Merrimack Valley Life

ART OF HAVERHILL

Glenda Gilleran pieces together a world of color


The artist in her home studio surrounded by the many tools of her trade. Courtesy photosburnt.”

The artist in her home studio surrounded by the many tools of her trade. Courtesy photosburnt.”

Jigsaw puzzles have become quite popular recently. Some people will never appreci­ate the concept of dismantling a perfectly good image and tediously piecing it back together again only to then rip it apart. For many, however, the process of put­ting together a puzzle is calming, satisfy­ing and fun. But what if the puzzle pieces were made of delicate shards of glass, and piecing them together involved drops of hot lead? For stained-glass artist Glenda Gilleran, the process is still calming, sat­isfying and fun—and the occasional cuts and burns are all part of the deal.

Gilleran, a Haverhill resident, fell in love with stained glass when she took a class at Northern Essex Community Col­lege years ago. “I had always been drawn to stained glass,” she says, “but after that first class I was 100% in love with it. I just couldn’t get enough. I immediately went out and bought the necessary basic tools. I knew I wanted to do this.”

Given the opportunity to rent studio space at the college, Gilleran was able to learn while being around other artists. “There is such great energy when artists are working collectively,” she says.

Whimsical dresses hang on their own tiny hangers.

Whimsical dresses hang on their own tiny hangers.

Gilleran bought more sophisticated tools as she continued to hone her skills, but as is the case for so many, life got in the way of any serious artistic pursuit. With a career at an accounting firm and, more importantly, a years-long battle with serious medical issues, she found little time or energy for glass work. “Also, working with glass is messy,” she adds. “For years I lived in a condo, and there were bits of glass to clean up constantly. You need good ventilation, a work space with running water, a decent amount of room—and lots of Band-Aids.”

Now living in a larger home and “feel­ing good these days,” Gilleran has been immersing herself in her stained-glass art. With a studio in her basement, she can now spread out and work efficiently, expertly piecing together her little glass puzzles whenever she has the time or cre­ative urge.

This peacock piece has been a work in progress for several years.

This peacock piece has been a work in progress for several years.

Gilleran uses the copper-foil method, which dates to the late 19th century and is often associated with Tiffany. This tech­nique was developed to accommodate the curves of pieces such as art nouveau lampshades that were made of hundreds of minuscule pieces of glass. Unlike the method used for centuries using wide lead soldered only at the intersections of giant flat window glass, the delicately thin copper foil application allows artists to create strong bonds all along the edges of the tiny glass pieces.

The artist walks us through the pro­cess. First, she creates a pattern. “I am inspired by everything,” she says. “I like funky. And I try to appeal to a variety of people, but in the end, I make pieces that I like.” Gilleran creates the designs free- hand on paper, although she also some­times buys patterns that she finds online.

Next, she numbers the pattern piec­es and cuts them out, arranging them on the colored sheets of glass that cor­respond to the design. After tracing the pattern pieces with a paint marker, she cuts them with a glass cutter. “When you start out in this craft, your first instinct is to keep waste at a minimum by placing the pattern pieces close together,” Gille­ran says. “But that makes them almost impossible to cut, so you have to just ac­cept that there will be glass wasted.”

 

 

She positions the glass pieces back onto the pattern to be sure that they fit correctly before grinding any sharp edges with an electric diamond-based grinding wheel. This prepares the edges for the “tedious” step of applying the copper foil, a very thin tape that she runs along the edges and must overlap evenly on each side of the glass.

Using a soldering gun, Gilleran then applies the lead-based solder. “Along with the inevitable cuts from handling sharp glass, the other hazard is the hot solder, which can drip onto you,” she warns. “Still, I get cut more than I get

The finishing steps include clean­ing and waxing the pieces “to create a nice patina.”

Gilleran’s stained glass is rich, colorful and often intricate. “Years ago, I fell in love with a design of a peacock and began working on it, not realizing how much work would be involved in individually wrapping each of the 500 pieces,” she laughs. “I keep going back to it, but I am still only about three-quarters of the way done.”

These days, she has been selling her wares at craft shows, and the response has been positive. A recent project in­volving making a series of white feathers with tags that read, “Angels appear when feathers are near.” “People lost so many loved ones during COVID, and I thought that these might bring a little comfort,” Gilleran says.

At a recent show, a woman bought all of the feathers for a support group for mothers who have lost a child. Gilleran has since been creating the feathers in a variety of colors with tags that read, “Spe­cial signs from up above to show you just how much you’re loved.” “Because,” says Gilleran, “sometimes someone just needs that.”

To view more of Gilleran’s work, visit GGsStudioDesigns.com or the GG’s Stu­dio Designs Facebook page.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *