ON THE ROAD AGAIN!

I completed the church commission in Iowa and the windows were installed! A dedication ceremony will be held next weekend. The photos will be uploaded as soon as my laptop heals from it's "black eye!" 
I head out today to another new client in New Glarus, Wisconsin. She has chosen a hexagon pattern containing oak leaves to adorn her front porch! I'm looking forward to this commission. It is smaller (26 inches) so it will give me some much needed instant gratification. I enjoy the large commissions but now and again it is nice to do a piece and be done in a week or so. LIFT UP YOUR ART! With gratitude, Laurie

PROGRESS ON THE STAINED GLASS CHURCH WINDOWS

 

I am adding additional photos today of the progress being made on the church windows. It's going very well and I'm getting ready to grind each individual piece of the first panel. The photos I've added show some of the pattern pieces adhered to the sheets of glass and then the "pile" of pattern pieces that have been cut and are now ready to grind! Progress. One small step at a time. LIFT UP YOUR ART! With Gratitude, Laurie

PS. If you haven't already done so, please become a fan on my Facebook page! The link is at the top. I need to hit 1000 fans and I'm getting very close! Thank you so much for your interest in stained glass!

Hyde Park Panel How-To in Stained Glass

I have been MIA for a bit and thought I'd give you a visual on some things I've been doing. As followers of my blog know, I have been in the process of creating a replica of a Hyde Park Stained Glass Panel. The pictures above show one of the steps of the process I just completed. The edges of each pattern piece are ground smooth and then fitted on the pattern allowing for the mm of foil that each will be wraped in. When you are finished with this stage of the game you must make sure each piece is labeled properly and then they are ready to be washed, dried and foiled. Tonight and tomorrow I will be foiling each pattern piece and will the show you a picture of what the pattern looks like once it's placed in the jig and ready to be soldered. I've also been grinding another bird feeder cover and a lovely multi-colored church panel for an upcoming gig I have in April. Can't wait to share those with my friends here! Hope everyone is at home this evening, safe and warm. I must say this weather is, well....ENOUGH all ready! With gratitude, Laurie B.

MY MIND IS IN A TRANSOM STAGE TWO AND THREE

Yesterday I posted about a "mini transom" that I am creating and shared the first step in the process...picking your pattern or creating a design of your own. The next step is to choose your glass. This is where the sky is the limit! There are hundreds and hundreds of types of glass to choose from. Things to take into consideration when coordinating the glass choices is, texture, lighting application and the glass transparency.

Once your have made your choices you then cut the pattern pieces out (after making two additional copies) and adhering them to the glass. (I use a glue stick)

Placement of each pattern piece is also an issue. Glass only WANTS to cut in a straight line. Pieces with deep grooves and curves take several smaller cuts to achieve the pattern design.

When each piece has been cut I head on over to my "monster" as I like to refer to him...It is my glass grinder. I featured a picture of "him" in a past post....Each piece must be ground smooth along all of the edges and then washed and cleaned in preparation for the copper foil.

Here is a photo of the pieces I cut and ground for my first "mini transom". Tomorrow I will show you what the copper foiling application looks like.

Stained Glass artists all have their own "way" of mastering the art of stained glass. I believe that is where the word "art" comes into play...There really is no "right" way and "wrong" way to do things. Some methods may make your life a lot easier, granted...but in the end, it's all about enjoying the process. With Gratitude, Laurie B.