Stained Glass

This Semester I took a stained glass class. Her are my projects...

This first one is an A imposed on an H. This is a mosaic, so the glass is glued onto a clear piece of glass and then grouted together like tile. This projects goal was to get over the fear of breaking glass. It seemed against nature to intentionally break glass. You stand there scrunching your eyes in the same way you do when opening those popping rolls that you have to peel the paper off of. The black color is actually more of a root beer color. This was just made of scraps I picked up.....
This second project is using the copper foil method. You wrap each individual piece in thin copper tape then solder it all together. This was a tough one. The cutting took forever. The artwork is courtesy of Andrea. She had drawn a similar bug for an art project. I just copied and simplified it. It is suppose to look like it is driving through grass into the sunset.....

The third project was an introduction to lead came. I choose an easy pattern to cut but it turned out to be very difficult to lead since all the lines had to line up exactly. It is patterned after a quilt block called the Flying Dutchman. I didn't love the colors but it was a learning experience....

My last project was my final. It is a kaleidoscope. This was the hardest project I did, but it was also my very favorite. I did a lot of research before this one and discovered the different angles to place the interior mirrors. Also, I used something called front surface mirror. It is the same as what they use in binoculars and cameras. It eliminates and ghost images that can make the picture blurry. I made two wheels. You can use them together or separately. I should have taken a picture of some of the images inside. They tuned out really cool. The pictures don't do it justice. I'll definitely make more of these....

All in all, it was a fun class. I feel like the instruction could have been a lot better. I was disappointed when I got my grade, an A- . I think I would rather get a B than an A-. So close but not quite. Now I'm all prepared to make the windows for the transoms in the house.. Yippee!!