As a young girl sitting in church, Denise DiLellio was fascinated by the beams of light shining through the stained-glass windows. She made it her goal to learn how to create stained glass pieces of her own. While she’s been working with glass since her youth, she’s just recently opened a gallery space and workshop in Mantua where she sells her pieces and teaches others how to bring their own designs to light.
“Stained glass with all its facets and hues, shines and sparkles,” DiLellio’s brochure notes, “but like us, it is that Beacon of Light that brings out our truest beauty.” Her studio name, Beacon Hues, is a play on that concept. She explained, “It’s not just about the intricacies of the glass; behind every design, there’s a moment of joy, a special memory, or an inspiration.”
Throughout her career as a home healthcare provider, art has been her therapy, letting her escape to creative, imaginative places. “It’s my little piece of heaven,” she marveled. Since DiLellio has retired from that vocation, she’s begun pursuing her art fulltime.
Now art enthusiasts can shop her home-based studio to find a piece that speaks to them. Folks can also create their own artwork at one of her Tiffany-style classes or workshops.
Through Beacon Hues Glass, individuals can participate in make-and-take workshops for an introduction to stained glass. Participants can choose from a collection of existing design templates, selecting the colors that appeal to them. After the three-hour workshop, they leave with a completed piece.
For a more in-depth experience, participants can register for private classes where DeLellio will guide them through creating a design, selecting glass, cutting, grinding, foiling, and soldering their own stained-glass masterpieces.
In addition to works that hang in windows, filtering light through vibrant colors and a variety of textured glass, DiLellio’s pieces are varied. Some are based on nature, featuring buds or an assortment of flowers, some with perfectly formed copper stems, from large pieces to diminutive ornaments that catch the light on a Christmas tree or in the garden. She’s even created a decorative mobile that shimmers and dances in the breeze. “I enjoy moving out of the traditional box,” she noted. That’s how she came to incorporate sea glass, pebbles, pottery, and crystals into her designs. “I get bored easily, “she laughed. “I’ll try and create whatever pops into my head,” she added. She also created custom pieces by request.
DiLellio’s Beacon Hues gallery offers private classes, group workshops, custom designs, and restoration services. Her work has been selected as part of the Trumbull Art Gallery’s Random Acts of Art juried show in Warren through the end of August, as well.
For more information, email beaconhuesglass@gmail.com or visit beaconhuesglass.com.
