Colorado Springs stained-glass artist embodies ‘Glassy Lady’ nickname | Arts & Entertainment

Within Linda Willard’s backyard, amid tinted windows and whimsical sun-catchers, sits a small studio.

Outside, several old wooden window frames rest on the wall. Some have distinct pointed arches, while others have smaller, circular frames.

The inside is crowded with stacked rows of colorful glass sheets, scattered notes and a work desk, occupied by a sketch of a mountain scene. Some pieces of glass gently rest on top, matching the shapes of the outline — curved green slabs are rolling mountains, a round yellow cutout is the sun.

Nearby, Willard pulls out another sheet in a beautiful hue of light blue.

“This will be the sky,” she says.

Willard — or “Glassy Lady” as she’s known — is a stained-glass artist based in Colorado Springs. She opened her studio in 2005, but her fascination with glass started decades earlier, on the Jersey shore.

Growing up in New Jersey, Willard visited the beach often. As she watched the waves ebb and flow from the coastline, she was captivated by the way the sunlight hit the deep blue water, creating a fluid white light on the crown of waves.

It’s a similar sensation to that created when sunlight hits glass, she said. And when that glass is colorful, the results are enchanting projections of light.

“I always liked shiny, pretty, colorful things,” she said. “The way water shines when the sun hits it and the way the sand would sparkle, that just attracted me.”

Her father also specialized in the craft of stained-glass artistry. But much of her knowledge of technique comes from her experience working at a friend’s shop, Gracie’s Stained Glass, in the mid-1990s.

“That’s where I learned so much,” Willard said about the former business in downtown Colorado Springs. “I loved it; I knew that’s what I needed to be doing in my life. And so when they closed, I said, ‘Well, I want to keep doing this.’”

So, she created Glassy Lady — a clever name she credits her husband for thinking up.

She stays busy with commissions and repairs, especially as artisans become more scarce. When she started, she remembers primarily making custom pieces, but as the years pass, repairs have become a big part of business.

“It’s actually a dying art,” she said. “I have so many people who come to me that can’t find somebody to repair their windows, their antiques.”

When people bring in their antiques, Willard often can tell the age of the piece just by the colors and textures of the glass. One of her favorite styles is art nouveau, which she sees often in her repair work, she said. Many of the pieces brought to her are well over a century old.

Her love of art nouveau can also be seen in her work: embracing flowing lines, organic forms and nature-inspired motifs. Willard enjoys depicting women’s bodies in her work and exploring the use of curves.

It’s not just art nouveau, though. Willard finds inspiration in a range of styles — from classical Victorian to art deco. The Colorado artist’s most popular designs are, not surprisingly, mountain scenes, including Pikes Peak. Those natural scenes give Willard a chance to experiment with her most beloved colors.

“Green and aqua blue, they do it for me,” she said. “If people give me the freedom to do what I want to do in their piece, then you’re gonna see those colors for sure, and you’re gonna see a lot of curves and movement.”

The artist is big on all things vintage. Some of her most prized pieces come from salvaged goods, including the window frames outside her studio ready to be brought back to life.

“You gotta have a heart for the history of the thing,” she said, pointing to a hanging stained-glass window. She found the antique in the basement of a business in Manitou Springs that was closing. While she doesn’t know how it got there, she fixed it up and now it’s a special piece in her collection.

Willard can create and fix pretty much anything that is made with sheet glass, like windows and sun-catchers. She describes her work as “heirloom quality” — meaning the products will last for generations. She thinks it’s a pretty special way to be remembered, that her work might remain in homes long after she’s gone.

“They’re gonna outlive all of us,” she said about her pieces. “That’s a good legacy to have, I suppose.”

And, as long as rows of glass sheets line her studio, Willard will continue to create art.

“The colors and all the imaginative designs — there’s no limit.”