A world of colour in glass

Kim Ready's stained glass Jellyfish took at least 70 hours to create.

Kim Ready doesn’t know exactly what colours she’ll use for a particular custom stained-glass piece she is about to create. She says it will likely be what inspires her at the moment, although she’s leaning towards pinks.

This will be her donation for the silent auction at the upcoming Lagois Charity Golf Tournament in support of Ronald McDonald House (Ottawa) on Sept. 18. It will be a floral design much like the pieces for sale at Lake Effects in Westport, Ont., and it will be bigger ‒ 18 inches rather than the 12-inch pieces at Lake Effects.

Her many custom pieces are proof that whatever the colour, it will be beautiful.

Kim has created eclectic and stunning stained glass for 33 years. She now lives in Westport, her first home, but she lived in Thunder Bay for a number of years, and that’s when her artistry began.

This stained glass creation depicts the spring, bridge and post office in Westport.

She knew she loved the art form from a course she took with her mother in Thunder Bay. It became a hobby at first and then word got around. She’d create Christmas gifts, and then she’d place some in craft shows, and before long people wanted more. It became a successful part-time business that she continues today in Westport.

Many of her pieces still sell in Thunder Bay at a store called Fireweed Crafts, but people from across Canada commission her directly to do custom pieces. She works on these in her home studio in Westport.

When she lived in Thunder Bay, she had a career at Bombardier, and also as a legal secretary in a family law firm, but her stained-glass art was her happy place beyond work. She says she is able now to make a decent living from simply doing what she loves.

Much of her custom work is for individuals, but she has also been commissioned to create awards ‒ for example, for the 2023 Nordic Canada Ski Nationals in Thunder Bay and Thunder Bay’s annual 10-Mile Fireman Road Race. She also does repairs, including many lamps, and she finds this work satisfying, too.

She recently donated a piece to a golf tournament that was raising money for breast cancer. “Its retail value was $325,” she says, “but they were able to raise $600 from it.”

She has created pieces based on photographs of dogs and cats that have a reasonable likeness, and representative pieces of a family or a moment, but she explains the stained glass art form doesn’t lend itself to actual portraits.

Kim's floral stained glass creations like this are at Lake Effects in Westport.

When people see something of hers that someone else has bought and want to get in touch, they find her on Facebook  (@kimreadycustomstainedglass) or kimready1965@gmail.com; or 807-707-4912. She has never said no to a commission.

“It’s all through people seeing my work,” she says. “I’m fortunate to be able to take a hobby that I really love and turn it into a successful part-time business.”

Thunder Bay customers are delighted with her work because she often portrays familiar scenes ‒ a natural landmark called The Sleeping Giant, for instance. One of the Sleeping Giant pieces includes the historic Trowbridge Lighthouse.

Her love of the art form began with a colour: Cobalt Blue. It features prominently in stained-glass work, and it is her favourite.  She uses copper-foil techniques, although she has also worked with zinc caming, which is a rigid metal and often used for heavier pieces for more strength, like stained glass windows in churches.

It’s a long and painstaking process that requires great patience. Kim handles each piece of glass seven or eight times. She has to draw the design, cut the glass, grind the edges, fit the pieces together, apply foil, and then solder the work. Some pieces take more time than others depending on their complexity. A “Sleeping Giant” piece, for example, might take maybe three hours to finish, but a more complicated one, like her “Jellyfish” design, can take up to 70 hours.

Customers love Kim's "Sleeping Giant", a natural landmark and historic lighthouse in Thunder Bay.

She often adds lovely touches to her pieces like beautiful blue stones to depict the blue ice along Lake Superior’s shoreline in winter. She buys most of her glass from The Glass House on Sydenham Road in Kingston. She no longer orders it from the United States. “It’s the tariffs, you know; it’s just not worth it.”

She says shopping for the right glass is an experience in itself. The material can range from $10 per square foot all the way up to several hundred. It depends on how the glass is produced, where it comes from, its quality, and its colour. “So you really have to know what you want… and what you’re getting.”

She loves talking with other artists, especially up-and-coming younger people who are exploring new techniques, approaches and methods that are different from traditional ones.

“I’m always learning,” she says.

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