Stained Glass Artwork

Stained Glass Art

• The term is confusing and misleading. A stained glass conjures up the image of a coloured glass or glass painting etc. But that is far from the actual truth. An artist who makes stained glass buys pieces of coloured glasses from the glass manufacturers and assembles them to create artworks which are exquisite and mesmerizing.
• Companies like Delphi make innumerable pieces of designs, with multiple colours, out of cut glasses. There are suppliers in the market who sell tools like glass cutters, grinder headers, soldering irons etc.
• The theory behind stained glass artwork involves demonstrating an individual or entity by blocks of solid colour. These coloured shapes are cut out of pieces of glass and secured together to make the desired pattern. After deciding what stained glass embellishment you would like to fashion, the first step is finding a blueprint. Books of stained glass project patterns are available in craft stores and on the internet. Whatever maybe the source which inspired you, be careful and keep copyrights issues in your mind.
• The pivotal idea is to have pieces that are adequately big, with no narrow sections. This is because the glass is held together securely by strips of metal – either thick pieces of lead or thin pieces of metal foil. In either case, the metal overlaps the glass slightly and is seen. This means that it blocks out some of the colour of the glass. Thus, it is important to keep in mind that the piece of glass should not be too small, otherwise the metal might block out the entire piece thereby blocking light from passing through it and obviously hiding the colour.
• Artisans working on stained glass designs have to have the required precision to construct a magnificent design with the correct colour pattern and co ordination. Along with artistic talent, they should also have the engineering skills to assemble the bits and pieces. Putting together these coloured glasses is a lot like making a collage but a lot more difficult and hence, exercising caution is mandatory!
• The artisan has to take into account the neighbouring architecture, available space and size and material of the glass available at hand. Visualizing the design down to minutest details is quite a task and takes years to perfect. This is an intricate, elaborate and time taking undertaking that requires patience, passion and talent.