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.

WIP Victorian Stained Glass Fanlight Restoration

Currently working on a replacement Victorian fanlight in conjunction with my friend and colleague, Delia at Apollo Stained Glass.  

So far I've been busy trying to match the original trace paint (my invisible stained glass colleagues on Twitter have been very helpful on that!) and designing the scrolls that will surround the central number.  

The house has the original door and side panels, but the current modern replacement for the fanlight does not exactly work in harmony with them...

Advent 2

The light in my sister's cottage is amazing this time of year.

We went there for the annual Christmas pud stir-up.

But for the rest of the week, it's been duvets and stories for my very poorly girl.

Managed to get a bit of work done though - my copy is on the right.

Broken

This came in the post today from my friend Delia.

We used to work together here. She has her own business in S.E. London.

We still work together from time to time, via e-mail and post.

I haven't had any painted work like this to do for a while.

It'll be nice to get back to some soft colours and fine lines.

Work/Play

Things have suddenly gone kinda crazy on the work front in the last couple of weeks...I've been...

...measuring up here....




I re-leaded 48 windows from the conservatory of this incredible property in Weymouth 2 years ago (actually, whilst heavily pregnant with Isla...no, I don't know how I did it either...) Now there are 6 more new ones to be made (and some repairs to the original ones which were rather "heavily" handled by the builders!)

...repairing these...

not pretty...but they look lovely now - will get pictures once they're fitted..

And designing windows for a 7-paned Victorian front door at a former doctor's surgery (pics to follow soon).

But there's been plenty of fun too....
Swimming here...

Watching this...

Licking these...

Petting these...

Getting lost in here...

Sleeping here...

Mucking about here...

And eating these...


Hooray for Summer!

Sunday - Stuart Low... and the latest repair job...

My next choice for the Every Day in May project is Bristol-based artist Stuart Low. His work is varied and diverse, using a wide range of techniques. But the window that I particularly responded to was this one. I love the contrast between the naive, child-like style of the birds and the technical precision of the background squares.

Later tonight I am going to make a start on the repair of these windows. Dating from approximately 1860, they will be going into a private home once refurbished. There are a few nasty cracks, and the border is in a fairly bad state, but overall the lead is in good condition and they are fairly sturdy.