LUDLOW, Vt. – Peter LaBelle of Cavendish recently spoke about stained glass art to the Ludlow Rotary Club at its weekly luncheon meeting.
LaBelle described the process of creating a design for a stained glass project and the actual process of cutting the glass and piecing it together. He also discussed the ecclesiastical form of stained glass art as exemplified in church windows.
The process begins with a drawn concept of the object to be made, followed by the process of acquiring the specially treated and colored glass. The next step involves the very tedious work of cutting the various glass pieces in the design. This particular phase, according to LaBelle, requires “the utmost patience and a good supply of Band-Aids.” The cut pieces then need to have their edges smoothed and wrapped in thin lead, which is soldered and gradually assembled into the full design of the project.
LaBelle has created a large number of stained glass pieces. Examples include the restoration of the Episcopal Church windows damaged by Irene in Proctorsville, the logo for Murdock’s Restaurant, and numerous floral designs.
He gave each of the Rotarians at the meeting a sample piece of a rose blossom stained glass so they could see the actual sequence from concept to finish product.