Stained Glass - August Break 18.

I remembered this on Friday last week. At the end of a week that saw the "something awful" that was overshadowing our lives since April, to an end at last; I found the strength to go back to the Stained Glass workshop and pick up my panel. It's been months!

After some searching around in the workshop, Sue found my panel on the top of a shelf. Needless to say, it needed dusting off as it was covered. Strangely after all this time, my view of the finished article seems to have changed. I feel less critical of the outcome now, and quite proud of my work.

At the time I completed it , I never wanted to see another stained glass making project again! I recall getting quite impatient with the time it was taking me to complete. Blood was drawn once or twice, and getting the lead and glass to fit was a battle and a half! Now, I feel that maybe I could have another stab (ha ha) at making something else. This time I would keep the design a lot more traditional and geometric; and I would listen to the instructor more(even though he was the sort of teacher who likes to let students learn through experience).

So here it is at last! The finished piece of Stained Glass made my me! The photo is also going to be for day 18 of the August Break.

Stained Glass by me - 18th August 2012

Looking through - 18th August 2012

I found a video on Youtube that shows the process of Stained Glass making that I followed. This teacher really breaks it down into small manageable steps which is helpful and the design the student has chosen is really simple for a beginner.

Our teacher was adorable. A really creative, messy, absent minded, arty type, who could never find any of his tools in his very untidy workshop. He was a little bit vague about how we should proceed and not suited to all learning styles. However for me he was a good person to learn with, as he wasn't at all directive, didn't interfere unless you wanted him too, and let me charge on with my design and learn by doing! Though I wanted to give up, I did persevere and in the end am very pleased with both what I learned about myself through the process and the finished piece.

If any of you are thinking of giving this experience a go, I would definitely recommend it.