with more in the sitting room. It turned out that the sitting room was the perfect place. We added the two heart windows by cutting out the mullions and then we replaced all the clear glass with double glue chip for privacy. Now she doesn't need the blinds that disrupted the room, and she has plenty of light.

     The blue glass is bullseye cathedral, red is hand blown Lambert antique, and we used  2" glue chip bevels as the border that we custom beveled for length. We also used 8 1" round faceted jewels around the hearts. She did a great job with the fabric drapery over the windows for a romantic effect.
   It's clients like these that make coming to the studio everyday so enjoyable. 

Nativity Of The Blessed Virgin Mary- Flagstaff, AZ- Stained Glass Restoration

  

The Nativity Of Our Blessed Virgin Mary is a Catholic church in Flagstaff, Arizona. The Church was finished in 1930, and largely built with the hands of the entire congregation. It is made of volcanic rock that was brought from the surrounding hills by truck and in some instances piece by piece. The church has 18 stained glass windows including the magnificent multi section triptych of "The Assumption of Mary" over the entrance.

The Assumption depicts Mary as she is raised into heaven by cherubs. The Apostles mourn her death. Some kneel by her stone sarcophagus while others look upward witnessing the glory of her Assumption. All of the stained glass windows in the church were created and installed by Jesse Earl Fink in late February, or early march of 1930. Mr. Fink worked in Los Angeles at American Glass Company. The American Glass company was responsible for many other commissions including churches in New York city, Phoenix Arizona, Shakey's Pizza Parlor, and Forrest Lawn Cemetery.

Assumption Window

     The church is in dire need of restoration. The concrete  structure has severe cracks and deterioration.The pink decorative concrete is severely decayed due to a volcanic contaminate in the original concrete mix (silica).  However, the concrete substructure and stonework appears to be sound. Some gargoyles are missing, cracked,  and or severely damaged, as are other decorative elements. The harsh winters have taken their toll of the magnificent church, yet it stands proud and firm like the pioneer families that erected her. Some years ago the Catholic church decided to move and build a larger church for it's going congregation. This left the Nativity to fend for itself. Funds have been nearly non-existent.  However, thanks to an extremely ambitious, persistent, resourceful, and courageous volunteer(she prefers to remain anonymous) work is moving along.

                               
      Three years ago I performed a survey of all the windows to determine the condition, and type of restoration needed to preserve the windows for future generations to enjoy. Portions of the Assumption window were the most vulnerable. In addition  the windows in the Sacristy had multiple breaks, and one had multiple pieces missing. We determined that the lower left transom of the assumption window be restored immediately as it was in dire danger of falling out. In the future when more funds were available we would work on the sacristy windows.

It took three years but last month we returned to Flagstaff to work on the sacristy windows. The sacristy windows had been dual glazed with protective acrylic. Unfortunately the acrylic was sandwiched against the stained glass leading to the advanced deterioration of the lead came. Two of the windows had multiple broken pieces, and one of the windows was heavily damaged. We repaired two of the windows, but had to bring one back to our Santa Monica studio to totally restore it. We were able to get a very good match on the amber glass using a Bullseye amber, however the olive green was much more challenging. After sending samples out to various manufactures( Wismach Glass Co., Kokomo Glass Co., Bullseye Glass) we settled on dual glazing a gray and olive green glass from Kokomo(many thanks to Cindy and Judy for their terrific customer service). The resulting color was indistinguishable from the original.

           
                                                                 

                                                                 Removing window note old acrylic                                           Here's Adamm               Removed window note prior repairs to solder breaks in lead came

 

                                                                                          Completed and installed window(on right)    Nice Job Wonder Woman!           
       
 Because of costs and timing we shipped the window back to Flagstaff for our noble volunteer to install. I must say she did a fantastic job with only a very short demonstration by myself while I was there. We arranged for a local glass company (Rock Glass) to install 3/8" tempered glass as protection over the two sets of windows. We made sure to leave  space for

breathing room top and bottom. The glass was set in aluminum channel with the bottom resting on the steel hinge of the frame. The sides were fastened to the concrete jamb. 

 

                                                                       

                                                                  Installing 3/8" tempered glass protective glazing              exterior glazing finished

If you would like to help with the restoration by donating funds you can get in touch at

http://www.savenativitybvm.com/

The Nativity Restoration Project

c/o The Babbitt Foundation

P.O Box 520

Flagstaff, AZ  86002

 

Michael Hopko- Master Marine Art Glass Artist

            

                             Multi Octopus                                                    Blue Turquoise Octopus

I was first introduced to Michael Hopko's work by a gallery customer.  She had purchased on of his octopus and  was fascinated by it. After checking out his work online I decided to get in touch with him and see about representing him in my gallery. I liked his work, especially his use of color, and the whimsy feeling his octopus invoked. At the time I had no idea how many of my customers would discover his work and fall in love with his little creatures. Representing Michael was one of the best decisions I have made. Soon after I observed is popularity I decided to expand my sele3ction. In addition to octopus, which he makes in three different sizes, he creates many salt water and fresh water fish. He also sculpts sea turtles, and tortoises.  We have had trout, salmon, sailfish, sharks, mahi mahi, tuna, and more.

