Frequently Asked Questions
lso see our classes FAQ, click here.
Who are / is Vitreus Art?
Isn't stained glass painted?
Do you make windows or door panels?
About card transactions on our site
How long will my piece last?
Where can I put my piece?
Do you use lead?
My piece is damaged. Can I get it repaired?
Can you recycle a piece I don’t want anymore?
I like a design I’ve seen on your website, but can I have different colours?
Can you supply a different frame colour?
How much do you charge for making a commission?
Can I have a piece made from my design?
I’m finding it hard to decide; can I see some pieces in my home?
How can I pay for my piece?
I like something I’ve seen on your site, but it’s not in stock…
Do you provide tuition?
I like your pieces with LED illumination; can you tell me more?
Is every piece you make really unique?
How long does it take to make a piece?
Who are / is Vitreus Art?
Vitreus Art is Jenny Timms and Mike Caddy.
We began making decorative and functional stained glass art some years ago, and discovered that other people liked what we were doing.
Our pieces are owned by people who want their art to have a changing, dynamic quality. The way the glass responds to different lighting conditions means your piece will often give you something new or unexpected...
As well as making the designs you can see on our website, we specialise in creating specially commissioned unique and personal stained glass gifts.
Click here for our biography with more info.
Isn't stained glass painted?
Yes. The term 'stained glass' strictly only applies to pieces (like church windows) where a stain or paint has been applied to the glass and then kiln-fired. Purists will be mortified that we use the term so widely!
Everything you see on our site is made with coloured glass. The colour is introduced when the glass is made, and is permanent.
We should call our work 'decorative coloured glassware' but as just about everyone else would call it 'stained glass' we do the same.
Apologies to those engaged in the pursuit of exactitude.
Do you make windows or door panels?
We do. Most of our work is in the Tiffany (foiling) method mbut we do work in leading as well. Get in touch so we can discuss the process, and arrange a site visit.
As an excellent alternative to leaded window panels, we’ve been asked for panels that can be used internally, like secondary double glazing. This has the considerable advantage of being transportable if you move or change your windows!
With traditional leaded stained glass panels often costing around £150 per square foot our method is a cost effective way to get colour into your room!
A further alternative for smaller fixed windows is for us to design a stained glass panel that can be silicone-fixed onto the inside of the existing glass. This is suitable for panels up to about 40cm in any dimension - so great for a fanlight or similar.
About card transactions on our site
We use a conventional shopping cart on our site. As well as collecting the product and price information about the piece you want to buy, it also collects the billing and shipping address information from you when you want to buy online.
This data is then sent to our secure card merchant service, operated by PayPal which accepts your card information via its SSL servers.
It’s fully secured, and your card details don’t pass through our system at all. If you prefer to pay with your PayPal account, you can also do this by selecting the option when you go to the checkout.
How long will my piece last?
With care your piece should last for many years. The glass is genuine stained glass so the colour is inherent in the glass, not painted on.
We have pieces we made for ourselves while we were refining the techniques that are still solid and looking good.
You may find that the solder loses its polish after time. This can be restored with gentle polishing. Refer to our Handling & Care page for information.
Where can I put my piece?
Most of the pieces we’ve made are positioned in a window. The streams of coloured light add a richness to the room that will always appeal. Mirrors can be hung anywhere, usually from a picture hook.
We suggest you don’t hang pieces in very moist or damp locations to avoid the mirror or solder surfaces tarnishing too quickly.
The Tiffany method we use is not waterproof so those pieces aren’t suitable for outside.
Our LED-illuminated pieces look great on a window-ledge, low table, mantelpiece or anywhere close to a wall. The light fires rearwards, gently bathing the nearby surfaces and the glass in a subtle glow.
Do you use lead?
Our leaded pieces do, as you'd expect.
With foiled pieces, the only lead content is in the solder, and there’s not much there.
As long as you don’t ingest solder, and wash your hands after handling a piece extensively there’s no risk that we’re aware of.
My piece is damaged. Can I get it repaired?
Yes. Contact us to discuss. Hopefully we can re-build the piece, or re-solder. If not we can talk about other options which might include making a new piece at a reduced charge.
As the pieces are made mainly from glass, we ask that you treat yours with the same care you would a glass bowl or piece of ceramic art.
Can you recycle a piece I don’t want anymore?
Out of respect for the environment we ask that if you wish to dispose of a piece you return it to us so we can dispose of the metal content safely. If we can use the glass for another piece then we’ll show our appreciation to you!
I like a design I’ve seen on your website, but can I have different colours?
