Daniel's glass panels take on a life of their own--changing with the movement of light. He described them as a web of color, glass and metal that translate into more than an ordinary window.
"I'm intrigued with the idea that a window can be looked at as well as looked through," he said.
For his stained glass works, Daniels uses lots of clear glass--antique is most popular among clients--and inserts colored glass pieces as decorative accents. He focuses on letting as much light in as possible. "It can feel like a church if we don't lighten it up," he said.
If you happened to be in Minneapolis, you might see some of his distinctive designs in windows and doors while driving around Lake of the Isles neighborhoods. Or if you visit the Loring Pasta Bar--that's his stained glass logo. Daniel has even designed a home office made of glass walls.
His primary jobs are in Twin Cities homes but he also does some commercial work, most notably a recent commission to fabricate a large stained glass panel above the doorway of the renovated Linden Hills Public Library.
Daniel usually collaborates with clients on colors and motif, but sometimes he is given complete artistic freedom on a project. He often makes home visits to be sure the stained glass panel he creates harmonizes with the home's interior and architecture.
With the help of assistant Shawnee Langworthy, he draws a tiny mock-up of a design and then a to-scale "cartoon" or template. Daniel uses only mouth-blown glass, most of it from Germany, because it contains air bubbles, streaks and other interesting imperfections.
"Mouth-blown glass has a lot of life in it and lots of colors," said Daniel. "Machine-blown glass is dead."
It's not only his clean, architectural designs but the different kinds of textured glass--reeded, crackle, reamy, full antique and cathedral--that create the mood he's looking for.
In his studio, Daniel toiled over a front door panel, building a glass puzzle of clear antique and colored glass pieces. A yellow-olive rondel (a circle of glass that looks like the bottom of a pop bottle) was used as the centerpiece. "It has a rustic, old-world look," Daniel said.
The key to his design style is a mix of old and modern elements and he draws from the works of architects he admires, primarily Frank Lloyd Wright and Charles Rennie Mackintosh.
"We're taking bits of the past and creating something that's new," he said.
What makes his work original are the curves and circular designs, decorative features from the Arts and Crafts movement and updated color schemes. "I don't do a lot of pictorials. My work is more abstract, capturing the elements of the surrounding architecture. Or it can be a pure art piece," he said.
Daniel grew up in England, surrounded by magnificent European stained glass works of art. As a teen, he was transfixed by windows in European medieval cathedrals he saw in a book. "They seemed otherworldly," he said. "The intricate colored light spilled all over the place, and the glass made it breathtaking."
He served an apprenticeships in London, learning the British techniques for matching classic old craft style, turn-of-the century and medieval works.
Daniel moved to Minnesota and became a community education instructor in stained glass history and technique. "When I realized I couldn't be a musician, I fell into it," he said. And he discovered that stained glass work delivered a nice balance of creativity and working with his hands.
When Daniel sees his stained glass designs around town, he feels a sense of accomplishment. "It's a great feeling to know it will be there after you're gone."
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