 
                                                                                                                         Great White Shark

Michael is energized by all around him, especially family. He is inspired by nature and strives to perfection in his craft. He lives in the Trinity Alps, a subrange of the Klamath Mountains in Northern California. and is constantly reminded of nature, and her beauty. The same beauty he recreates nearly every day..

Michael Hopko began his journey as a glass artist in 1990 as an art student at Shasta College. After college, he worked as an apprentice glass blower with several different artists in California. Michael strives for quality in his work, and will not allow a piece of his art to leave his studio unless it meets his high standards of craftsmanship. He is constantly honing his craft. He plans on expanding his assortment of fish which will delight the collector as well as any outdoor enthusiast.

Michael's work is suitable for the home, or office, and makes a perfect gift.

You can always check them out in person at our gallery in Santa Monica.

Dowdy Opal Jewelry

    

 

  Joanne and Kevin Dowdy have been making opal jewelry since 1983. They became infatuated with opals when they were introduced to them in Australia. They were so enthusiastic that they bought an interest in a boulder opal mine in Queensland. The mine in the tiny outback town of Quilpie is so uninhabitable that the miners live underground because of the severe heat. Kevin spends about three months a year mining opals and brings them back to Tucson where he an Joanne create their magnificent jewelry. The opals were formed millions of years ago when liquid silica filled the voids in ironstone boulders. The opals are cut with the stone from the boulder. The stone gives the opal strength, and also adds to the deep color from the minerals that are present.

  

       In more recent years the Dowdys have begun using Ethiopian opals. The Ethiopian opals are amazingly vibrant and colorful. Truthfully there is no comparison between the boulder opals and the Ethiopian.

          

      The Dowdys use 22kt gold for the settings and 14k for the posts, fittings, and shanks. There workmanship is impecable. All the gold work is smooth and flawless, and their choice and cutting of the opals is top notch. If you, or someone you know is an opal lover Dowdy opals is a no brainer.

 

Dowdy Opal Jewelry is available at Adamm's Stained Glass & Gallery Santa Monica, CA 90401     adammsgqallery.com

Geoffrey Beetem Master Marble maker

    

             New Earth                   Ziggy Stardust Green                Submerso                   Double Rainbow

    

       Ziggy Stardust Fuscha         Ziggy Stardust Green        Ziggy Stardust Orange      Naked Cage Rainbow         

Geoffrey Beetem is considered by many to be the #1 glass marble maker in the United States. Like many glass artists Geoffrey began his journey in a stained glass window studio. His fascination with glass continued when in 1980 he was offered work at the Pilchuk Glass School in Washington State. While at Pilchuk working in the hot shop his eyes were opened to a constant flow of accomplished glass artist such as Billy Morris, Lino Tagliapiertra, Danta Marioni, Dan Daily, and Richard Royal. With such a strong influence he was off and running.

In 1986 he opened his own glass studio, and presented his work for sale at a variety of retail and wholesale craft shows. Geoffrey is never happy unless he can create new designs and color combinations. His marbles are true wonders in art, and amaze children as well as adult aficionados. His designs include rainbow, air traps, clam broth, nebulas, fillagrano, ribbon, new earth, ribbon, stardust, ziggy stardust, and more. In addition to his studio production Geoffrey likes to travel and offer a variety of marble making workshops.

If you like marbles Geoffrey Beetem is the name to remember.

 

Triple Pivot Casement Beveled a & Leaded Glass Windows

Beveled Glass Installation

 

      It has been about one year since one of our long time customers approached us about making a set of triple beveled glass casement windows with a center pivot on each. After much back and forth we finalized a relatively simple rectilinear beveled design.

The difficult part was installing the triple casement. Once again I enlisted the help of the best Handyman, and installer I know, Don Van Cura. Don is in my Networking group Wildfire Networking. I wouldn't do any difficult installation without him. I was able to find a perfect all brass, ball bearing, pivot hinge, from Architectual Resource Center  http://brasswindowhardware.com/and the installation of them appeared to be pretty straight forward.

 

                  window before

 

            We understood how the hinge worked, but it took some time before we agreed how to install them.  The owner of the company that sold the hinges didn't have any help with our particular type of installation. We didn't  have the option of removing the jamb to set the top hinge. We ended up removing the ball bearing on the top hinge, and that gave us the extra room for clearance, and didn't affect the ease of pivot since the weight was on the bottom bearing. We set the hinge into the sash. With the ball bearing hinge the pivot was very smooth.

     We first set the center sash,

                                                                                      cutting detail

  

              routing mortise                                  hinge set

and then trimmed the right sash as we needed. Finally we set the left sash. This was an interior set of windows. It was a divider between the master bath and bedroom.

                                                    mortise in sill

   

         bottom hinge set      mortising top hinge          Don with windows installed

 

     After we finished the installation the owner had the sash stained and finished. A very nice and interesting project.

                

                                 

  

Olive Parker- Montana Leather Designs

    

We represent a number of jewelers in the gallery, but none of them create anything  even close to Olive's work. I had heard of Olive from advertisements she had placed  in literature from wholesale craft shows. I was very interested in seeing her work in person. I attended the American Hand Crafted Show in Philadelphia this past February, and immediately found her. Her display was a real eye catcher. She brought a large assortment of her bracelets, and I was tempted to order all of them. Logic soon returned, and I made a more rational first order.

                                                                     

 

  Olive creates exquisite leather goods, in addition to her bracelets, but I stayed with the bracelets to start. Olive lives in Western Montana. Her bracelets have leather bands, ceramic, or enameled beads, and silver, brass, copper, or zinc clasps and accents. Each one is more beautiful than the next, and all are suitable for men or women. Her clasps are magnetic, which makes them very easy to put on, and are a very intelligent design. I loved all of them, and couldn't be happier with the selection.

David Lotton Art Glass Back At Adamm's Stained Glass & Gallery

     It had been three years since I attended the American Handcrafted Show in Philadelphia. Actually there has been a wholesale craft show there for about 30 years under various names. Originally, and running for about 25 years, was the "Buyers Market of American Craft". That show eventually moved on to Washington, D.C., and ACRE(American Craft Retailers Expo) took advantage of the opportunity and moved into the available dates. Just a few years laterr, the show was sold and became the American Handcrafted Show.

     The show takes place every year for 3-4 days around Valentines day. Not the most favorable time of year to be in Philadelphia. However, Philadelphia is a wonderful city with great museums, entertainment, sports, and especially food. In the past when the economy was booming, and the arts were very popular there were about 1600 artists of all crafts in attendance. The show has dwindled since those days, but has a had a slight resurgence in the past couple of years. This year 2019 there were nearly 500 artists, with many of the older established arts returning, and 30 new emerging arts joining them.

     I am always on the lookout for new artists for the gallery, and artists that are already in the gallery with new work. I had heard from a number of my regular artists that they would be returning. Most of the artists I represent have been in the gallery 20-nearly 40 years, and we are good friends. I love seeing them, going out to dinner, and catching up on their lives. We all have gone through many changes over the past 40 years. Of course my main objective is to bring in work for the gallery, and I was not disappointed in that regard.

     There were many artists to catch up with but I will start with David Lotton.             
                

Large Clematis mixed flower paperweight vase      Free form pulled vase      freeform heart and Vine Vase

                    
Leaf and Vine Sunset Bowl                  Clematis and Hollyhock Paperweight Vase         Organic Sculpture

David wasn't at the show, but his wife Kimberly was, and it was wonderful catching up with the family goings on. David is the son of Charles Lotton a very famous self taught glass blower, and one the the gallery favorites. His brother John was an exceptional glass blower, but decided to retire from glass and now is a home developer. David in addition to being a glass blower is also a farmer and rancher raising Black Angus cows, and growing all kinds of grain. Much of David's work is the same or similar to what he has been producing for many years, and it i still beautiful. I did pick up many of that style, and some new interesting, and more playful art.

    I'll be covering more of the artists and work arriving in the gallery in future blogs.

I hope you enjoy this one.

Restoring Stained Glass Windows at Pilgrim Lutheran Church, Santa Monica, CA

           
          J.S.Bach Window before                           J.S. Bach After Restoration  

              

              Door Stained Glass                      Martin Luther Window

Having been located in Santa Monica, CA.  since 1978, and locally since 1972, we have been called upon to restore the stained glass of many local churches, and synagogues. We have worked for Pilgrim Lutheran for over 30 years, mostly doing repairs. Now we have begun a more in depth restoration. We are also updating, and adding to the current protective exterior glazing.

     The current home of Pilgrim Lutheran Church was dedicated in 1953. The more than 50 stained glass windows were hand crafted in Belgium. All the glass is hand blown "antique" glass, whose natural imperfections add to their dazzling beauty. The windows illustrate Biblical scenes, and the life of Christ.

     The church sits on the corner of 18th street and Wilshire Blvd. and gets a considerable amount of foot traffic. For this reason protective acrylic was added to the exterior in the 1970's. Over time the acrylic has hazed and discolored. We are currently replacing the acrylic with 1/4" tempered glass, and adding tempered glass protection to all the windows facing 18th St. We are also repairing, and restoring many of the windows that have suffered damage over the years from vandals, athletics(the church is also hoime to a school), and heat.

     Since the glass is European hand blown glass we have so far been able to get exact matches using Lambert German antique glass available through Bendheim Glass, in New Jersey. Our expert glass painter Mary Orrell, has been exceptional in her restoration abilities, and has provided a flawless recreation of the original pieces. In addition glaziers Alberto Marquez, and Armando Aleman have been doing an impeccable job with the removing, restoration, and installation of the windows. Indeed the Pastor and members of the congregation couldn't be happier. I must also add that they are a true pleasure to work for.

    Check back throughout the year for updates on this project.