Sunrise Stained Glass Ltd, 58-
© 2009 Sunrise Stained Glass Ltd. All rights reserved | Stained glass artist, glass restoration, stained glass church windows, antique stained glass, glass painter, UK |
Sunrise Stained Glass Studio
Stained glass window artists achieving high standards of design and craftsmanship.
From design to dedication.
When we receive an inquiry for a new window the first thing we need to find out is it’s size, it’s intended location and of course what kind of window is wanted. Some people have a firm idea of what they want from the start and others are less sure. The starting point may simply be a design style such as Art Nouveau or modern or a Victorian design to compliment a Victorian building. It may be a whole bible story or just a few words, we can even start with what kind of mood you would like the window to create; calming, inspiring, sombre, uplifting, fun etc. When starting a window from scratch the possibilities are endless.
After some discussion we can gauge the complexity of the window and from this provide a price budget. When this is agreed with the client the design process begins. To illustrate the the whole process from design to dedication this article will follow the creation of the St Paul window for Paulsgrove.
Before design could really begin a good deal of research was necessary. In this case that involved finding out the details of St. Paul’s life, the events which shaped him and the journeys he made.
When we receive an inquiry for a new window the first thing we need to find out is it’s size, it’s intended location and of course what kind of window is wanted. Some people have a firm idea of what they want from the start and others are less sure. The starting point may simply be a design style such as Art Nouveau or modern or a Victorian design to compliment a Victorian building. It may be a whole bible story or just a few words, we can even start with what kind of mood you would like the window to create; calming, inspiring, sombre, uplifting, fun etc. When starting a window from scratch the possibilities are endless.
After some discussion we can gauge the complexity of the window and from this provide a price budget. When this is agreed with the client the design process begins. To illustrate the the whole process from design to dedication this article will follow the creation of the St Paul window for Paulsgrove.
Before design could really begin a good deal of research was necessary. In this case that involved finding out the details of St. Paul’s life, the events which shaped him and the journeys he made.
Various ideas get experimented with in sketch books and then small watercolour designs are produced in which the of colour pallet and composition start to come together.
After more discussion and input from the clients the basic structure of the composition is decided upon and a full size cartoon of the window is produced. Many improvements are made to the design at this stage and the design of the finished window rarely differs from the completed cartoon.
When the clients are happy with the full size cartoon copies have to be made of it and a paper template is produced for every single piece of glass in the window. The next phase is selecting the glass to be used and cutting the necessary shapes from it using the templates. A great deal of accuracy is needed during the cutting of the glass, each piece must match the template exactly. Much care is also taken in selecting the perfect colour for each piece from the hundreds we have in stock.
The window being followed on this page is a work in progress and is due for completion in early 2012, Check back soon for more content here…
When all the glass has been cut the painting, shading and etching processes begin.
Drawing around the paper stencil on the selected piece of glass
Using a glass cutter to cut out the shape
Acid etching is done by protecting certain parts of the glass with self adhesive resistant plastic material. The unprotected areas are then exposed to hydrofluoric acid by placing the glass in an acid bath. The acid eats away at the surface of the unprotected glass altering its thickness and therefore strength of colour. This technique works best on flashed glass. Flashed glass is a sheet of glass made of a thick layer of clear glass and a thinner layer of coloured glass. By etching through the coloured side with skill and care it is possible to produce a range of shades of colour, from the original colour (before etching) getting progressively lighter through to clear when the coloured layer has been removed completely.
Acid Bath
