Dalle de Verre

Dalle de Verre simply means “glass slab” and I take slabs of glass over an inch thick from the Kokomo Opalescent Glass factory and cut them into mosaic shapes. Once cut into their basic shape, I use a carbide chisel to “facet” the glass, chipping away the back of the slab carefully, so that when sunlight hits the glass, it refracts and in full sun the intense colors look like gemstones. These windows were made for the chapel at La Palmilla Gardens in Nemo, Texas.

The Alpha and Omega windows were made into quatrefoil shaped frames, and I used Kokomo slab glass. The actual Alpha and Omega are in black, because as my patron’s daughter said, “God was here before the creation of light.” So they are in black, surrounded with a small red ribbon for the blood of Jesus.

Installing the Omega window into the framework.

Installing the 24 elders around the central cross window. The central window has some elements from Revelation chapter 4; the green rainbow, and red surrounding the throne. But I felt unable to describe the Lord on the throne in chunks of glass, and so I made a large cross, and also added some yucca or agave leaves to blend with the style of LaPalmilla.

Then around the throne, I made 24 elders with their faces down and their crowns cast down to the ground before them, and between them I was able to add some Holy Spirit doves of fire, and lily’s on the backs of the 24 elders. I think the 24 elders may represent everyone that has ever preached the Gospel on the earth, worshipping the Lamb of God in heaven.

The main theme of the chapel is the Glory coming down and crowns on the ground. Crowns of every earthly kingdom cast to the ground under the Glory streams.

This is the sort of mess you have building these windows, cutting and faceting thousands of pieces of thick slab glass and placing them into a mosaic pattern.

The central rose window.

After making all the chapel windows, we had no pews yet, so then I set about carving 30 heavy pews out of cedar and staining them black to look somewhat like pews from a chapel in Mexico, as the client requested.

The windows match John Pastusek’s design for the Glory rays coming down at the precise angle from the central rose window. In every window there are two or three crowns at the bottom of the window, cast down in worship of Jesus. As John had requested.

The outside of the chapel.

There are also windows in the cantina that look like a landscape.

God does take broken and shattered lives and glows through them in a beautiful way to tell a story of His Glory. Let your light shine!

Gathering slabs of glass at the Kokomo Opalescent Glass factory.

Working on the cross.

Casting the cross.

“Holy, Holy, Holy” is repeated 3 times around the throne. It is emphasizing to the maximum that the Lord is Holy. This was a fun project that allowed us to praise God in glass and plaster. I enjoyed this opportunity and hope to do better next time. We have to try to praise God even though we are utterly unable to describe His true Glory. May people experience His Glory all over the earth.

“All over the earth, the Spirit is moving,

All over the earth, like the prophet said it would be,

All over the earth, there’s a mighty revelation,

of the Glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.”