Custom Projects

In the past few years a growing number of customers have approached me to create a custom project in my Random Pieces Glassworks style.  These projects have all been great fun for both myself as the creator and for the client, who works with me to design the piece. It has become a very collaborative process which involves the client at all stages.

Check out the detailed description of the creation of the Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha window.

Even if the customers are “from away” and is not able to come to the studio, they are very much a part of the process, through the modern wonders of digital photography and E-mail.

On this page you will see samples of the work and photos of the steps in the process.

Random Pieces Custom Art is not just a finished product, it is a process of bringing your ideas to life. You will work directly with the artist, to have your ideas expressed through our glass art. Each piece starts with your choice of a window to reflect the shape and size of the art piece you would like to have created for you.  Sometimes that design idea dictates the style of the window and sometimes the location where the art will be displayed, necessitates a window size. For example, a pictorial landscape of PEI, may need to be created in a wide and short window, whereas an abstract many be created in a window that must fit the space in a transom which is only 9” X 25”.  And to make things more interesting, sometimes, you have your own window, say from your grandmother’s house, and you would like something special created in it.

Once we have the window, (and it is cleaned and repaired as needed) design work begins on the project. This stage is very interactive.  Whenever possible you will come to the studio and meet with me to discuss your design ideas and to help with the selection of the glass to be used in the project. When you can’t come here yourself, we do this stage via E-mail messages and photos.  Sometimes, you will have a photo, from which I can work, or sometimes, you have the idea, and then I can find photos. In some cases, I interpret your ideas and sketch them right on the window while you are here in the studio.  Whatever the method, at the end of this stage we will have a window, with a design drawn on it, and a selection of glass colours and styles selected for use.

I then set to work to create a mockup of the window. I cut, polish and layout the glass pieces on the window, sometimes in several different options, and then I photograph the options.  The options could be; with or without cut glass background; with or without glass bobbles; with or without an added component (ie a dragonfly, or little lady bug); or anything that I feel might enhance the work.  I then send photos of the options to you and get your feedback. The feedback could be anything …“add more red” … “I really don’t like dragonflies” … “ I love the one with the textured background” … “Can we add a barn in the background?” The mockup is then revised and photos sent again, for another review. Once this process is complete and you are happy with the design, everything is finalized, glued in place, and the window project completed.

Staff from UPEI contacted me with a request to create a gift for a special lecturer, and I created “Red Cliffs of Home”.

A client arrives with a request for a window to fit a specific space, and together we select a photograph of flowers in my garden for the design.

A couple arrives in the studio with four photos of the harbour beside their cottage, and the process starts ....

A Real Life Example

Step 1

An E-mail arrives ... with a request to have a custom Random Pieces creation with a design based on a “colourful clothesline”. A specific location in the client’s home dictates the maximum height of the window.

Step 2

An E-mail reply ... with all the information about the process, the design, the estimate for time and costs ... and photos of the current selection of windows which are approximately the size requested. The client is given the option to have any of these windows “as is” or “freshened up” with a coat of white paint.

Step 3

An E-mail arrives ... and the client selects the middle (blue) window and opts to keep it in the original condition and not paint it white.

Step 4

An E-mail reply ... With the window selected, I now proceed to create several options for the design and draw the designs on the back of the window, photograph the options and send them to the customer for feedback and selection of the preferred option.

Step 5

An E-mail arrives ... and the client selects the second design with the two trees, and she provides input into the bold colours to be used in the design.

The Design then takes shape and I cut all  the Glass-on-Glass components, lay them in place and then send another photo for feedback.  Several E-mails are exchanged to get everything just right, and then

An E-mail reply ... with two photos, is sent with the two options for the background design ... one with a clear background and one with the “random pieces” background.

Step 6

An E-mail arrives ... and the client selects the second design with the ”random pieces” background and gives the final “go-ahead for completion of the project.

As the last stage, I then glue everything down, clean the window, add hanging hooks and sign the finished work.

We then arrange for delivery.

Debbie D ... “ I just Love it !!! “

A client brings a door panel from her cottage kitchen and the idea for a tropical design ....