The sun is out, there’s work to be done, and it’s times like these that we really love being in the studio. All the prep is done for the installation of our landscape window near Lake Okanagan in a couple of weeks, really looking forward to meeting the builders and the client, and to the […]

I have finished the full size cartoon for our residential project in the Okanagan, which I drafted by hand using Indian ink and various types of soft pencil, determining the positioning of the leads and all the details and tonal values to be painted. I use a grid system to loosely draft all the elements from my […]

The process of creating authentic stained glass has many steps and uses many different types of artistic skills, but I think my favourite part is drawing the full size cartoon. The word “cartoon” derives from the Italian word “cartone” meaning large paper, artists would use this preparatory drawing as a blueprint for the primary artistic endeavour which was in a […]

Happy BC Day from sunny Vancouver! I recently finished the cartoon (full size drawing) for the next in our series of 12 Old Testament windows. This time it’s the turn of Noah and his Ark, and we’re looking forward to getting started on fabricating this one. Anyone notice that in depictions of this theme the […]

  Lots of acid etching in the top sections of this full-on figurative commission, and of course a lot of painting to do. The full size drawings (known as cartoons) are completed for the first 6 of our Twelve Apostles project. Got to get the next 6 drawings finished asap!

  I’m well underway with the cartoons (full size drawing) for our 12 Apostles 154 square ft window – it’s a lot of figurative drawing for sure! Pictured here is when I was doing the first two sections, when the Peter cartoon was finished and I was drafting the Andrew figure. Some of you may […]

  I enjoyed creating the full size drawing, or cartoon as it’s known, for Our Lady of the Valley, Coldstream, BC. I’m really happy with the flow of this window and we’re looking forward to the next stage of creating the structural drawing, known as the cutline, and selecting all the beautiful colour we’ll be […]

  We’re looking forward to starting the first painting stage of our 18th window for St. Mary’s, Kerrisdale. This one depicts Saint Hildegard of Bingen who was a 12th century Benedictine Abbess. I enjoyed researching her life; her accomplishments were pretty much unprecedented for a woman of that time. She is probably best known for […]

“Seahorse” (detail) Our seahorse is finally home! Installed today in the entryway of a beautiful new build by the sea, our window adds colour, warmth and interest as you enter the front door and is perfectly in keeping with the amazing view of the sea shore as you continue through into the living room. There […]

The theme of Creation lends itself beautifully to the commissioning of legacy stained glass artwork, with a rich source of flowing shape and colour to depict in this custom project. Our client had a wonderful vision in mind to honour the memory of his loving wife who had passed away due to cancer. She had […]

                        All done! Our first project for mainland China will be shipped off next week. We’ve really enjoyed creating these windows which were inspired by an approximately 100 year old window in the BC Legislature building in Victoria. Our client visited there and enjoyed […]

We’re this week’s Featured Artists on Artsy Shark! Here’s the link to the article: http://www.artsyshark.com/2015/02/06/featured-artists-john-and-laura-gilroy/  

I have just realized that I didn’t yet post a photo of our completed St. Matthew window; we showed you the cartoon and trace line stage but not the end result! We’re happily working on several new clerestory windows for St. Mary’s Anglican Church in Kerrisdale; St. Matthew is the 10th to be installed. We […]

I’ve just finished cartooning a panel which we consider to be an homage to Burne-Jones.  Our client was a music teacher and has always loved Burne-Jones’ depiction of St. Cecilia (the patron saint of music) in Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. The window was designed by Burne-Jones and produced by William Morris & Co in 1874. […]