Back at it! After back to back weekends of holiday shows and making of all sorts of gift items, I am digging back into this commission of a stained glass family tree. My client saw a photo of one I had created a number of years ago and reached out for a custom gift honoring his mom on her 70th birthday. The first step in the process is making the 2-D stained glass tree and sky which measures about 24” x 36” and will be set into a oak frame. Once the tree is complete, I will create glass leaves that have a wire stem fused in and I will paint family members’ names on them. Since his mom is one of 8 siblings, the names on the leaves will be doubled up occasionally for some married couples and siblings; it’s a dense tree! The wire stems of the leaves will be soldered to the branches so they will actually hang off the tree. I really love creating meaningful artistic gifts like this because I know they will be cherished by the receiver and are a joy for the giver as well. As you can see from the drawing, there’s a long way to go with lots of tiny, twisty branches and not to mention all those leaves! But I know how happy his mom will be when she receives this— onward I go.