Most of it is window glass that I get from contractors homeowners doing renovations or demolition. The dishes & bowls are made from ¼-inch thick, non-tempered plate glass. Sometimes I get old shelving units or tabletops to work with.

This picture illustrates the four types of glass types I produce. However, some designs are available only in one or two types. Please see the descriptions next to the product pictures throughout this website.

four types of glass

top: clear
left: black-tinted
right: frosted
bottom: lightly-frosted

I put my handmade dishes in the dishwasher all the time and have not broken one yet. I advise my customers to skip the ‘heat to dry’ setting. Large  platters and bowls don’t fit in the dishwasher and should be cleaned by hand.

The dishes and bowls can go in the microwave to reheat food. I recommend short settings (1-2 minutes), stir, and add more time if necessary.
I don’t use them for microwave cooking, as microwave heats food unevenly. Long setting will create uneven hot spots that may cause thermal shock, leading to cracks and breakage. 
I recommend not putting glass dishes in a regular oven. They are sturdy, but they are not Pyrex. The uneven heat from the hot metal rack may cause thermal shock.

All window glass has a bit of an aqua tint in it. Maybe you have noticed this color when looking at the edges of glass shelves or table tops, when you look at the edge? We just do not see it when looking through windows.
The way in which my designs are raised into the glass brings out the natural color of glass.

Yes, dishes made from window glass are safe to serve food on. Since glass is a non-porous material, it does not interact with food, unlike other materials (plastic, Styrofoam). 

Lead is not an ingredient used in the production of window glass. You may have heard of “lead crystal”. It refers to fine crystal (goblets, decanters, crystals) where (in the past) lead was added to make it perfectly pigment-free. In my pieces, you will actually see the natural, aqua-green/blue tint of glass because lead was not added. (see the question above)

The design creates a subtle ripple on the eating surface of the dinner plate. There is a shallow sunken spiral that liquids will ‘pool’ in. But the actual designs are impressed into the underside of the piece.
The Spiral dinner plates are quite nice to eat off of.
Some of my designs (Whirlwind, Baroque, Lotus) raise the surface a bit more, for a dramatic effect, but these are only sold in larger sizes as serving platters.