Sage House Glass

Tag: life

  • Nostalgia and Beauty: Birds of Paradise

    Nostalgia and Beauty: Birds of Paradise

    Birds of Paradise plants in California
    Birds of paradise growing outside my mother’s old house in California

    If you’re seeing a lot of tropical floral themes in my art this spring, there’s a good reason–I’m yearning for a sense of “home”, a slice of comfort and nostalgia. For that, I turn to the bird of paradise.

    I replicate the shape of the bird of paradise in my art quite a bit because the plants remind me of where I grew up. My mother’s old house has a beautiful array of birds of paradise. Growing like wild stalks, birds of paradise are prolific in California. They grow in yards without fuss, blossom like an after thought along median strips on highways. They’re everywhere in Cali, like wild cacti, red rocks and the Santa Ana winds. It’s something I took for granted in the landscape when I lived there. Now that I’m in North Carolina, the scenery I’d ignored for so long has become my special interest. Funny how time and distance can make you yearn for the things you took for granted.

    The flower itself is a little alien against the backdrop of a desert landscape; the blooms unfurl with such pronouncement, bright orange and deep violet, in stark contrast to the dark green foliage. The orange petals look like a bird in flight, hence the name. They’re a subtropical coastal plant from South Africa, displaced in the 1700’s, now thriving confidently along the California coast.

    I’m fairly obsessed with birds of paradise. I have a few plants that live on the deck during warmer months and I bring inside for the winter. They blossom in January, almost like it’s a gift for my birthday. I take endless pictures of the birds, celebrating them like they’re a part of the family. My husband and I bought an MCM Letterman oil painting of birds of paradise at the vintage store Red Collection in Greensboro (pictured below.) It lives in our den, in spite of my husband’s objections (it’s huge.) He knew he would lose any fight that stood between me and birds.

    Our Birds of Paradise midcentury modern vintage painting & my own birds of paradise arch design

    Bringing tropical flowers into my home in North Carolina is a small tribute to my west coast roots, but I would never give up the lush green of the mountains here. The fact that I can have both in one place? Priceless. Or at least just the cost of exotic plants at the local farmers market.

    Do you have any beloved plants, flowers or scenic features that remind you of home? Shoot me a message in the contacts if you’d like me to recreate a naturescape to catch the light in your window this summer.

  • Mood Hearts for Meditation

    Mood Hearts for Meditation

    I recently bought a mood ring at Sisters on Tate St in Greensboro (a gorgeous women-owned small business, visit if you’re in the area) and it brought back so many nostalgic memories. I have a fondness for mood objects of any kind–a ring that can predict my feelings? I’m in. I need a magic ring to tell me how I’m feeling, to be honest. How else will I know?

    I love objects that can help us process the world around us, or interpret signs and meaning. Anything that helps us look inward is valuable, I think. Star signs help us investigate our personalities and the personalities of our friends and family; same for enneagrams, Myers-Briggs, and Harry Potter houses. They’re often conversation starters, ice breakers. They’re a shorthand for something meaningful, speaking a similar language with each other.

    Lucky objects probably serve the same purpose, aside from superstition. After buying that mood ring, I really wanted to create art that felt like someone’s lucky object. I wanted to manifest meaning into the craft and help someone meditate on their needs, focusing their energy inward in a peaceful way.

    Undoubtedly we could all use help these days with cultivating peace, quiet, and stillness internally. I don’t know the last time I’ve meditated on my own without an app to guide me. Silence can be very loud when we’re not used to it. There’s always a subtle hum of life in the background: music in the car, conversations at work, voices on the television, phones chirruping with texts and TikToks.

    With that in mind, I made mood hearts for meditation! On the surface, they’re just cute little heart-shaped sun catchers and plant stakes. But for someone who may need a few minutes to stare, think, breathe through a problem, they’re a reminder to slow down and be in the present.

    Below is the little how-to guide I made to correspond with the colors of the hearts. They’ve got as much meaning as you bring to it, so take what you want and leave the rest.

    Mood hearts can help anchor an intention or just be a pleasant reminder of what you’d like to manifest in the coming years. Just focusing inwardly, even for a few seconds when you catch the colorful light of a heart out of the corner of your eyes, can change perspective and alter the course of the whole day.

    I hope you try it sometime! Catch my hearts at upcoming markets, the Minkology store in Asheboro, or contact me for bespoke hearts!

  • Join Us at Art in the Yard: A Local Artist Community Event

    Join Us at Art in the Yard: A Local Artist Community Event

    EDIT: Due to an IVF-related medical emergency, Sage House Glass was not in attendance at the Art in the Yard market advertised below. The artist is okay and resting!

    Springtime means the roses are in bloom, the earth is waking up and Art in the Yard preparations are in full swing!

    I’ve been working on new pieces for the spring markets and I’m really excited to unveil some meditation hearts, butterfly panels and new framed foliage pieces. Though the art production is going slower (re: life is lifing) I hope the amount of time I’m putting into these new pieces will make them even worthier to grace your window ledges this season.

