Glass Painting for Church In New Bern, NC

WHAT A FUN DAY!

I love watching the process of other artists at work and thought... maybe somebody is interested in how glass painting is done.

The first photo makes it look like I am ready to take off, but I am just protecting my lungs from airborne glass paint.

The whole process is not shown here but what you will see is how I am approaching this project.  The glass has already been through one firing where I outlined what I wanted to with simple lines.  That paint was mixed with clove oil, which is a medium I love to use when I need nice long strokes.  Once the lines were painted, fired to 1200 degrees, and the glass cooled overnight, I began the process for the 2nd firing. 

On this panel I chose to use a black tracers paint, mixed in a little gum arabic powder to stiffen it a little, ground the glass with water until I got the consistency I was looking for.  Actually, it came out a little stiffer than I planned, meaning it did not come off as easy with a brush as I hoped for.  Originally, I considered washing it all off and starting again but I like the look that I ended up with. 

So, to make a long story shorter... what you see here is Top Left:  Me in my mask, the next six photos on the right show the process of brushing off unwanted glass using a variety of tools and brushes, and the final piece in the kiln on the bottom left prior to firing once again to 1200 degrees.

Next posting will be my out of the kiln photo and my 3rd, and possibly final, firing.  Make it a great day!

Pat Deere

Arkansas is home for these cabinet inserts.

Today's Business:  Busy days ahead.  Actually, I am getting a lot accomplished.  Don't know if I mentioned it yet but I am working with a church in the Virgin Islands about the possibility of an installation of about 15 windows there.  Pretty exciting.

Today I have to call to figure out shipping costs.  We are considering the possiblity of cutting and painting the glass here, shipping it to the Virgin Islands, then constructing them on site.  Todays goal is to have a fairly comprehensive quote for them to present to the financial committee next week.  More to come on this as it progresses.

Today's Project:  Kitchen cabinet doors heading for Arkansas - Last night I was up until 1am tryng to finish these kitchen cabinet inserts that I just delivered for shipment to Arkansas.  They were a little bit of a rush to get done because my customer had family visiting who could bring the doors to her... saves a lot on shipping and less headache worrying about breakage.  I just got the glass needed on Monday.

Debbie is in the middle of redoing her kitchen.  When she was visiting family and told them about her remodel, they knew she wanted glass and brought her to me.

While in my studio, Debbie was able to look through glass and show me the colors she liked.  Once home, she sent me pictures of her kitchen cabinets and I began to draw up designs.  The glass used was Amber waterglass, green Spectrum opal, orange/yellow Youghiogheny Stipple.   These are a set of 6 cabinet doors inserts ranging in size form 8.5" -17" x 31".

Can't wait to see the photos of the glass installed in her cabinet doors.

Pat Deere

Links:  Custom Glasswork by Pictures In Glass