Stained Glass Window Done!!

Dave emailed me a photo of the completed stained glass window today - SPECTACULAR!!

It will definitely be the crown jewel of the house.  The window has three panes - a center pane that holds the chambered nautilus, which is also the sacred geometry spiral.  The nautilus is flanked on each end by a lotus flower.  Here's a bit of background on the symbols:

Sacred geometry is the geometry used in the planning and construction of religious structures such as churches, temples, mosques, religious monuments, altars, tabernacles; as well as for sacred spaces such as sacred groves, village greens, holy wells (and tiny houses!) and the creation of religious art. In sacred geometry, symbolic and sacred meanings are ascribed to certain geometric shapes and certain geometric proportions. 

In the ancient world certain numbers had symbolic meaning, aside from their ordinary use for counting or calculating; plane figures, the polygons, triangles, squares, hexagons, and so forth, were related to the numbers (three and the triangle, for example), were thought of in a similar way, and in fact, carried even more emotional value than the numbers themselves, because they were visual.

The study of sacred geometry has its roots in the study of nature, and the mathematical principles at work therein.  Many forms observed in nature can be related to geometry, for example, the chambered nautilus grows at a constant rate and so its shell forms a logarithmic spiral to accommodate that growth without changing shape. Also, honeybees construct hexagonal cells to hold their honey. These and other correspondences are seen by believers in sacred geometry to be further proof of the cosmic significance of geometric forms. 

The belief that God created the universe according to a geometric plan has ancient origins. Geometric ratios, and geometric figures were often employed in the design of Egyptian, ancient Indian, Greek, and Roman architecture. Medieval European cathedrals also incorporated symbolic geometry. Indian and Himalayan spiritual communities often constructed temples and fortifications on design plans of mandala and yantra. 

Many of the sacred geometry principles of the human body and of ancient architecture have been compiled into the Vitruvian Man drawing by Leonardo da Vinci, itself based on the much older writings of the roman architect Vitruvius.  Source:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacred_geometry

And a bit about the lotus flower: 

Anybody who has ever observed a lotus flower emerging from a murky pond cannot fail to see the beauty of this exquisite plant.  The flower always looks so clean and pure against the background of the dirty pond. Because of this the lotus flower has come to be associated with purity and beauty.

This plant is known to be associated with rebirth. This is a consequence of it retracting into the water at the night, and emerging a fresh in the Sun the next day.  Therefore the lotus came to symbolize the Sun and the creation. The lotus is known to be associated with purity, spiritual awakening and faithfulness. In some religions it is also associated with beauty, fertility, prosperity, spirituality, and eternity.  Source:  http://www.lotusflowermeaning.net/  

We are getting it over to Omni Window to be installed into the window frame, and then we will install it in the loft!  What a beautiful thing to see every morning when I open my eyes.

Stained Glass Loft Window Update

My next post was going to be about the roof installation, but then I did a 4 p.m. dash up to Addison today to meet with Dave Kittrell at Kittrell/Riffkind Art Glass about my loft window - and now I have to write about that first!  I've been trying to get to Addison to see him for over a week and I just couldn't get there.  They close at 6 on Saturdays and I made it into the studio a shade before 5.  As turned out, it was just the right amount of time.

I LOVE going to meet with him.  To begin with, the gallery there is full of beautiful glass pieces.  Things that hang and catch the sun, jewelry, art pieces, glassware... if it's made from glass, they have it.  I always look longingly at items on the way out the door. Secondly, watching the way his mind works it's so obvious that he's doing what he loves, and that he's spectacularly good at it.  And he's just a nice guy.

I've written one other post about the loft window.  You can read it here.

I had narrowed my design to two figures:

The Sacred Geometry Spiral

Seed of Life - Artwork Credit Judith Shaw

I had printed several copies of them and had colored them with pencils to see what color palette I liked.  Verdict?  I can still color within the lines, but I'm not a very artsy person; I wasn't particularly whipped on any of the color combinations I'd come up with.  As per normal, I can immediately recognize what I don't like, but I have difficulty identifying what I do like.

After a bit of discussion, David and I decided on the spiral design.  He pulled out my file to review the measurements of the glass opening in the window, and drew the daylight opening on some parchment paper:

He also brought out a crate of pieces of glass that were my color palette and spread them out on the table.

Then we started laying out the design.  We started with one spiral, then added a second one.  Then he turned the second one upside down and backwards and it created sort of a yin and yang type of design.  Then he played around with overlapping the outside curve, and separating them.

That was sort of a cool look.  We tried turning the overlap in the center of the top one into a lotus flower, but the two styles were too disparate and they didn't go well together.

Then he went back to just having one spiral in the middle.  He made the remaining space on the ends of the page into separate panels, and drew a lotus in each one.  To see which way it looked better, he faced one in towards the middle, and one facing out towards the end.

