6 minute read
The Cutting Edge
The Innovative Journey of a Northwest Ohio Family Owned Stained Glass Business
BY ANNIE LUST
Walking through the sprawling Window Creations building is a fascinating experience. On one side, tradition prevails. The hand-blown glass glitters in shades of emerald, plum and ruby when the sunlight streams through. Artists work meticulously using the techniques stained glass masters have used since the Middle Ages. For Window Creations, working on priceless pieces of stained glass art from hundreds of years ago is part of their day-to-day work in one part of the building. On the other side of the building, though, state-of-the-art technology looms large. With one foot in the past and one in the future, Window Creations produces breathtaking glass art no matter which technique they use.
Thirty plus years ago, even Reggie Bueher, who founded Window Creations LLC with his wife, Penny, could not have dreamed of the growth and innovation of their business. The stained glass window company had modest beginnings: “It started as a business, never a hobby,” Reggie continued, “but the goal was to just pay for our kids’ Christmas.” They accomplished that goal rather quickly. “The business kept doubling year after year,” he explained.
While their start was in residential work, churches began reaching out for restoration work almost immediately. Within three years of Window Creation’s founding, Reggie worked on a restoration project for St. Mary in Van Wert. It was something of a turning point for the company. “I have special memories of that, and so does my wife,” Reggie explains. It was also their first foray into working with churches, which became a staple of their business. “I would say 90percent — maybe even 95 percent — of the work we do is for churches,” he shared.
Stained glass restoration became their forte. They take on major restoration and repair projects. Sometimes, a window was damaged in a tornado, and other times, previous restoration needs to be redone. He never criticizes other restoration because stained glass restoration is difficult. “We dedicated ourselves to restoration,” Reggie said they became masters at matching and repairing. The process can be more arduous than creating an original piece. “Matching glass in color and texture that was produced a hundred years ago, is sometimes hard to find or duplicate” He explained, “It will take us two or three times longer than it did the original artist because we have to work at a slower pace.” The process of painting and then firing the glass, which changes the color, sometimes has to be repeated six to eight times. Then, of course, the paintwork must be duplicated. “You have to get into that artist’s head from 100 and some years ago and try to duplicate the way they painted it. Not just the color, but the way they painted it.”
Essentially, it’s quite a challenge.
While Reggie and his team are incredibly talented and successful in traditional stained glass methodology, it’s in his nature to innovate. Reggie came from a computer science background, and Window Creations made the jump to computers decades before most competitors. “Studios were passed down from generation to generation. Things were done the way dad did it, the way grandpa did it,” he explained. Because Reggie did not have familial roots in stained glass, he was constantly looking for a better way to get things done. “We were doing drawings on computers three decades ago,” he said.
There are some drawbacks to traditional stained glass that Reggie identified and sought to improve upon. First, stained glass is expensive. “Saving churches money is very important for us,” Reggie explained. And the expense is really the time, not materials. “The glass itself is inexpensive comparatively — even if it’s hand-blown glass from Germany.” The time required — firing a piece of glass many times or painting and repainting — is the majority of the expense. “If I can save labor, I can save a church money,” he shared. With that mentality, Reggie noticed the everyday items we see with colors printed on glass — the lines on refrigerator glass and car windshields. He paired that technology with the beautiful designs Window Creations creates on computers. “Today, we can take a piece of clear glass and print all the colors on it. We can achieve the same effect [as a traditional stained glass window] with one painting, one firing and the paint is applied by machine.” The cost savings are not insignificant — sometimes, the difference for the church is hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Unsurprisingly, many priests walk into Window Creations asking for traditional stained glass and walk out opting for the printed glass technology. The printed glass is no less beautiful. In some ways, it outshines traditional stained glass, in fact. One of the drawbacks to traditional stained glass is that while they are breathtaking from the inside of a church with the light shining through, they appear nearly black from the outside. “That’s the beauty of the printed glass. You can see them on the inside and outside equally well.” Reggie continued, “We can do things that are impossible with traditional stained glass.” That goes beyond illuminating windows on both sides. Because the artwork is designed on a computer, they can include incredible detail on a tiny piece. “That’s just impossible in stained glass,” Reggie said.
Ever innovating, Reggie saw another application for beautiful glass artworks. With his children and wife, they established Crystal Creek Glass Inc. in 2008 as a sister company of Window Creations LLC. They got to work patenting their custom columbaria. Cemeteries purchase columbaria with niches for cremated remains. The technology offers incredible artwork — that can feature stained glass images on the endcaps, and the appearance of granite or marble on the face of the units similar to the ones that adorn the columbaria purchased by St. Joseph Parish Cemetery in Maumee. They also offer tempered glass headstones for individuals that provide rich color and high-definition photograph quality. There is, quite literally, no other place in the world to find these.
While Reggie is always looking for new ways to innovate, he does not mince words about the real reason for Window Creations’ success: “It’s not because we’ve worked so hard or because we’re so smart; it’s the blessing of the Lord. Reggie gestures around the workshop, where windows from centuries ago share space with a massive cutting-edge printer, and CNC machines. “The Lord gives us insight, ideas, creative paths,” Reggie said, “and that’s why we grow.”
