New Stained Glass Studio

So happy and excited to have finally finished renovating the outbuilding which is now my brand spanking new studio (you can read about my old one here.)

It was quite a task... damp, dirty, full of junk, badly lit, horrible windows, nasty ripped and stained lino, massive useless (too deep) shelves at one end, massive useless sink unit at the other end.

So sleeves were rolled up and work commenced. The shelves and sink unit were removed and I had a new purpose-built workbench made. Then the rest was up to me: filling, drilling, deglazing, reglazing, priming, painting, cleaning, sanding, more painting, trips to Ikea, furniture building, tiling, grouting... you get the idea. And then moving in.

So lovely to have proper drawers and shelves and storage. So good to have a workbench that is BIG ENOUGH. So nice to have light, and room to move around.

Some things I did that worked out really well:

Painting the lino. I didn't think it would work either, but I got down on my hands and knees and sanded it thoroughly all over (fun times). Then degreased it with sugar soap. Then repaired the rips using flexible caulk. And then painted it with floor paint. It seems to have withstood the various items of furniture I have dragged around on it so far!

Glass racks - they are actually Ikea shelving units, from the Trofast range. The top one is this one, turned on its side.

Windows - removed all the light-stealing Flemish glass from the 5 window panels and 6 door panels and replaced with normal clear glass. Ba Da Bing - DAYLIGHT!

Pegboard - Ok, super trendy I know, but it is actually for workshops and tool storage, so I'm going with it. I still haven't finished putting everything up on it yet, because it will take a while to work out what I need on that bench and what would be better over by the smaller bench.

New smaller sink - big enough for washing hands and brushes, not so big it takes up half the workshop (I have a bigger butler's sink in the old workshop that I'll still use if I need more sink space).

Bookshelves - the cheapest shelving that Ikea does, but it looks great, and when properly fixed to the wall is as strong as you like.

So you'd probably like to see the before pictures.  Brace yourselves.  And this isn't even as bad as it was because I took these once I'd removed most of the junk...

Makes me feel a bit exhausted just looking at these now - the state of that lino! You would never know it was like that under the shiny grey paint.

Looking forward to starting on my next piece of work in there, and I'll be taking part in Bridport Open Studios in August this year, so it will be a nice opportunity to show it off.

Studio/Workshop Move

For the past 10 years, I have been working out of a small, cramped, oddly shaped workshop that was hastily set up after we moved to this house, when I was about 8.5 months pregnant with our first daughter.

It was fine, did the job, had all the essentials: a workbench, a kiln, a nice big window, shelves, a sink, a radio... an although it is quite long, it lacked a little in the width department (exactly 5ft wide, if you're wondering). It was a bit like working in a canal boat, but less romantic. When clients came to visit, a mild look of panic would cross my face if there were more than two of them. One year I took part in the Bridport Open Studios, and at several points during the weekend there were queues of people to come in - not because I was so incredibly popular and a must-see destination, but because a family of four had come.

Although we are fortunate enough to have a couple of outbuildings here, the larger one got filled up with building materials, bikes, abandoned kids' craft projects and other general crap. Somehow I was always too busy with either work or the kids to empty it out and move into it. 

But I have finally been able to clear it out, get a new workbench built and start decorating it.

There is a lot to do.

I am replacing all the window glass because it is horrible (Flemish, which sounds lovely but really isn't), filling all the holes in the walls, covering up damp patches, painting the walls, windows, door and floor as well as sorting out the slightly rotten sills on the exterior. And when I say "I", I do genuinely mean "ME". My budget does not allow for someone who actually knows what they are doing to come along and fix it up.

I'll save the hideous "before" pictures of my new space for when I have some "afters" to show you.

details of all images can be found here

I want it to be ready soon, but I'm still only about halfway there. In the meantime I have become quite addicted to pinning pictures of other artist's studios on Pinterest as a way of making me feel like I'm getting somewhere, and keeping me motivated.

Above are a few of my favourites... most of these are pie-in-the-sky, with their high ceilings, wooden floorboards and huge arched windows, but I'm hoping to steal a few ideas from them for the general aesthetic and how to arrange the space in the new workshop.

It's not a massive space, but at least I won't have to walk sideways up and down it.

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.

January

A few images from the longest and most tedious month of the year.

We went on some good walks, I started the process of getting my new (bigger!) workshop ready to move into and I cut a lot of glass for a large panel I'm working on.

This / That

 

From top to bottom:

1) Lots of freelance work lately - mainly copying roundels damaged in storms. 
2) Wooden stepstool, a bargain.
3) Tools of the trade.
4) Sick day - defacing Boden catalogues with the kid.
5) More freelancing...
6) Running 10km.  Actually 11.
7) Visiting London.
8) Eating way too much dim sum in Chinatown.

Studio Spy

If you've ever wondered just what the heck goes on in The Round Window's odd little world, you can have a look at the Folksy blog, they've featured my workshop in their Studio Spy series.

To Do, Done.

MailChimp - Done ⎷ (see right, where it says Subscribe, to er, subscribe)

Studio Tidy - Done ⎷ (including throwing out some very old price lists)

Paint Chart Doodling - Done ⎷ (not sure that one was on the list, but good to get it ticked off anyway...)

Re-Opening Etsy & Folksy Shops - Done ⎷
New items to be listing in Etsy shop at the end of January.  Folksy shop will now only be selling cards & postcards.