Rob's Window

My Victorian Clipper was built in 2019 using a clipper ship design I originally built in the 1980's. It measured about 23" x 29" so we had to redesign a bit to fit it into Rob's space. Rob generally liked the design but wanted to add a Mariner's Compass Rose and, of course, change the colors.

Rob contacted me from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in July, 2022 to see if I could build another version of my Victorian Clipper for his home. He needed it to fit an 18.5 x 27" space. He was flying to the US in November and needed it ready by then so he could take it back home with him.

Bob was a fascinating guy to work with ....maybe a bit picky .....but then again, I'm a perfectionist and dwell on the small details. Therefore, we got along perfectly .... I had good guidance and Rob got exactly what he wanted.

After re-drawing, Rob took my drawing and colored it in with the colors he wanted in the glass. I've built 100's of glass projects and never been fortunate to have a customer draw the colors in to drawing for me. I had sent him a number of photos of sheets of glass in front of a sunny window .....somehow, he was able to take those glass photos and put the glass colors and textures into his drawing. His rendering of his project is to the right.

One of the challenges we faced was getting the stained glass window from South Alabama to meet him in San Diego. Then he was going to carry the package on the plane with him to Brazil....But the package was too large to check as baggage or carry onto the plane. Our creative solution was to build a box within a box. I built a small wood crate 29"x 21" x 3" with the stained glass inside that Rob was hoping to hand carry on the plane to Brazil. I built a larger foam lined wood crate 31.5" x 23.5" x 6" that held the smaller crate inside .... to travel across the country via FedEx. Our plan worked..... the crate survived the "slings and arrows" of FedEx, Rob unpacked the crate in San Diego, and carried the smaller crate with him on the flight. He never told me if he paid any "gratuities" to the crew, but I suspect there is more to the story.