My beginnings with stained glass were quite by accident.  I was a practicing massage therapist at the time, and met some people that were doing stained glass professionally.  I was amazed with what you could create in glass.  So many colors and textures.  The choices on what glass to use were endless.  Then there was the technical aspect of creating stained glass.  The cutting, the foiling, soldering, patina, framing, each a skill to learn in itself.  And before any of this, there was of course, the design!  Yet another skill to master and perhaps the most important because that is where the picture for what you wanted to create in glass, was born.  This new art form intrigued me and before I knew it I was hooked!  I had previously worked in clay, and painting, but this incorporated many different  skills that made it a lot of fun.  Kind  of like an erector set only with glass!  You could cut it, mold it, torch it, fire it in a kiln, cut it with a saw!  WOW, it just set my creative mind out of control with the possibilities.  I was hooked...

 

     Once the idea, picture, or concept was born and drawn out with the precise skill of a graphics designer, minus the computer graphics program I might add,  then it was time to create the pattern(another skill to learn) that you would use to cut each individual piece of glass for the design.  From there to foiling, adjusting, and then putting it together with the final step being framing.

 

Lots of skills to learn in order to create your design ideas in glass.  And a rather large basic list of supplies for that first project.  I am asked often, what do I need to start working in stained glass, and do I teach classes in it.  Currently I do not teach any classes, but, I will be posting  information on how to get started.  I wish I could say that it's an inexpensive hobby or profession, but it is not.  Glass, lead, metals for framing and chemicals are all very expensive.  Tools vary and like anything you get what you pay for.  However there are ways to get started without going broke.  So watch here for a series of posts on Getting Started in  Stained Glass.

 

Create the Possibilities!!

Diane M. Brunetta