James from Fishtown Philadelphia asks: I\'m interested in having a stained glass window designed for above my front door. There is currently clear glass, about 31\" x 20\" above my door, that I figure the window could be placed behind. My thoughts would be to have my house numbers in a \"fish\" (representing Fishtown) design. Please let me know the price range/timeline and feel free to contact me if you need any other info.

Jim: First we would have to create a design for the transom. If you liked the design then we would proceed with the fabrication. I'll assume that you will be performing the installation but we can also do that too. If we were to install it, we would want to see the existing sash and take our own measurements. There is not much in the way of materials involved. Mostly you are renting the artist/craftsmen for however long it takes to make the piece. The approximate cost would be around $2,000. Joe Beyer

Lynne Oe from Bezanson, Alberta, Canada asks: I was wondering what the price range would be for a round stained glass window similar to the one\" Holy Spirit Rose Window in the Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Norfolk, VA. We have a round window in our church and would like the Holy Spirit to be the major part of the design and I think the window measures about 3ft. in diameter.Thank you for your response. We love the picture on this months misselette Living with Christ. from Lynne Oe

Lynne: Thanks for asking. That window was designed to match the style of two windows from a closed church in Philly. The old windows were two tall peaked designs by the Tyrolian Glass Artists T.G.A. from Innsbruk Austria. Bryan Willette here designed and made the circle. I think the original was about 48" in diameter and is installed in Norfolk VA. I was just down there 2 weeks ago, dropping off more stained glass for my buddy, Father Joe Metzger. I have already asked Bryan to figure this out for you and we will be back in touch soon with an estimated cost. I suppose that this would be managed much like the 6' rose we have chronicled on my blog site (Joseph K. Beyer's Stained Glass Blog). That 6' rose window (another of the Trinity) is about to leave for San Diego this week. We would make the window and ship it to the Church. You will hear from us again either today or tomorrow. Bryan Willette(who made this window) wrote this up and did the estimating. I imagine that the design would have to be modified, given that your window would be significantly smaller than the original which was approximately 48" in diameter. The Beyer Studio proposes to fabricate a 36" rose window, depicting the Holy Spirit. The design of this window will follow an existing the window designed for the Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Norfolk, VA, as seen on the Beyer Studio web site. The cost to create the Holy Spirit window will be $7,750. This includes the cost of crating the window for shipping, but does not include the actual cost of shipping. You are welcome to call me at 215-848-3502 if you have any questions. Joe

Douglas McVarish from Collingswood, NJ asks: Hello, have you ever come across a relatively complete list of the stained glass produced by William Reith of Philadelphia? I am trying to locate convincing evidence that he fabricated two nearly identical windows of Jesus knocking in the sanctuaries of Memorial Presbyterian Church of Wenonah, NJ and First Presbyterian Church of Haddon Heights. Neither is signed. Thanks for your help.

Douglas: One source for info about William Reith would be the Stained Glass Association of America (SGAA). Unfortunately the majority of stained glass windows are not signed. The "Christ Knocking" composition was copied over and over again in stained glass. The original PreRaphaelite painting (Wlliam Holman Hunt. Light of the World. 1853.) was a favorite and donors would request this composition specifically. I can remember reinstalling a Tiffany version of this in a mausoleum at the very Northern tip of Long Island in the 1970's. William Reith usually signed his windows. If these are indeed his work, he may have chosen not to sign them because the composition was not his own, but this is only conjecture on my part. Do you have photographs of these windows that you could show me? Joe

John Wikberg from Haddon Heights, NJ asks: I have a good size stained glass window that am looking to sell. Does your company use older windows for your projects? Thank you, John

John: We relocate many older windows into new projects but they are all fine religious windows. We don't buy and sell windows at all. Everything we relocate belongs to some religious organization. We provide service and consultation but we are not in the antiques business.

Patricia K Coughlin from United States asks: I am trying to discover where the windows from Saint Boniface Church (Norris Square) Kensington Philadelphia are being installed. I was directed to your company by Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Do you have the Information?

Patricia: Ed Rafferty told me about your call. the Parish of Saint Boniface in Kensington belonged to the Redemptorist Fathers. When the Parish closed they asked us to remove all of the windows, which we did, placing them in crates and storing them on the campus of Saint Peters at 5th and Girard Ave. to date, the only two windows to be relocated have gone to the new Saint Michaels in Garden City South Carolina. The windows were the Holy Family and Christ with Children. Both of them were located in the side aisles at Saint Boniface. The remainder of these splendid windows are still in storage but also listed on the Sacred Window Rescue Project and we hope to find homes for more of them. Part of the problem with these windows is that they are so tall, really too tall(nearly 30 feet tall)to be used in most new projects without major, expensive alterations. The most of the windows were made by either the Franz Mayer or F.X. Zettler company, both of Munich. Saint Boniface was my mothers Parish when she was a child. Joe

JODIE BERNARD from Hamilton, Ontario asks: I am in awe with your hand painted work and wanted to know where in North America can a course be found to teach the foundations?

Jodie: Thanks for the compliment. The Stained Glass Association of America(SGAA) does offer courses but I am unaware of any College that offers training in glass painting. This is because there simply are not many out there who know enough to teach. We have re-learned many of the techniques we use by trial and error. Another difficulty is the fact that a kiln is required. We have two big Dutch kilns specifically for glass painting. The late Albinus Elskus wrote an excellent book that explains the basics of vitreous glass painting and I recommend it to anyone that attempts this medium. If you have access to a kiln, you could experiment with different techniques and mediums on your own. Because paint does not want to stick to glass in the manner of paper or canvas, you must employ different tools and methods to apply the vitreous paint. I learned as an apprentice and adopted the methods I was taught. Much later, I realized that what I was taught was quite basic and unsophisticated compared with the fine painting we saw every day in the English, German and French window we were restoring. Sick of hearing people say,"no one does that any more", I decided to gain enough opportunities for myself and my artists to rediscover the use of multiple mediums, various brushing techniques and staining so that our painting was on a par with the best of the past. I would encourage you and anyone else to simply have at it. Any way you can get the vitreous paint to stick to the glass and to fire well, is legitimate technique. If you are instructed by a teacher, your painting will unavoidably resemble theirs but working alone, you will discover and invent in ways you would not otherwise. We would be happy to offer advice.

