A graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, J. Kenneth Leap brings a painter's eye to the field of architectural art glass. His images are created by the meticulous application of layers of kiln fired vitreous pigments on glass. He is capable of hyper realistic figural painting on glass and often matches photo silkscreens with his own brushwork in a single composition. He has completed several projects in collaboration with Derix.

Kean University Union, NJ
This art glass window at Kean University, near Newark, NJ, was installed in October 2002. The window is titled 'Where Tradition and Technology Meet' and was commissioned by Kean University with assistance from the New Jersey Council on the Arts. The 12' x 10' window completes the renovation of the Kean Building on the University campus.

Each art glass panel consists of a painted, fired, and laminated sheet of 1/4” tempered float glassis installed as one pane of a standard 1” thick insulated glass unit, and installed as a normal architectural component.

22nd Street Light Rail Station, Bayonne, NJ
This art glass wind screen is situated on an outdoor train platform in Bayonne, NJ. The work was commissioned by NJ Transit. It consists of 1/2” thick tempered and laminated glass panels that were extensively silkscreened, airbrushed, and hand painted with vitreous enamels. Etching with sand and acid on the back provides a translucent background for the artwork.

The panels are installed with standard stainless steel architectural glass fittings. The panels are durable, weather proof, and require no maintenance.The graphics feature silkscreened images taken from photographs depicting the history of the town.

Vineland VA Home Vineland, NJ

These windows adorn the chapels in this Veterans Administration facility in Vineland, NJ. Ken has gathered old photographic depicting America's veterans, along with contemporary imagery and produced a gentle and contemplative atmosphere for the chapels. Although some of the images were silkscreened with vitreous enamels, and others by etching with a photo empulsion process, Ken painted two of the images by hand, with an amazing mastery of photo realism. The studio photos show Ken working at the studio. Ken is painting with vitreous enamels on 1/4" thick float glass. The glass is fired several times during the different levels of application . The final fire is in a tempering kiln.

All of these panels are part of standard insulated glass units, the normal architectural skin of the building. They are installed by the site glazing contractor and require no maintenance during the life of the buildling.