Johnston finds passion in stained glass creations

12/31/2025

The most well-known examples of stained glass are found in churches that draw eyes inside and outside of the building. As it turns out, it is easier than one might think to make stained glass creations, as David Johnston found out in his retirement.

Johnston says it’s as easy as taking a class. He had signed up for one at the Des Moines Art Center, but it was cancelled due to the pandemic. He then opted for an online class, and he has been making his own stained glass art ever since. 

“We explore our artistic sides when we’re idle,” Johnston said on starting his hobby during the pandemic. During a time when many people began exploring various hobbies, his just happened to be stained glass. 

“Everybody was doing something, and because I was in IT, and that’s a right-brain function, I was looking forward to doing something different, using the other side of my brain. As I started cutting and playing around more, it just took me, reeled me in more and more. And, I really enjoyed all the different things you can do,” he said.

Johnston is partially inspired by his mother, who was also an artist. 

“You’ll see a lot of other people’s works in my inspiration. My mom was an artist, so I enjoyed watching her paint as a child,” he said. 

For Johnston, inspiration not only comes from other stained glass artists but architects as well. He pointed to a creation of his that was of a wheat field.

“Frank Lloyd Wright has some very detailed work. This is the first piece I’ve done that had a lot of skinny, vertical pieces, which a lot of his works have. So, I’ll look at somebody else’s work, and that’ll inspire me to try it on my own,” Johnston said.

Vincent Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” is on his list of famous works he would like to recreate.

“I really like his techniques, the colors and flow,” Johnston said.

The pieces take more thinking than simply what colors or patterns he believes will look good. He says they also need to be structurally sound without hurting the overall look.

“It’s copper foil around glass, and then you solder it. It needs to be hiding in plain sight, right? It needs to be something that has a creative element but offers support, like these wires right here (gesturing to one his creations). That’s totally holding that together,” Johnston said.

He says you can get stained glass to use in these art pieces at Hobby Lobby, which is cheap and easily accessible but not the best quality. He goes through other suppliers including Indianola Stained Glass, a place he says has high-quality glass. 

Johnston uses a handheld glass cutter for his work. If the edges come out rough, he uses a grinder to smooth them out. He said — while knocking on wood — that he has not had any catastrophic failures while cutting glass or putting together a piece. 

“You learn to listen to the glass and to talk to the glass, and you learn what you can get away with and what you shouldn’t get away with. Sometimes, I’ll take chances on a curve. Curved pieces are hard to do, but if you take your time and think about it, then it’s doable,” Johnston said.

Recently, Johnston had his artwork featured at the Waukee Library. It led to his first sale since he started the hobby years ago.

“I noticed that there’s an art room, and people were showing their stuff. So, I reached out to them. I had to wait in line, but it was pretty exciting to get it set up,” Johnston said.

His daughter convinced him to reach out to the library.

 “I probably wouldn’t have even thought about doing this. She said, ‘Dad, you need to do this.’ She helped me set that up. It was exciting. I sold one piece, which is more than I thought I would sell, but I think, for me, it was more about the process of showing it more than ‘I’m going to get a lot of accolades,’ or anything like that. It was a good exercise because I would like to have a booth in the show next year, maybe the Waukee art show,” Johnston said.

Above all else, working on stained glass is just something Johnston enjoys spending his time on.

“It’s less about showing and selling as it is my enjoyment of making them. If I can make something that somebody likes, that’s awesome, I really would like that, but it’s meditative. It’s just relaxing. The process of creating is rewarding,” Johnston said. ♦