Gillian Thompson Glass

2012-02-04T10:07:00.000-08:00

A recent project, laid out on the light table.

2012-02-04T10:05:00.000-08:00

Two Sunrises!

2012-02-04T09:58:00.000-08:00

A little doodling with vitreous paints.
These were then fired to 1250 degrees F

2011-11-17T16:24:00.000-08:00

Secrets for ARTWORKS takes place Friday November 18 5-9 pm this year in the Mercantile Building
Always a great party and great fundraiser!

2011-07-07T04:50:00.000-07:00

A rare view

2011-07-07T04:42:00.000-07:00

Half of an entry way set, sidelight and door panel.
Beveled glass with Restoration glass and faceted jewels.

2011-07-07T04:41:00.000-07:00

Poppies!

2010-12-30T08:01:00.000-08:00

These panels were salvaged from a chapel fire in Michigan
by a parishioners family. they had quite a bit of work done on them as you can imagine. After being in a kitchen out west they now are here in Cincinnati. The panel on the left has been tightened up, cleaned. Visually and structurally better reinforcement bars have been installed on the reverse as this will be for a interior application into wood frames. The panel on the right is still dull and in need of TLC.

2010-12-30T07:39:00.000-08:00

A really great oversize beveled door panel.
I had my trusty bevel fabricator duplicate 3 of the delicately curved 'tulip' petal shapes at the top of the panel using new old stock glass. This door had a bit of an history associated with it. Apparently sometime back in the 1970's it had been stolen from its home and fortunately was recovered! It had been worked on quite a bit and had damage which was more than simple age.
As I have written before, door panels are typically made of zinc cane which does have a tendency to rot out after 70-80 years, weakening the structural integrity of the panel. Once this one is cleaned up a bit and has its steel reinforcement bars put on it will be ready for for the next 70.

2010-09-23T05:39:00.000-07:00

I love the quiet and elegant quality of the glass in these cabinet door panels.
( Yes it is a clear glass on an old wood table. I just love the reflection of light on the glass.)

2010-09-23T05:34:00.000-07:00

A custom recipe grout is applied to weatherproof the panel, than it is cleaned up, the metal patinated dark and buffed.

2010-08-26T08:29:00.000-07:00

I lay the glass out on my working pattern, known as a cartoon drawing, and check the colors in the light to make any needed adjustments before I build.
The clear faceted glass border gets a little lost on the white paper but
will have a nice arts and crafts structure to it once it is leaded up.

2010-07-18T10:32:00.000-07:00

From time to time I go on a little contemporary kick.
I have some exotic Fischer glass, (the spotted bits)
the rest is composed primarily of Lamberts Opak glasses.

2010-05-06T12:50:00.000-07:00

One of a pair of Arts and Craft style panels which I designed and fabricated for a New York residence.

2010-05-06T12:37:00.000-07:00

A new transom window I am working on, as well as one which has inspired it

2010-04-04T19:50:00.000-07:00

A selection of rondels from Germany, West Virginia and Ohio

2010-03-25T06:55:00.000-07:00

This Saturday I will be touching on restoring residential stained glass windows in a presentation titled: Wood Window Restoration Workshop, which has been put together by Ken Hughes of Decorative Restorations. It takes place at the Westwood branch of the Hamilton county public library between 10:00 and 1:00. It is sure to be fun and informative.

2010-03-03T07:01:00.002-08:00

I enjoy the use of rondels in stained glass, they add just a little touch of textural interest. There are a few companies manufacturing them, Of course by that I mean Hand blown by skilled artisians
they begin with a molton ball of glass blow a bubble, transfer this on to another long steel pipe called a punty shape the mass into a bowl and begin to spin the whole thing very quickly and smoothly using centrifigal force to flare it out to a disk. It is fun and dramatic especially with the larger sizes. They typicaly range in size between 2" and 18"
A couple of glassblowers I know are able to make custom designed one with various textures and inclusions.

2010-03-03T06:51:00.000-08:00

2009-12-30T06:57:00.000-08:00

After a hundred years this beveled glass door panel needed the old rotten zinc replaced.
Now it is much sturdier and ready to survive for a bit longer.

2009-12-30T06:42:00.000-08:00

As the year draws to a close, here are a few fall projects I worked on

I like taking a panel from a sad condition to a sound one. Its fun to fix things!

2009-06-22T14:54:00.000-07:00

very fun panels of fantastic glasses and colorful jewels

2009-06-22T14:45:00.000-07:00

The final step before installation, buffing the glass to be free of smudges. It is quite time consuming! I like to use a soft cloth for this.

2009-06-05T06:04:00.000-07:00

A new lovely panel for a bath.

2009-06-05T06:01:00.000-07:00

2009-05-01T21:23:00.000-07:00

2009-04-10T08:12:00.000-07:00

Currently I am working on a set of panels for Llanfair Retirement Community.
the designs are based upon the Tree Of Life and The Parting Of the Sea. These are 2 of 6
They are to be installed into light boxes in their new chapel under construction.

