Another day in the studio

After another day in the studio, I wasn't going to post an update because there doesn't appear to be much progress. So to cheer myself up I thought I would pop a couple of different new bits in. We have the most beautiful baroque glass, which consists of black, white and clear glass swirled together. It is perfect for the shirt and I have been looking forward to adding it to the portrait, but not to cutting it; it's a real nightmare. True to form, a long and unbelievably sharp edge sliced right through my thumb whilst manipulating it on the grinder. It's so sharp I didn't feel a thing, just wondered why the water was running red when it was actually black and white glass. 

Wasn't it worth it though, the shirt is absolutely perfect; really pleased. 

Stained glass portrait

Continuing with the stained glass portrait, today I bonded all the green background pieces to the base glass. It can be really tricky with the big pieces, so I temporarily fix them face down to a piece of wood, this allows me to hold it firmly whilst applying bonding agent, which is very viscose and sticky. The wood also allows me to accurately place them onto the pattern without smearing any glass, which saves hours of cleaning up. 

Whilst the bond cures, I crack on cutting more glass. First the piece I am preparing is cut with a pair of scissors from one of the pattern copies, this is then placed onto the glass where the colour and texture best meet the needs, and very carefully drawn around. 

Then using a glass cutter I make as many cuts as is necessary to get as close as possible to the final shape. 

Then a bit of nifty work with the grozing pliers is followed by some very careful finishing on one of the grinding machines and hey presto; a perfect glass copy of the original paper shape. 

It doesn't look like any part of a face, not until it takes it's correct place on the pattern. Then slowly, but surely a picture begins to emerge. Again please forgive my photography, it really doesn't do it justice. 

Stained glass portrait.

Started work today in on the stained glass portrait. It is to be an appliqué project, with the cut and intricately shaped coloured glass bonded to a sheet of plain float glass to form the image. 

We saw in a previous post how to turn a photograph into a workable cartoon, I have made several copies of this. The first is fixed underneath the float glass and is centralised to balance the picture (the original was off centre with the top part missing). I then cut a thin border from a beautiful dark brown glass and bonded it to the picture glass. The next copy is waterproofed and placed on an assembly board. This is used to fit and check fit all the glass pieces before they are bonded, this prevents scratches, chips and spreading the bonding agent. The next couple of copies are used to cut the pattern blanks which are then traced around onto the glass so an accurate shape can be cut; I'll cover that in another post. 

In the picture, the image on the left is the actual glass sheet with the border bonded to it, and on the right is a check image with all the green pieces (the tree background) in place; for anyone interested, that is a full days work. 

Stained glass portrait

Whilst we are waiting to complete the reproduction Victorian fanlight, we can start another project. My favourite works are the stained glass portraits; incredibly difficult, but very rewarding. Unlike normal windows, portraits produce a familiar  image, which to the client is a loved one or possibly a cherished pet and needs to be of such a good likeness that it is instantly recognisable. Our particular style  is quite unique in that we construct the image from intricately shaped pieces of coloured glass, using shades and patterns within the glass to add form and highlight the features. These are then bonded mosaic style to a sheet of thin float glass and are finally grouted. This particular technique is called Appliqué. 

There are very few coloured glasses which replicate with any accuracy the tones of skin, so we tend to use whispy creams and browns and accept a little poetic license with the realism. But as you can see in the first photograph, the overall effect can be quite remarkable. 

 

The portrait we are doing is of the father of our client who sadly passed away a while ago. It is a favourite photograph so needs very sympathetic handling. However as you can see in the second picture, although being a lovely portrait, it is actually quite short on detail. The main features on which we focus when looking at a face, the eyes, mouth and nose, are all in fairly deep shadow, there is also not much change of tone across the face, so this will be quite difficult to reproduce. As you can see in the third photo, we have drawn in all the glass cut lines, following features and areas of different colour or texture, trying to highlite them in such a manner as to enhance the form and add depth to the image. When we are happy with that, we then have to go over all the lines and shapes to make sure that they are all achievable in glass; no mean feat. So there you are, one cartoon for a stained glass portrait ready to go. I hope you like it. 

Stained glass portrait

One subject I am asked if I can do more than any other is the stained glass portrait. And the main subjects tend to be pets rather than people; are they saying something? Whether man or beast, we try to make the portrait as accurate as possible, with recognisable details, and we try really hard to capture and portray the character of the subject. But it is also a piece of glass art and should be able to stand alone as an eye catching thing of beauty. 

We either use copper foil or the appliqué method of constructing the pictures depending how they have been designed and the effect we are trying to achieve and we try to use glass which will still produce a lovely image whether the light is reflected or transmitted. The pictures are made entirely out of intricately cut and shaped coloured glass and 

assembled like a delicate jigsaw puzzle. The effect is remarkable, but very time consuming. 

Stained glass portrait

This stained glass project is being done as a gift for my dad. He has just had his 90th birthday and I wanted to do something really special for him. As a young man, an artist friend painted a beautiful portrait of him which I grew up admiring, so it's a real thrill for me to do this for my wonderful dad.
The technique being used is called appliqué and differs from normal leading or copper foiling in that the glass pieces once cut are bonded to a sub sheet of plain float glass.