Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Stained Glass

Originally stained glass appeared only on very important buildings and church windows. Its popularity exploded in the 1900 when Louis Comfort Tiffany, an artist and designer, began using the techniques in his works, the most famous of these being the Tiffany stained glass lamps. Considering the history and beauty behind stained glass work, I was excited to give it a go.
Because of the type of work stain glass requires there wasn’t really a take home kit, more so a selection of tools, chemicals, and glass. This cost of this started at €45 depending on what you make, which included some practice pieces of glass, the choice of two items to make, the choice of coloured glass and use of the tools and chemicals.

Here's how I got on…


This was something I had never tried before or never even thought of attempting because I assumed it would be far too complicated and would require a lot of experience. It really wasn’t the case, the teacher Bianca demonstrated step-by-step what was involved and there was plenty of glass made available to practice on. 
There were many different designs and coloured glass to choose from, even some jewellery. Above is some of the work from my classmates and Bianca herself.

If you are vegetarian or vegan, you should be made aware that one of the items used in the welding contains sheep fat. This is in line with the traditional method of making stain glass. However you do not have to use this and can use the solution instead.

For more information contact An Grianán at An Grianán at admin@an-grianan.ie or 041 9822119

To see more work form Bianca, have a peek here www.biancadivito.com

2 comments:

  1. That's fantastic Ann, would love to give it a go. Must contact An Grianan to see when the next class is on.

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