Design ideas for St. Catharine of Siena

(Originally posted in 2008 and bumped up for reconsideration and additional design discussion with client.)

We've been away working on some church murals at another church, but had a break to moodle some more designs for the clerestory windows at St. Catharine of Siena. Here are variations and ideas:




All are in the $2,000/each range x eight windows, except for the most simple bottom window which is less.
Cost is determined by various factors, including the number of pieces of glass in the window, the particular glass chosen, whether glass-painting is involved, and the materials market in general.

Because glass and metal are selling at all-time highs right now, quotes we send out to clients are only good for three months. The stained glass industry is very labor and energy-intensive, not only because they require huge inputs of energy to manufacture, but also because they are not common commodities, often being imported from overseas. Many art glasses, for example, are manufactured in Europe. High oil costs immediately drive the cost of shipping up, and thus the cost of glass. This is above and beyond the intensive energy useage required to run the glass furnaces and manufacture the glass to begin with. The lead came cost is also being driven by scarcity of metals, so this is another factor to consider.

Below are suggested designs for windows in the choir portion of the church, four total which will each have a different symbol for the four evangelists. This one is for St. Luke. Here are two possibilities, and at bottom left the beginnings of a third:


These larger windows will cost from $3,000 - $4,000 each.

If symbols of the four evangelists aren't what the church would like, another option would be full-figure depictions of the saints. These, of course, would cost a bit more.