JODIE BERNARD from Hamilton, Ontario asks: I am in awe with your hand painted work and wanted to know where in North America can a course be found to teach the foundations?

Jodie: Thanks for the compliment. The Stained Glass Association of America(SGAA) does offer courses but I am unaware of any College that offers training in glass painting. This is because there simply are not many out there who know enough to teach. We have re-learned many of the techniques we use by trial and error. Another difficulty is the fact that a kiln is required. We have two big Dutch kilns specifically for glass painting. The late Albinus Elskus wrote an excellent book that explains the basics of vitreous glass painting and I recommend it to anyone that attempts this medium. If you have access to a kiln, you could experiment with different techniques and mediums on your own. Because paint does not want to stick to glass in the manner of paper or canvas, you must employ different tools and methods to apply the vitreous paint. I learned as an apprentice and adopted the methods I was taught. Much later, I realized that what I was taught was quite basic and unsophisticated compared with the fine painting we saw every day in the English, German and French window we were restoring. Sick of hearing people say,"no one does that any more", I decided to gain enough opportunities for myself and my artists to rediscover the use of multiple mediums, various brushing techniques and staining so that our painting was on a par with the best of the past. I would encourage you and anyone else to simply have at it. Any way you can get the vitreous paint to stick to the glass and to fire well, is legitimate technique. If you are instructed by a teacher, your painting will unavoidably resemble theirs but working alone, you will discover and invent in ways you would not otherwise. We would be happy to offer advice. Joe Beyer

JODIE BERNARD from Hamilton, Ontario asks: I am in awe with your hand painted work and wanted to know where in North America can a course be found to teach the foundations?

Jodie: Thanks for the compliment. The Stained Glass Association of America(SGAA) does offer courses but I am unaware of any College that offers training in glass painting. This is because there simply are not many out there who know enough to teach. We have re-learned many of the techniques we use by trial and error. Another difficulty is the fact that a kiln is required. We have two big Dutch kilns specifically for glass painting. The late Albinus Elskus wrote an excellent book that explains the basics of vitreous glass painting and I recommend it to anyone that attempts this medium. If you have access to a kiln, you could experiment with different techniques and mediums on your own. Because paint does not want to stick to glass in the manner of paper or canvas, you must employ different tools and methods to apply the vitreous paint. I learned as an apprentice and adopted the methods I was taught. Much later, I realized that what I was taught was quite basic and unsophisticated compared with the fine painting we saw every day in the English, German and French window we were restoring. Sick of hearing people say,"no one does that any more", I decided to gain enough opportunities for myself and my artists to rediscover the use of multiple mediums, various brushing techniques and staining so that our painting was on a par with the best of the past. I would encourage you and anyone else to simply have at it. Any way you can get the vitreous paint to stick to the glass and to fire well, is legitimate technique. If you are instructed by a teacher, your painting will unavoidably resemble theirs but working alone, you will discover and invent in ways you would not otherwise. We would be happy to offer advice. Joe Beyer

I am currently an Architectural Preservation Major at Temple University under the advising of Proff. Dennis Playdon. I am working on a nomination for The Ascension of our Lord in northern Kensington. I have come into some information that has lead me to believe that Balano Studios did some of the stained glass work for the church. I was hopping if you had any information pertaining to the church or if you were familiar with the studio. Sincerely, Matthew Ferris

Matthew: Of course I don know quite a bit about the windows and Paula Balano, since my studio has already removed all the windows from Ascension. Some info about her and about Ascension Church can be found in Stained Glass in Catholic Philadelphia Published by St. Joseph's University Press. If there is anything specific you would like to know, ask away. Tell Dennis Playdon that Joe Beyer Says Hi and, by the way, what is a "nomination" Joe

You all appear to have a lot of folks who work at your studio. Do you have any high tech ventilation? I am looking at portable industrial units and wondered if you use anything like that. Thanks, Angela

Angela: We have tested our in-studio air and have found it to be a healthy environment. The danger from lead is ingestion and often, the greatest danger of exposure is out on job-sites removing old windows. The is the greatest risk we face. We use every available safety precaution but a ventilation system is not needed. Joe Beyer

This question came from the Beyer Studio website. The answer page is at the following URL: http://www.beyerstudio.com/answer.php Richard Page from Harleysville, PA asks: I\'m working on astained glass proposal to commemorate the raising of $1B for the Carnegie Mellion University (my client) capital campaign. I was hoping to get your help with this project. We\'re proposing an 18\" round stained glass image of the CMU Scottish Terrier, the CMU tartan plaid, and the capital campaign\'s logo. I can provide a very rough look at what the layout might look like, so you get an idea of the complexity of the images. If CMU chooses this options, we\'d produce two of the 18\" rounds. Any chance you could take a look at this and help me provide an estimate to my client? I\'m happy to answer any questions you might have. I have a team meeting late this afternoon and it\'d be great if I could at least provide a ballpark figure. Thanks for your help. Richard Page Hornercom 267-932-8769 x 311 richard@hornercom.com

Richard: Yes, we have done several things like this over the years. Please use my direct e-mail address for future contact. joe@beyerstudio.com Can you forward any photos of what you are proposing for the circle design? Joe Beyer