While I've always admired beautiful glasswork, I'd never referenced it for inspiration and definitely hadn't envisioned myself working with it. Towards the end of 2022, while experimenting with De Stijl, people began commenting that my digital pieces had a stained glass appearance, which was completely unintentional.
I allowed myself to dream a little about how my work might translate to physical pieces, eventually taking the leap and signing up for a month-long beginner class at a local glass shop. Throughout the spring, I learned the basics using the copper foiling method: cutting, grinding, foiling, soldering, and polishing. Our first project involved a pattern provided by the teacher to ensure we didn't tackle more than we could handle (left). I created a second small piece for my daughter's birthday (right).I had a blast that gave me a newfound appreciation for those creating this type of work.
After classes wrapped up, I had the knowledge required to create my own custom piece. I wanted to attempt to transfer a digital creation to stained glass.
The design I selected was inspired by a piece I created earlier in the year. I knew I wanted to work in a landscape format as most of my digital pieces had been either square or portrait-oriented. I created a few rough sketches, basically to nail down the idea, then built the digital pattern.
I printed the design and went to the local shop to pick out glass. From this point on, I was truly unprepared for the time consuming effort I was undertaking. It took a couple of hours just to select the right glass, which would have been hours more without my wife's decisive help!
I invested more heavily in the craft, buying everything I needed to do this from home. For three months I chipped away at it. As I progressed, I gained confidence in my cutting and breaking techniques. Interestingly, about halfway through, I hit a point where I was quite discouraged about the progress, and wanted to stop, which often happens with my digital work too. Of course I couldn't allow myself to stop...there's money involved at this point! 😆
The process from start to finish looked like this:
Design the pattern
Select the glass
Cut the glass
Grind the glass (smooth the edges, ensure a clean fit)
Foil the glass
Solder the glass
Polish the glass
The result is something I'm super proud of. The style I've been refining for the last 18+ months transferred from digital to physical better than I imagined for my first attempt. The experience has reinforced confidence in my path. While I know there is still so much for me to learn, I'm more than ready to take it on and share my art through a new medium. 💜
Biggest challenges
Not having a clear understanding of how each piece of glass will look in the sunlight and how neighboring pieces may alter the perceived color.
Knowing that broken glass = $$$
Soldering - I was told this will take time to master. After this project, I believe it.
Numbers
150+ hours and 3 months from design to completion
15" x 30"
89 individual pieces
1 broken piece (the first cut I made)
8 different colors
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