Lately...

A few images from the past couple of weeks.  Some work, some play...

Purple Iris Stained Glass Window Commission

I recently finished this large purple iris window for a lovely couple who travelled all the way from Hertfordshire to commission.  They were so nice they even bought me a beautiful bouquet of irises when they came to collect it.  

The design was quite challenging, especially in a window of this size (approximately 10 square feet) to make it stable and strong.  Although the panel was to be fitted on the inside of an existing window, which would provide support and stop the panel from bowing over time, it was still important that the design allowed me to handle and manoeuvre it during the making, without being too unwieldy.

The glass used for the iris petals is a machine-made streaky, but it was perfect to recreate the delicate, tissue-paper quality of them.  I also added a little bit of silver stain to suggest the yellow area at the centre.  The background glass is an ultra-pale blue tinted Polish mouth blown glass, which has beautiful meandering striations, tiny air-bubbles and superb clarity, allowing the sunlight to sparkle as it comes through.  You can see on the top picture the reflection cast on the adjacent wall.

Here are some work-in-progress images...

Design:

The panel was so large I had to design it on the floor over 3 days.  In order to make it, I had to get a new workbench built (I needed one anyway, but it was good to have the impetus).  Pictured is the old, scruffy one I've been working on the for the last 10 years.  Working on the new one is like driving around in a Rolls Royce.

Leading:

Often my favourite stage of making a window... seeing it take form in front of your eyes is quite magical.

Ready to solder:
Because of the sword-shaped leaves, a lot of the lead joints were at quite an acute angle, and have to be cut well so that they can be soldered neatly.  I can get quite OCD about my leading...

Cementing:

Never the nicest job, but I had just cleaned out and reorganised my cementing shed, so it was nicer than it had been for a long time in there.

Work in Progress - One Square Foot

I've been continuing with designing and making my three panels for the upcoming One Square Foot contemporary stained glass exhibition which opens on 24th May.

It's been liberating to turn some ideas that have been inside my head for some time into actual pieces.  The process has also generated a lot more ideas for future projects and designs I'd like to work on.

If you are in the Bridgend area in May/June, do try and visit Chris's studio to see it.

To blog or not...

Blogging.  A constant dilemma.  Seems entirely superfluous these days.  But then I read sweet, funny posts like this, or see beautiful photos like these and think, Yes, there is a point.


From top to bottom:

1) Work in progress on exhibition panels
2) There are always funny little things I find when tidying the girls' rooms 
3) Auditioning new bird shapes
4) That day when it felt like summer, even at 7am
5) My favourite beach activity

Nothing To See Here.

A couple of interesting commissions at the design stage.

A panel that I have finished and submitted for this but don't want to show yet because I want to keep it for a small group exhibition I'm joining in with next May.

A cat that has gone missing for 2 days who normally doesn't even leave the sofa, let alone the garden walls.

So not much to see I'm afraid, but I have re-opened my Folksy shop, if the lovely people that buy my work prefer to buy via a British company.

Old and New

I thought I had posted these already, but looking back I see that I haven't.

It's been that kind of year - just finishing one project, and straight on to the next. Photos get taken, then left on my desktop for days/weeks.

But I'm not complaining - I love having both the traditional and contemporary work on the go together, never getting bored of one or the other.

These leaves were sent off to Ely, along with the nasturtiums. I've had a really good response to the cacti set that I made, so I thought I'd tweak my chevron leaf design in the same direction, using shades of olive green glass made from recycled wine bottles. If I was the sort of person to jump on a bandwagon (I am), I might be tempted to say I was going for an ombre effect (I just did).

Hot out the kiln is this bird for a stained glass studio in Leicestershire. It's a copy of a damaged original Victorian roundel. I love the bold yellow silver stained background and intensity of the blue on the bird - often roundels are rather more muted in colour, but this one is joyful.

And this image is from a while back that I just found in a dusty folder on my desktop, but it sums up the way the year has been so far, workwise, the traditional sitting nicely alongside the contemporary.

Work In Progress

A little patchwork showing the various projects I have on the go at the moment.

None of which are finished yet.

Stocking Up

A few in-progress Instagrams from my lightbox.

I'm currently working my way through some new stock for The Stained Glass Museum as well as some for a new stockist which, very excitingly, is opening soon in Bridport.... more on that another time.

I've never sold any of my work locally before (apart from to friends and family) so it's going be interesting to see how it goes.

Busy Bee

Just a quick post to say that I've closed my Folksy and Etsy shops temporarily while I work my way through a flurry of commissions.  Lots of bird roundels to paint - including one to accompany these beautiful existing original Victorian floral roundels for a grand property in Weymouth.

I also have an exciting new stockist, so am working my way through a batch of pieces for them - more about that soon when I have some pictures to show.

I knew it was a good move not to have a plan this year!

Whilst on the subject of Victoriana, I received a set of these very beautiful glasses by Molly Hatch for Anthropologie for my birthday.  There is a sweet wistfulness about them that makes my gin and tonic that much nicer.

image courtesy of Anthropologie

This and That

Just a few snaps of the last week or so.

A bit of work, a bit of mucking about.

This Week.

A little post to fill in the gaps.

(If you like pictures of works in progress, foraged mushrooms and burnt toast crumb faces, these will be right up your street.)

Waiting

Filling up my kiln with glass waiting to be fired.

The unfired paint looks matt and grey, but it will turn darker and glossier once fired.

>>>>>>><<<<<<<

I like this:  The Secret Life of Plants

Victorian Stained Glass - Hand-Painted Floral Scrolls

I've just posted off this pair of ornate floral scrolls to Delia for a repair she's doing on a very grand Victorian entrance in South East London.  I took a few Instagram snaps so you can see how I've built up the layers - 3 firings in all (trace line, shading and silver stain).

These were very enjoyable to paint - loose and free-flowing with nice little flicks of the brush to get the twiddly tendrils just right.

The only problem was that each piece of glass was quite long - I had to order a couple of new kiln shelves to fit them on!

Scrolling

Still painting scrolls.

It's interesting work trying to match in with the original painting.  Not only do you have to match the design up and get the paint and stain colours right, but you have to copy the "hand" that painted the original.

I like it when I have to copy really expertly painted work because it pushes me on and improves my hand.

In this case, the originals were clearly painted quite hastily and are a little slapdash, so I have to go down a level.  The temptation to tidy things up is very strong, but I have to remember to leave in all those half-tones and wobbles and blobs.

I came across these lovely letterpress prints by Julia Rothman on Pinterest the other day - nice to see scrollwork getting a contemporary update!

You know those fantasy jobs you dream about landing in your inbox?  This would be one of them - a collaboration to turn these into stained glass windows.