Self-taught Sonoma Coast stained glass artist Diana Bundy dazzles

Just a few blocks from the ocean at Salmon Creek, Diana Bundy works from a cozy, art-filled studio? transforming panels of raw glass into beautiful designs that enhance entryways, windows, tabletops and more.

The stained-glass artist has been designing custom pieces for more than 40 years, making everything from lampshades and ambiance lamps to decorative window hangings, windows and full-length doors. The art form brings as much joy today as when she started as a young woman ready for a new career path.

Bundy spotted a stained-glass piece in a store window in the late 1970s and knew in that instant she’d found her passion. She has no recollection of the design but vividly remembers the impact it had on her.

“It spoke to me,” she said. “All I saw was the colors of glass in the sun. It must have been (shining) on it perfectly right. Something about it just grabbed me.”

Her only art lessons were in high school, where her drawings won praise from her instructor. Determined to become a stained-glass artist, she found a book on the medium and, through practice, became a self-trained artisan. She’s never looked back.

“I’ve got all the tools and once you know how to use your tools, it’s not hard,” she said. “I keep working at it until it looks right. I have no training whatsoever.”

Working on a recent afternoon from her home-based studio, Salmon Creek Designs, Bundy was finishing one piece while already thinking ahead to the custom order that follows.

With a cup of tea at her side, ocean views from a front window and backyard dog and cat doors inviting pets Capri and Pickles to visit, Bundy went about her workday in a former one-car garage that her husband, Michael Bundy, a builder and craftsman, turned into an ideal workshop.

“It’s my space,” the artist said. “It’s where I love to be.”

The studio is complete with a constellation of creamy yellow stars she painted on the concrete floor, rows of vertical shelves housing panels of glass in a rainbow of hues and the equipment and tools Bundy uses to perfect her artwork, from specialty scissors, pliers and a self-oiling glass cutter to a glass grinder and soldering iron - all used in the many steps to completing a project.

“I thoroughly, thoroughly enjoy it,” she said of the medium.

She admits to going through several boxes of Band-Aids in the early days of her career, but has since been without cuts or scratches from working with glass. “Rarely now, because I’m very careful,” she said.

Although the work is time consuming and precise, Bundy insists she’s “the world’s least patient person.” What she may lack in patience, she finds in other avenues. “I am woman,” she said. “I multitask.”

She has no idea how many pieces she’s completed during her long career but shares that each project has a story.

Most of her clients live in the North Bay, finding her through word of mouth or by visiting during twice-a-year Salmon Creek ArtWalk open studio tours in the coastal village about a mile north of Bodega Bay.

Bundy especially loves the serendipity of clients finding her from spotting “funky” art walk signs (orange with a salmon caricature) while taking coastal drives. “I can’t think of any better way,” said Bundy, who grew up on the New Jersey shore before making her way to California at age 19.

Bundy founded the juried art walk a few years after moving to Salmon Creek, when she had several pieces to sell and scouted the area for neighboring artists to join her in showcasing their works. The free event, also featuring guest artists, is in its 20th year, with the next art walk set for 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 25 and 26 (visit salmoncreekartwalk.com for details).

Bundy’s designs often evolve from clients’ interests and ideas - broad or specific. One client knew exactly what she wanted, pulling down her pants to reveal her tattoo featuring a dolphin and a hibiscus. The image is now on display in the woman’s bathroom window. “That’s the tattoo on her bottom,” Bundy said, pointing to a photo of the likeness in her portfolio.

For Bundy’s largest piece, she was commissioned to create a stained-glass entryway for a hillside home with sweeping views on the Sonoma Coast. “At the time, I was just getting into my mermaid phase. I thought I’d like to do a merman and that’s how Neptune came about.”

It took a year to complete the detailed project, a front door with two side panels, with the king of the sea holding his outstretched trident, his hair seemingly blowing in the ocean breeze. The piece was installed in June of 2011 without a hitch.

“All installations are a heart attack for me,” Bundy said. “One crack and it’s …” She doesn’t finish her sentence. Her husband installs her works, calling upon a friend for help with larger projects.

Many of her works feature seascapes, like a series of flowing jellyfish she has on display in her studio. One of the designs, made entirely of clear textured glass, catches the light from her studio door. Bundy also has designed everything from a spider web and an alligator - both in windows at her house - to a fly fisherman featured in two side door panels for a couple’s home.

Bundy created a stained-glass piece for a hallway niche that looks like a 3D aquarium full of brilliant sea life. Another commissioned work features the toucan from Guinness beer advertisements (a sudsy pint balanced on its beak) that’s now on display in an at-home pub.

Various birds and birdhouses, lighthouses, bubbles, boats, flower blossoms, hanging plants, suns, moons, cats and dogs also have found their way into her works. Whenever appropriate, “I always put Salmon Creek in the background if I can,” she said.

Although Bundy likes every step of the stained-glass process, “I really enjoy the design portion. I’m totally concerned with the design and pattern.”

She sketches her designs, transfers patterns to heavy card stock using carbon paper, then cuts each numbered piece so she can begin working with glass and strips of lead came or copper foil to achieve her vision.

She visits the rooms where custom pieces will be installed, not only to measure but to get a feel for the space. She considers the perspective of where clients will view the piece, even from the seat of a toilet.

Bundy has little time to create pieces for display in art galleries or shops. Instead she relies on commissions and the Salmon Creek ArtWalk for business. In addition to stained-glass pieces, she’s completed copper sculptures and garden art that she paints and adorns with glitter or beads.

She also manages the seasonal Bodega Bay Farmers Market and she and her husband have been volunteer stewards of the Bodega Bay Community Center for the past decade, one of their many community involvements.

Bundy pursues her artwork as often as she can, but never commits to an exact completion date for commissioned work. “That depends on what’s going on in my life,” she said. Her clients are understanding.

Even after decades as an artisan, she never tires of stepping back to view her completed projects, whether large or humble. “I’ll look at them and say, ‘Wow, I really did that.’ But I don’t have one favorite. Each one is special for a different reason.”

The medium isn’t an inexpensive one. “It’s a wonderful, wonderful medium, but it is pricey,” she said. There also are fewer stained-glass artists than in previous eras. “It was a rage in the 1970s. Everybody did it.”

Bundy finds immeasurable joy “when a client sees (their commissioned piece) for the first time and they love it. That makes me feel so good,” she said. “They’re getting a one-of-a-kind something that nobody else will have.”

For more information about Diana Bundy’s stained-glass artwork, visit salmoncreekdesign.com.