About The Glass Patch
A small studio built for people who create.
What Is The Glass Patch?
The Glass Patch is a working stained-glass studio in the lower level of my 1900 Indianapolis home.
It is a real studio—glass on the shelves, tools within reach, and projects underway—but it was never meant to be simply a place where people come to take a class.
I wanted to create a space where people could slow down, try something unfamiliar, make mistakes without worrying about them, and feel genuinely supported while they learn.
Some people come because they want to spend a few creative hours by themselves or with a friend, partner, family member, or someone else important to them. For others, that first experience becomes the beginning of learning an entirely new craft.
Either way, I want the experience to feel personal, comfortable, and unhurried. You are welcome to settle in, help yourself to a drink or snack from the studio fridge, ask questions, take your time choosing glass, and make yourself at home while you create.
My hope is that you leave proud of what you made, a little more confident in what you can do, and glad you spent the time creating it.
Small by Design
The Glass Patch is not a large classroom or a traditional retail studio. That is intentional.
The studio is designed for no more than four makers at a time. That gives us time to ask questions, try again, solve a problem together, and choose the glass you actually love. It also allows me to pay attention to the person in front of me rather than simply move a group through the same steps.
People learn in different ways and need different kinds of support. One person may benefit from seeing a step demonstrated again, while another needs time to work through it independently. Sometimes the most helpful thing I can do is offer reassurance or help someone look beyond the imperfections that have captured their attention so they can appreciate what they are creating and keep moving forward.
The same attention goes into the studio itself—the workspace, the tools, the way materials are organized, and the small details that help people feel comfortable while they are here.
My hope is that leaving The Glass Patch feels less like walking out of a class and more like leaving a place where you felt genuinely welcome—and where you already look forward to returning.
The Patch Pantry
Part supply cabinet. Part treasure hunt.
The Patch Pantry holds color-sorted glass offcuts and everyday studio materials that are available while you create.
It gives you room to experiment, change your mind, try another color, or keep a project moving without every small decision becoming another purchase.
Sometimes you may use one piece. Sometimes you may find nearly everything you need. Either way, it is one of the ways I try to make creating here feel easier, more generous, and less pressured.
Who Is Liz?
Hi, I’m Liz Osika—the owner, maker, and instructor behind The Glass Patch.
I am also a mother, a friend, a traveler, a devoted pet person, an educator, a fixer, and someone who instinctively takes care of the people around me.
Before opening the studio, I spent much of my career in higher education, including work as a professor specializing in course design and curriculum development. I was also often the person called when something needed to be fixed, improved, or thoughtfully reworked.
Whether I was designing a course, planning an event, improving a process, or helping people navigate a significant change, I began with the people who would be affected. I thought about how they would move through the experience, where they might encounter confusion or frustration, what would help them feel supported, and how collaboration could lead to a better result.
That way of thinking still shapes everything I do at The Glass Patch. I understand the stained-glass process as a connected system, but I also understand that the person learning it matters more than the system itself.
Why Stained Glass?
I have always been drawn to creative work, but stained glass brought together an unusual combination of things I love: color, light, precision, problem-solving, teaching, and the satisfaction of making something tangible with my hands.
It asks for patience without demanding perfection. It also has a useful way of reminding you that a mistake is rarely the end of the project.
My experience as an educator shapes the way I introduce that process to other people. I want you to understand not only what to do, but why you are doing it. I will demonstrate a skill, talk through what is happening, help you practice, and then give you enough room to begin trusting your own hands and decisions.
I enjoy coaching someone through a difficult cut or helping them discover that soldering is not nearly as intimidating as it first appears. But my favorite moment is still the one at the end, when I hold a finished piece up to the light and the person who made it really sees it for the first time.
There is usually a pause, followed by some version of: “I did that.”
That moment matters to me because it is about more than the glass. It is the point when someone recognizes their own patience, judgment, persistence, and ability. They arrive unsure of what they can do and leave with evidence in their hands.
How the Studio Began
The Glass Patch came about more through providence than through a plan. I had no intention of starting a business.
I began by showing friends and family how to work with glass. Then I taught some of my daughter’s friends. Eventually, providing all those materials became expensive.
At my daughter’s suggestion, I created a simple website, thinking I might find a couple of people each month who wanted to take a class. That would help cover the cost of the materials I was using in the studio.
But a couple of people a month became a couple of people a week—and then a couple of people every few days.
Along the way, a series of extraordinary Marketplace finds and unexpected leads helped me build a fully functional teaching studio with tools and materials I never imagined I would have when I began.
Then my full-time position at the university was eliminated, and I had to decide what came next.
Did I want to continue my professional career at another university or company? Or was I brave enough to work for myself and build something that reflected my own beliefs and values—a business centered on meaningful work, community, and the belief that enough can truly be enough?
So, with a deep breath and a growing belief in myself, I jumped—headfirst.
The Philosophy of The Glass Patch
The Glass Patch was built around a different idea of success—one grounded in creativity, connection, belonging, meaningful work, and knowing what is enough.
That philosophy influences everything from class size and pricing to the way I teach and the decisions I make about what The Glass Patch will—and will not—become.
Today, I spend my time teaching, making, developing patterns and resources, helping people untangle project problems, and adding to an ever-growing list of patterns and ideas I am convinced I absolutely have to make.
The studio is part classroom, part workshop, part creative refuge, and very much a reflection of me.
Come Spend Some Time at The Patch
You do not need to think of yourself as creative, and you do not need to know anything about stained glass before you arrive.
You just need to be curious enough to begin. We will start there.