Lovebirds in a Tree

A unique handmade stained glass suncatcher of two lovebirds sitting in a tree surrounded by leaves. The circular suncatcher uses recycled glass for the leaves.

The outer ring of the suncatcher is 12.5 inches (31 cm) around and made from a 1/4 inch (.6 cm)copper pipe tube that I coated with solder. Next I made two main tree limbs out of thick wire that start at the right of the outer ring and extend across to the left. Each main limb has a few smaller branches that curve outward. The tree branches are textured with thinner wire that I curved and soldered within the thicker wire frame to give a look of tree bark. Sitting in the middle of the circle, just slightly offcenter to the left, are two love birds. Each have curving wings, head/chest, and a tail. The bird on the left has a basic flared tail while the bird on the right has a more elaborate tail of three curved pieces of glass. The birds are in complementary colors of turquiose, royal blue and purple. The bird on the left has a royal blue wing and turquoise body and tail. The bird on the right has a purple body and turquoise wing and tail pieces. The birds are sitting on the branch facing each other with their beaks touching.

The leaves that surround the birds and attach to the wire tree branches are made from the sides of a glass wine bottle. Each leaf has a three dimensional look and curves slightly. There are 24 leaves in all that attach to the wire branches, to each other, the birds and to the outer ring. The shape and curve of each leaf is slightly different, but they are all an olive green color. This piece is three dimensional on the front, with the leaves sticking out to about 1/2 inch, however the back is flat so that the suncatcher can still hang against a window or wall.

The space between the birds and the leaves is left open, which gives the piece a lighter, more airy feel. It hangs from 19 inches (48 cm) of stainless steel chain.