About

Hello — I'm Janneke, the artist and maker behind Lelie.

The Fascination

Stained glass has fascinated me for as long as I can remember. There is something almost magical about the way coloured light moves through glass — you see it in the grand windows of churches and cathedrals, but also in the way a simple panel in a home can completely transform a room depending on the hour of the day. What always impressed me equally was the craft itself. How do you actually cut glass? Isn't it impossibly fragile? Aren't all those sharp edges dangerous? And lead is quite soft, so not exactly structural? I had questions. Many questions.

How It Started

In 2021 I moved from a small Amsterdam apartment to a larger house in Lelystad — and for the first time I had the space to set up a proper home studio. I already knew I wanted stained glass in the house, and I wanted to make it myself. When the world opened up again in 2022 I signed up for a one-day introduction workshop, and that was it. I was completely sold. I bought the tools, the materials, some sheets of glass, and got to work. Everything I know beyond that first day I taught myself — through YouTube, online research, conversations with other enthusiasts, and above all by simply making things and learning from what went wrong. The name Lelie (Dutch for Lily) grew out of that same period — a quiet nod to Lelystad, and a happy coincidence. The very first panel I designed independently turned out to resemble a lily. I chose that first panel as my logo, so the name followed naturally.

My Philosophy

My larger work is strongly inspired by the Art Deco movement: clean geometry, bold lines, and a sense of elegance that doesn't need to shout. But inspiration finds me everywhere — in shapes, colours, the quality of light at a particular moment. One principle I hold firmly: I design everything myself and I never copy another artist's work. Copying someone else's design is, to me, simply theft. I'll admit the temptation is real sometimes — there is so much beautiful work being made — but originality and authenticity matter deeply to me. Every piece I make is my own design, and that is not something I'm willing to compromise on.

The Process

Every piece is made entirely by hand in my home studio, from the initial design sketch through to the final polish. I don't outsource any part of the process, and I don't cut corners on materials. I work with both the traditional leaded glass method and the copper foil (Tiffany) method — and I'm genuinely happy doing either. My preference is clear though: if a design can be made in lead, I make it in lead. There is a directness and a solidity to leaded glass that I love. Copper foil comes into its own for smaller, more detailed pieces and three-dimensional objects, and I've made plenty of those as gifts and commissions. But my real passion is for larger panels — pieces that fill a window and change the light in a room.