Yes. We often make variants of existing designs for customers who have a particular colour combination or room décor in mind. Just contact us to discuss. This goes for mirrors too.
Can you supply a different frame colour?
Yes. We may have to make a new piece for you, to the design you've chosen, but it won't cost you any more. We're introducing new choices - examples below. Just ask before you order if you want a different finish to the one shown on the product page.
- Ash frame with a wax finish to bring out the grain
- Spruce frame with a stain of your choice (pine stain shown)
- Spruce frame with a colour wash (sea-green-blue shown)
- Spruce frame with a natural light wax finish
And our popular 'rustic-effect' whitewashed style is still available of course.
How much do you charge for making a commission?
The price is determined by a number of factors:
- Overall size of the piece
- Amount of glass and cost of the glass used
- Amount of design time required
- Complexity of the design, especially where there are a lot of small or complex pieces of glass involved
- Framing or other mounting or lighting techniques involved
- Any other specialist materials, solders or decorative items needed
We charge a deposit (usually 25%) up front once we’ve given you an idea of cost – to cover our initial design time and the cost of the glass we have to buy to make your piece.
Sometimes if the design is one we’ve already made, but in different colours we waive this.
We'll quote for the design before we do any work.
Can I have a piece made from my design?
Of course, as long as the design can be adapted to allow for the restrictions in shapes and sizes of glass that can be cut. We can discuss how your design could look, and mock up a proposal digitally to review. And if you like a design of ours, but want to personalise it, then we can usually accommodate this too.
Or if you have a set of colours you particularly like, or a room décor you want to harmonise with, then again – we’ll try and accommodate.
I’m finding it hard to decide; can I see some pieces in my home?
Yes. If you're considering any piece over £120 and you live within 50 miles of one of us we can arrange to bring a selection of pieces ranging from £120 to £300 for you to look at. This is by appointment of course. Just contact us to make an appointment.
How can I pay for my piece?
If you don’t want to use a debit or credit card to pay online, you can pay by:
- Direct bank transfer
- Cheque – we will need 7 days to clear
- Cash on delivery for stock pieces that we hand deliver
- PayPal, via our online cart or using the ‘Request money’ facility
I like something I’ve seen on your site, but it’s not in stock…
Contact us. We may already be making another piece. If not we can estimate the time to make a piece for you. If it’s a design we usually hope to have in stock there won’t be a deposit payable.
Do you provide tuition?
Yes - we run a series of one-day introduction classes, designed to give you a taste of what's involved, and including time to make a simple piece to take home at the end of the day.
We also run intermediate classes for those already with some experience of glass work, and we now run a 5-day workshop in Cornwall; the next session is in October 2012.
Take a look at our classes page for info, details of what's included and how to book.
I like your pieces with LED illumination; can you tell me more?
The design is simple. We fit the piece with a freestanding wooden base, which has a strip of cool-white LEDs recessed in the back, firing rearwards. The LED strip is securely fixed in, and has a 3m cable which plugs into a power supply, which is included in the price. The LED strip runs from 12v so is very safe, and like other LED lights, produces almost no heat. The expected life of the LEDs is 30,000 hours, or nearly 4 years continuous operation.
In the event of either the LEDs or the power suupply failing, just contact us and we'll replace as needed.
Is every piece you make really unique?
Yes! Although we sometimes use a design to make more than one piece (like our popular Dove series for example), we deliberately choose different glass and subtly modify the design too - sometimes because we want to try a new idea, sometimes because we find a way to make improvements or reduce costs.
In the fine art and mid-price art worlds, originals are often 4 - 6 times the price of the limited edition print, which makes our originals (and they are all originals!) seem like very good value.
In fact, even if we tried to make a 'clone' piece, because no two pieces of glass are the same the clone would be rather different from its 'parent / sibling'. So you can be absolutely sure that no-one else will have a piece like yours and that you own a genuine original.
How long does it take you to make a piece?
This varies enormously and depends on the design. Small intricate shapes are much harder to draw and cut, so some pieces naturally cost more than a similarly-sized but simpler piece.
When starting out with a fresh design, coming up with the idea that can be achieved in glass (we don't use pattern books) can take 2 hours.
Cutting the glass for a simple piece can take 1-2 hours. For a large complicated piece this can take as much as 6 hours.
The glass is then ground and foiled. This can take up to 4 hours if there are lots of fiddly small pieces of glass that have to fit exactly.
The soldering can then take as long as the foiling.
And don't forget that we then frame and photograph the piece.
We have to include these tasks in our calculations too!
So when you buy one of our pieces you're buying a lot of skill, patience, design, craftsmanship and some years of accumulated experience!