    Art in the Yard is a very special market run by Christina Brown, better known as Moonbird Soulful Living— a local artist who has created a thriving creative community in North Carolina. I’m honored to be one of the artists featured at Christina’s Art in the Yard experience. The space itself is truly magical–the food, the art, the ambiance–come see what I mean, if you’re a local to Greensboro!

    From Moonbird Soulful Living website: “More than two dozen amazing local artists come together for a joyful day of connection, creativity, and community…It’s more than an Art Market—it’s a celebration of local spirit. Come stroll Art in the Yard, meet the artists, visit with friends and feel the joy of buying from people who make things with heart.”

    Shopping local doesn’t get better than that.

    Joining me at our station will be my sis and forever market partner with her mystery photography drops! Visit her website here for more information on her upcoming collection: Dusk Light Photos

    See you at the market!

    • Art in the Yard 2025
    • Art in the Yard 2025
    • Art in the Yard 205
    • Art in the Yard 2025
  • Life Updates: Art as Therapy

    Life Updates: Art as Therapy

    TW: child loss, infertility

    When I started my little stained glass business, I didn’t imagine I’d be leaving my day job anytime soon. Don’t panic– I’m still not. I love being a librarian by day (with some night shifts and weekends) and I wouldn’t want to abandon all this progress in my career. After ten years in the field, I’m in leadership and staff development. I work with a creative group of very unique people I truly consider family. I get to cultivate community and facilitate story times and programs for children, what could be better than that?

    At least, that’s what I thought before we lost our son. It’s harder these days to work with children–don’t get me wrong, I still love it, but every cooing baby and excited toddler reminds me of the struggles we’re facing in our fertility “journey.”

    After another difficult year of hoping for results naturally, we finally decided to try IVF, something I initially balked at in fear. Injections? Hormones? A thousand blood draws and doctor visits? How could we afford the time, let alone the expense, for IVF? But where there’s a will, there’s a way, and I was determined to be a mom.

    We started IVF in late fall 2025. Months of poking, prodding, needles, appointments, and a non-stop rollercoaster of emotions. Along the way, I’d lost the energy to create anything at all. Stained glass took a back seat, along with almost everything else. The effort was all worth it, though–we have one healthy egg! One perfect little embryo ready for transfer. One chance, really…but at least it’s a chance.

    Making art started as a way to cope with grief and loss, but it has become a persistent metaphor for what I’m going through with IVF. All of these disparate pieces of my life are going to come together like a stained glass panel; all these harsh and broken edges will form some sort of picture, eventually. We will put ourselves back together and draw some light back into our home.

    I’m officially slowing down and smelling the roses until this transfer happens. I’m taking my sweet time when I’m designing and creating new stained glass pieces. I’m making less art, but better art. I’m enjoying what it feels like to really breathe alongside what I’m making, back to the origins of meditative creation. Because all of this? All of this is therapy. It’s all a part of the bigger picture that I’m hoping is being soldered together right now as I type this.

    • The roses in my backyard I’m sitting with this spring

  • June Commissions & Happy Pride!

    June Commissions & Happy Pride!

    I absolutely love the way that summer announces itself in a wash of rainbows.

    My first commission for June is a perfect Pride coincidence. My sister and I were working at a market back in March when the patron “C” and their partner approached my booth. They loved the sunshine arch panels I was selling, but gave me the best feedback in the world: “Where’s the purple in your rainbow arches? If there was purple in there, that would be Pride. I would’ve bought them in a snap.” It was a brilliant critique–I hadn’t even realized my sunshine panels didn’t include a crucial color of the rainbow–violet. As a supporter of the alphabet mafia, but not a card carrying member, feedback like that was so helpful.

    C reached out to me on Instagram to commission a pair of sunshine arch panels with all the colors of the pride flag. We went through several iterations where the sun was drawn with a half smile, but realized it was too busy. The simple lines of the original sunshine arch paid homage to the textured glass, so we kept it clean.

    After a few weeks of conversation, and a delayed start from me–life can really get in the way of art, right?–the rainbow panels are polished and ready to head home with C. Here comes the sun, just in time for Summer storms. Below are a few more images of the set before I wrap them up for the journey.

    As June winds down, I’ll be adding several pieces to a storefront in Asheboro, North Carolina, called Minkology. I’ve been working to create a Summer-inspired collection for the storefront, all butterflies and flowers in pastels. I’m very eager to do a write up about that process, so more to come about that. I’m so excited to one day walk down the street and see a piece of mine hanging in the windows of a store–that’s truly the dream!

    I’m also looking forward to July commissions–I’ll be designing some new pieces and working outside my comfort zone with new soldering techniques. I’m working on a pair of Romantasy-inspired bookends for a patron’s birthday. I’ll possibly be repairing a sentimental set of glass pieces for another lovely person I met at a market. More to come on those commissions! And if you’re interested in a commission from me, please reach out via the website or my Instagram and we’ll get it on the books.

    Happy Pride, everyone! And happy summer break, to those who have kids out of school. As a children’s librarian by day, this is our busy season, so please be kind to your local librarians–we’re in the trenches!