2009-04-04T05:58:00.000-07:00

2009-03-09T17:27:00.000-07:00

2009-03-03T06:23:00.000-08:00

Just built these for a home in Clifton Gaslight area

2009-03-03T06:20:00.000-08:00

Other news, A new company truck! (new to me.)

2009-03-03T06:13:00.000-08:00

I am just finishing up a rather large scale project fabricating for Kessler Studio in Loveland. It will be installed at an Salvation Army chapel in Ashland Kentucky. Cindy Kessler designsthe windows and uses wonderful handblown Lamberts glass fom Germany. She travels there to select the glass she likes and they work with her to custom make colors as well.

2009-02-21T06:09:00.000-08:00

I am going to bring this poor thing back to life, good design warm colors

2009-01-28T11:18:00.000-08:00

It has been forever since I posted, Here are a few recents. These panels are for an old Mullioned door which the owner had refinished. lots of sparkle with the different textured clear glasses

2008-12-19T07:39:00.000-08:00

The light play of bevel and sunlight

2008-12-11T19:33:00.000-08:00

Beginning to get in the Holiday Spirit. Right now I am working on a tremendous set of arch windows.

No prohibitions during basement renovation | Cincinnati Enquirer | Cincinnati.Com

2008-12-01T08:12:00.001-08:00

No prohibitions during basement renovation | Cincinnati Enquirer | Cincinnati.Com

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This was a really fun project I worked on last winter.

2008-11-26T04:28:00.000-08:00

A Lovely vintage style panel for a custom built bar

2008-11-17T09:37:00.001-08:00

A few little projects this past week, 2 door panel rebuilds and an Art show

2008-11-07T05:35:00.000-08:00

2008-11-07T04:52:00.000-08:00

This past weekend I exhibited at beautiful Laural Court. It reminded me a bit of Dunbarton Oaks by way of the midwest. The story is a famous NYC architect designed it for his Aunt here in Cincinnati. I had heard about the retractable glass roof on the central courtyard. Pretty fantastic, the whole enormous this slides forward on railway rails. Of course the whole thing is HAND cranked and takes the better part of a day to move. It is reminiscent of an Italian courtyard in the middle of the home. from what I understand the brick walls of the court yard are hand carved lava rock which collects heat during the day and radiates it through out the night which is helpful during our winters.

2008-10-26T09:50:00.000-07:00

Next month I will participate in the Indian Hill Art Show, this year it will occur on the 14th and 15th of November, sure to be exciting. Here is a new panel in the works for the exhibition. It has some really great glass in it, the background is a clear handblown reamy glass from the Fremont glassblower(s)in Washington state. Foliage and flowers are from a variety of exotic and expierimental glasses that I have picked up here and there.To be leaded of course.

2008-10-26T09:43:00.000-07:00

I thought perhaps I would post a few photos of things that inspire. A few pieces that I have done in the past as well.

2008-10-26T08:41:00.000-07:00

Fall does tend to be Repair Season as you can see!

2008-10-26T08:27:00.000-07:00

I love to bring objects back to life... This window had been out by a garage for quite some time, most of the border was damaged, corners smashed and various other cracked pieces. I replaced a few pieces here and there reworked the border and did a general tightening up and regrouting. Now it is ready for a new wood frame to be hung as a interior decorative piece.

2008-10-04T18:03:00.001-07:00

Friday,I installed a bevel door repair,along with a lovely old transom both panel had a few damaged pieces which I replaced , tightened up the metal and regrouted.I love how well they turn out

2008-09-27T13:10:00.000-07:00

Installed two windows yesterday. A Thank You goes out to Jay and Misty, enjoy.

2008-09-27T13:00:00.000-07:00

2008-09-18T08:29:00.000-07:00

Cindy gave us a tour of the factory, they had replaced a color pot that morning so we checked that out!

The fantastic pot warming ovens!

Gorgeous glass, they must have called me the day they were made! Lot of granite cats paw texture which catches the light with such sparkle.Perfect fall season colors, rich ambers, red-violet purple- brown mix. I managed to get to the bottom of my ripple glass supply problem. The glass textures are created by enormous carved steel rolling pins. They wear out after 5-7 years and cost ~20-30,000. (if I remember correctly) . However this time around it appears the design was lost in translation so it looks like I have to wait a few more years for tight ripple glass to be made again. Unfortunately many of the older windows in this area have it as a background or boarder so my little stash becomes precious for repairs.

2008-09-18T08:19:00.000-07:00

2008-09-16T05:32:00.000-07:00

Today we are off to Kokomo Indiana ,home to one of the oldest operating art glass manufacturers in the united states. I love to watch the glass makers at work, carrying absurdly heavy steel ladles of molten glass across the floor to an ancient Victorian beast of a rolling machine. It is especially fun when they are making multi-color sheets of glass, for they use big wooden chopsticks to loosely swirl up the colors. They have glass workers from all over come to work there however knowing that hot glass workers tend to be a mercenary group I can't say how long they stay. There are few old-timers who have been doing this hot dangerous work for decades. My favorite glasses are stuck together in a dark drafty old barn with something like one or two fluorescent tubes choosing glass can be a bit of a challenge. I have learned that even though it is quite atmospheric winter is not the greatest time to visit.