Stained Glass Finished!!!

Yes, it's finished and hanging in our front window, at least for the next eleven days. Keith hung it last night after dark with the help of our neighbor, Luke Martin. We admired it as best we could, with Keith shining a work light from the porch through the window, but even our 60-watt porch light made the window look softy beautiful.

But this morning, WOW! Seeing the window in the morning light was REALLY something. As the light changes throughout the day, the window is changing subtly as well. It will be at its brightest in the last afternoon when the sun streams through the west-facing window. The photo above was taken this morning, so the window is not at its absolute best; that photo will wait until we've had our Open House on Saturday and let our family and friends see the window before it's installed at the Ademas' home. All of our friends and family in the San Diego area are welcome to come to the Open House from 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM this Saturday, September 20 -- please bring along a finger food to share. On Saturday, September 27th at 5:00 PM, the Ademas are hosting a more formal unveiling of the window for their friends and for MECAC, the Mountain Empire Creative Arts Council as well as all back country residents who RSVP through me. The Ademas will be serving wine and hors d'oeuvres and will feature a cellist, singer, and other musicians; semi-formal evening attire will be appropriate. I can't wait to see the window in its permanent home.

On the 26th Keith and our neighbor Scott Oliver will very, very, very carefully transport it to Dr. Don and Marcia's home in Descanso, about five miles away. Keith is planning a way to move the oh-so-delicate window in a manner that I call, to his chagrin, "Operation Chalupa." He will wrap the window vertically in a "taco" of foam padding, then kinda suspend it in another "taco" so the "taco" won't actually touch the bed of the truck as it's driven over rough road (yes, the last bit of the trip is on a "washboard" dirt road, one of the worst possible situations) and up the mountain. And yes, he'll be praying the entire way. (I'll lead the prayers at home.) Keith even said that if he could safely WALK it to the Ademas' on some sort of cart rather than driving it, he would....

But it's finished, and we get to enjoy the fruit of nearly a year of work for eleven days. And the boys have been warned to not even THINK of playing in that part of the living room. So, if you live nearby and can't make it to either of the stained glass window showings, give us a call and we'll invite you over to see it anytime we're home over the next eleven days. Here are a few stats:

-- Approximately 1532 pieces

-- Approximately 500 hours of glass work (does not count design time)

-- Keith cut the first piece of glass on February 15 -- 30 weeks of work, evenings and weekends

-- The window weighs about 50 pounds, and the metal frame probably another 50 pounds

-- The smallest piece is *half* the size of the top of a pencil eraser

-- Keith used mostly the copper foil technique, plus some zinc caming in the border

-- He used about 500 feet of copper foil