Suzanne Stewart
Staff Writer
More than 35 years ago, Angie Hill, of Hillsboro, took a stained-glass class offered at the Hillsboro Library. In that class, she made a blue and clear star sun catcher that she hung in her kitchen window.
She didn’t think much more about making stained glass pieces until a couple years ago when she retired and knew she needed something to do with her time.
Hill talked to her mom about the kind of hobby she should pick up, and her mom suggested she go back to making stained glass.
“I said, ‘I’ll give it a try, and I ordered a kit off of Delphi Glass,” she said. “It got me started. It was an ultimate beginner kit, and it had everything I needed to get started.”
Hill worked her way through the patterns that came with the kit and then turned to YouTube to find tutorial videos for different pieces she could make.
There were some videos that shared the easy way to make things, but Hill wasn’t looking for easy. She was looking for quality.
“I would rather it be better than easy because I want to make sure that what I put out is a quality product and it’s going to last,” she said. “I tried to stay true to the art of the original stained-glass people.”
Hill has adapted patterns from books she got from a retired artist, as well as designs she found online.
She also makes her own patterns that she draws from stock photos she finds online.
Hill adds a little flare to her pieces with copper wire. Instead of using ribbon, fishing line or twine to hang her smaller pieces, Hill solders a piece of thick wire to the top which acts as a hanger, as well as an added design to the piece.
Some of her larger pieces are 3-D with a “cage” of glass surrounding birds, flowers or other shapes.
“I’m just enthralled with these 3-D things,” she said. “They’re so interesting.”
Hill builds up the “cage” – which is four to five pieces of glass soldered together to form a circle. Then, inside the cage, she attaches the shapes she wants in the design.
“Each of the little things are created separate,” she said “The bird’s separate. The leaves are attached separate. The branch is separate.”
Adding the pieces to the inside of the cage helps secure the piece and make it sturdier.
Hill likes to double and triple check that all her pieces are solid and won’t fall apart when they are purchased and taken home.
“I actually try to break them,” she said, laughing. “I don’t want somebody to buy them and then they fall apart. I would feel bad. I sort of try to break them just to make sure they’re going to be okay for the customers.”
In addition to the small and large sun catchers and ornaments, Hill also makes display pieces like her popular trout with cattails attached to a piece of driftwood.
Hill sells her stained glass at the Pocahontas County Artisans Co-op 4th Avenue Gallery in Marlinton.
Another hobby that she enjoys is scenic photography and that work is available at the gallery, as well. She has photos from all around West Virginia, scenes she snapped while hiking over the years. There are large, matted prints, as well as metal prints featuring waterfalls and state parks.
