The mystery kitchen object which can improve the way you trace …
"I know - it's a silicone egg-poacher! No - it's a Breville toasted sandwich-maker! No - it's a ..." said the third of the tycoon's beasts
It’s day #2 of an intensive glass painting course for our five hard-working, long-haul students.
See here for the 90-second video introduction.
In a moment, I’ll reveal the identity of the mystery kitchen object which can magically improve your tracing.
(And, no, it’s not a rolling pin.) [click to continue…]
Tracing and strengthening – how to mix perfect paint
"If I had as many hands as heads, would you let me join you?" said the second of the tycoon's beasts, because even tycoon's beasts like guessing games ...
It’s day #1 of an intensive five-day glass painting course for “long-haul” students who’ve travelled to our studio in Stanton Lacy (see my previous post for your nerve-jangling introduction and an absolutely breath-taking 90-second video).
The story so far …
Our students arrived two days ago to settle in and recover from their jet-lag. And today, refreshed, we went on a whirlwind and empowering tour of undercoating, tracing, strengthening and flooding – the foundations of traditional kiln-fired stained glass painting.
Now … we promised you various tips and updates live from the studio.
Today’s key tip is useful if:
- You sometimes run into problems getting your tracing or strengthening paint to the perfect consistency; or
- You teach glass painting and find your students adding too much water to their palette
Interested? Then let’s get going … [click to continue…]
OK, so last time it was Brigitte Bardot, Bill Haley, a broken-nosed bodyguard with two missing fingers, Henry Miller and – a pussy cat … and all this in a stained glass studio?
So how do I follow that?
I see that David – my dear fellow director and master glass painter – has left me with one Hell of a cliff-hanger.
Which gives me an idea … [click to continue…]
A great question from a colleague in Maryland, USA:
I am an experimental physicist in mid-career and very busy with work – so my time spent on stained glass and glass painting is very sporadic – it has been 8 or 10 months since my last project.
Is it OK to make the lump of paint (as you teach) and leave it for 6 months to a year?
Should it be tended to periodically over that time?
Will it “come back” and be usable after a very long time?
And the answers are … [click to continue…]
"Do I look old enough to you?"
Now the tycoon has approved the 16 designs, it’s back to us to secure his agreement on the painted glass itself.
As you’ll remember, his insistence is, it must look ancient.
Which explains why we’ve spent these last six weeks establishing and refining the necessary techniques.
Today the tycoon’s architect called in. The meeting went as well as you could wish. I’ll show you in a moment.
But first let’s look at how the ancient-looking glass was stained. Here’s a short and thrilling video for you. (And if anyone just gets an empty space, Stephen’s told me to suggest you check your Adobe Flash is up to date – whatever that means …) [click to continue…]
And I’ll keep you guessing for a moment longer because otherwise it’ll spoil the fun … [click to continue…]
It is 3:12 in the morning. I am wide awake as I often am, listening to those radio podcasts I can’t hear during the day because I prefer silence when I paint glass (or J.S. Bach), when I am attacked by a sudden fit of breathless spluttering, a violent seizure … [click to continue…]