 It's a bit difficult to see - and there is an extra swoopy line going through the middle.  On the left end, the lotus faces out.  On the right end the lotus faces inward.  We decided we liked the lotus facing out the best.

Then we played around with the color palette.

Some colors I nixed - like he had a mauve in there, and I am still traumatized from mauve in the 80's so it had to go.  The initial green was too kelly green for me, so we softened with with more of a shade of sage.

Then we had to decide what color the lotus petals would be - we decided on white.  With a turquoise patterned design around it.  Here is our final color palette:

The two colors on the far right are for the lotus panels.  How the rest of the colors are placed is totally up to him - I am so grateful those are his decisions because I don't have an eye for that type of thing at all.  And I know whatever he does is going to be gorgeous.  I can't WAIT to see it!  It's so exciting to be getting past the basic construction components and to be thinking about personalizing the house.  

The Loft Window

Saturday I took a chance and sent an email to David Kittrell my friend and stained glass expert at Kittrell Riffkind Art Glass Studio to see if he was available on short notice to meet with me about my loft window.  Much to my glee, he had a bit of time for me.  Up the tollway I zipped...

http://www.kittrellriffkind.com/

Their lobby gallery is amazing... I always walk through it, just amazed at people's talent.

After I had availed myself of all of the eye candy around the gallery, I wandered back to the studio:

David was teaching a class - I think it was glass beads...

Imagination is your only limit - it's dreamy.  Two years ago I had plans to take classes here - I had my dad's stained glass instruction books and a few of his tools, and I wanted to learn how to do it.  I never quite got around to it - I had one lesson from a friend in his basement - and then life changed and I sold my house... and now I don't have a work space to do it in.  But maybe someday.  I find it fascinating.

David finished up his class and found me walking down the glass aisle, taking in all of the options.  As a lay person, all the choices make my eyes cross.  And they are all so beautiful.  I showed him my construction plans, and the window dimensions, and a few stained glass "likes" and "dislikes" from my loft window Pinterest page.  

After some discussion, he penned this initial sketch:

David has such phenomenal, original ideas for things -- so many that they are practically falling out of his pockets when we walks - and he throws them out seemingly effortlessly.  I follow him around, writing them down.  This sketch also anticipates stained glass front porch lights, and possibly a small stained glass speakeasy in the front door.  He wants to carry a similar design through all three applications.

We had quite an animated conversation about the loft window, beginning with size.  I explained that I would like to be able to count the loft window as an emergency (fire) egress window.  David smirked and said he had an image of two construction guys, each with a framing square, holding them up around my hips.  I laughed and said that the window will double as a weight control measure  - my life may depend on maintaining my current size or smaller...

Then there was discussion about how the window would open - awning style hinged at the top and it swings out from the bottom?  Or hinged at the bottom and the top drops down and away from the house.  David said if I have it fold down, then I'd have a little table outside my window for a candle. (Who thinks of things like that??)  I said if it flipped up I could peer down at the walk going up to my front door...  Anyway, the entire conversation was pretty hilarious - his staff was watching and listening - and jumping in themselves - with mock horror.  Ohhhhhhh, it was fun.

For colors, I showed him photos of the stained glass pieces I already own, and then a picture I found of one that I really love, that incorporates all of the colors in one place. 

Here are the same colors combined again in a much different style:

So moving ahead, my assignments are:

1)  Get myself measured to determine window size (not really looking forward to that for obvious reasons.)  In lieu of two framing squares, I envision finding small openings to try to crawl through, and then measuring them.  Must I go to Chuck E Cheese's or a McDonald's playground?  Perhaps a canine agility course??)

2)  Order an awning style window and get it to David;

3)  Think more definitively about colors; what possessions do I have in colors I love?  I reminded him that I have sold most of my possessions, but said that my current toothbrush is orange...)

4)  Think of a design piece, or a symbol to work the design around.  (I told him this window IS the design piece...)

5) Start thinking about porch lights...

By the time I left, I was positively beaming.  It's so exciting to be planning the details that reflect personality.  I hugged David when I left, thanking him, and telling him how excited I am  He said he was excited too -- or couldn't I tell??  He says this is his pet tiny house project.  Love.

David Kittrell

You can read my first post about David here.

Blog Name Origin

I call this blog "A Bed Over my Head" because when I am in my tiny house, my bed will be in a loft.  I can't take credit for the cleverness, though.   I give credit to David Kittrell of Kittrell Riffkind Art Glass (http://www.kittrellriffkind.com/) who came up with the catchy phrase and gave me permission to use it.

We were chatting about junior high shop class (he was a teacher) and power tools, and my plans to live small, and he followed up with an email.  I loved the phrase so much that I asked to use it.

He also says he will craft the stained glass window for my sleeping loft for me - won't that be beautiful?!

Anyway, thank you David!