We had some unique opportunities come our way last year that enabled us to improve and expand our studio. Our dear friend and colleague Michael Willard, of Stained Glass Works, operated his business out of 4 different locations in the Boston area for over 20 years. While specializing in stained glass restoration, he also took commissions and ran a retail shop for many years. Tom worked for him part-time over those years, in support of large projects, and came to know a great deal about his collection of glass.

When Michael decided to enter partial retirement and move to St. Louis, he offered to sell us the entire contents of his studio. We all agree the timing was perfect — his desire to downsize came at the same time we wanted to grow. We benefitted from his years of collecting, and feel grateful to be in possession of such treasures. As a result, our library of mouth blown glass has grown tenfold and we can solve the majority of our replacement glass needs from within our own inventory. On top of that, we now have our own kiln for firing glass which affords us a lot more freedom in the restoration process.

B3: We love our studio in the Button Factory and feel grateful for the community around us. First-floor spaces rarely become available, but in the spring of 2020, one became available in the back alley. We got the keys in early March, just as COVID was entering the scene. We had no idea then what a bonus it would be for us. The place was in rough shape, and the electrical would need to be updated in order to fire our new kiln. Our good friends at Bower Electric sorted out the wires, and after many hours (and hours) of cleaning and painting, the space was ready. Not only has it provided a completely separate and safe workspace for COVID times, it is now a fully functioning auxiliary shop for us. We do all of our deglazing, paint stripping and sanding here in a lead safe manner. Plus, as anyone who works in a shop can appreciate, we got a whole bunch more storage space in the deal. Lucky us!