It isn’t easy to recreate another artist’s work. It’s even harder when that creation was done 125 years ago by a guy with, seemingly, something to prove.
Albany stained glass artist Jeff Senders is noting that truth with every minute he spends restoring two historic stained glass windows for St. Mary’s Train House.
“They are the most complex little suckers,” said Senders, 66, who has completed one of the windows and is just getting started on the second.
Each of the windows has hundreds of pieces of glass packed into an area of 2 or 3 square feet, Senders said. “Somebody who made these things was a definite showoff.”
Named after Samuel S. Train, who build the house in 1886, the Train House became part of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in the summer of 2009. The parish worked to remodel it as offices while retaining its historical appearance.
Senders, owner of Custom Stained Glass in Albany, landed the job of window restoration.
Gravity takes its toll on stained glass windows over the decades. They start to buckle and the glass begins to crack. Edges that should be under the lead casings begin to be exposed.
“We’re saving these before they crash to the ground,” Senders said. “If you were 125 years old, you’d be fragile, too.”
The work is painstaking and time consuming. Senders must remove the window, trace and map each piece, take it apart, clean everything and put it back together. It’s a process that, given his commitments to the rest of his business, usually takes four to six weeks.
Roughly 85 percent of the first Train House window was intact, Senders said. The other pieces were cracked or broken. However, he was able to use some of the larger broken pieces to replace some of the smaller broken ones, and as a longtime restorer, he had historic glass on hand to replace the rest.
Few stained glass artists have the know-how — or the willingness — to do historic restoration, Senders said. He figures he’s one of just a handful in the state.
It’s important because it both honors the work of the artist and his team from years ago and leaves a legacy for future generations, Senders said.
“My standard line is it takes high talent and low intelligence,” he quipped.
Senders was always interested in art and took classes in high school and college. He never planned to make a career out of it, however.
He did a stint in the Army and worked nine years for the employment department. Upon learning his position was to be eliminated, he turned to his glasswork hobby to see what business he could do in three months. That was three decades ago.
With new materials, the restored Train House windows should stand strong, he said. “They’ll probably last a couple hundred years.”
