Glass art in a window

[LaFontsee]

Hello all,

We have a relatively heavy piece of solid glass art that our client is determined to hang in front of a window. It is about 13.25" x 10.5" x .5" and weighs about 7 pounds. They would like it suspended in the middle of a round window so that light will filter through the glass showing the translucency. I'm thinking of an acrylic holder that is suspended on cables. Any other suggestions are appreciated.



What is the best way to accomplish this? Is the Acrylic Queen available to fabricate something to hold this?

Thank you all!
James

 

[Rick Granick]

I'm guessing that they want it to appear as if there is "nothing" visible holding this in place. (Other than magic, of course.)
If so, your proposed approach sounds like it makes sense. If that isn't a requirement, maybe you could have a metalsmith fabricate some kind of bracket which would be both decorative and functional.

How large is the window, relative to the size of the art piece?... perhaps you could have acrylic brackets or an acrylic bezel affixed to a sheet of acrylic that covers the whole window and attaches to the window frame. That way it would appear to be suspended with no cables.
Rick

 

[LaFontsee]

How large is the window, relative to the size of the art piece?... perhaps you could have acrylic brackets or an acrylic bezel affixed to a sheet of acrylic that covers the whole window and attaches to the window frame. That way it would appear to be suspended with no cables.
Rick

I suggested this as an option. I think it is a good choice. They could have a builder remove the window trim, put in a round piece of acrylic, then put the trim over it. It would make for a really nice support for the piece, but, for whatever reason, they didn't love this idea. They wanted it suspended.

James

 

[lisamarie_b]

Ironically, I have a client with almost the exact same art. Same type of glass, same thickness. My concern is hanging in front of a window, with temp changes, and the possibility of the thing swinging and hitting the window, breaking either the window or the art.

We are planning to make a shadow box, setting the piece in a glass-shaped cutout from matboard and sinking it, with a piece of illuminated acrylic behind it and museum glass on front.

 

[Artistic Framer]

I have a similar piece that's on a stand made of burl and fabricated metal/iron that looks like tree branches...it holds the art and becomes "part of" the piece. That being said, the piece is surprisingly heavy, and the thought of an "invisible" suspension system seems improbable given framer's/woodworker's skills. I thought of a solution of how I would hang mine, and subsequently yours.

Say you were to build a frame from 6" wide, 1" deep flat natural wood (no rabbet). make the "window" of the frame approximately 2" smaller than the piece in both horizontal and vertical dimensions. "Center" the piece on the frame, and trace the outer edge onto the wood. Carefully rout this line out to a 3/4" depth adding space for an allowance , and also remove all of the wood towards the inside of the frame. The last step would be to used a straight bit with a 1/4" or 3/8" guide along the inside of the shape you routed previously to create a lip. You could then finish/paint/guild the wood to your liking.

I would personally want to see the piece and the "front" of the frame even though 1/4" of the art would be covered. I'd probably mount the piece with a few small, concealed rubber coated "pins" (formed rod mounts) drilled into the rabbet. If these pins are small and tidy enough, the the lip of the frame could be in the back, thus displaying the piece in its entirety. The whole framed piece could then be hung with screw eyes and chain or monofilament.