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Repairing Painted Stained Glass Windows for Church
October 28th, 2009
Broken lamb piece before repair
Lamb taken from underneath window with backlight before repair
2 of the 3 church windows to be restored
Taking apart the window to get to the lamb
Broken piece taped together for painting reference
Glass piece to be used for painted reproduction
I’ve just started on a repair and restoration job for a church in west Omaha. The only major piece that was broken was the lamb. I thought it would be interesting to show the process of repairing it. I’ve taken it out of the window and cut a piece to be used for painting. Since I am just a beginning painter, I’m having someone with 15 years painting experience to the work for me. When she’s finished, I’ll post the pictures. If she does the firing in my studio, then I will get those pictures. I’m really excited to restore the windows and to see how beautiful they are. It’s hard to tell with all the dirt that has accumulated!
Making Millefiori Fused Glass Jewelry
October 14th, 2009
Materials used for my pendants and earrings
Millefiori glass sandwiches
Ready for the kiln firing
Finished pieces!
This week I’ve been working on jewelry. For the first kiln load I used the smallest millefiori I have – just to get it over with. It’s work for the slightly insane! The individual pieces are incredibly tiny. It takes 24 pieces to make a pendant that is less than an inch square. For the earrings, I have to just pray that the top 3 pieces don’t move around in the kiln or that the ring is positioned in the middle and not too far in or out. This kiln load thankfully worked out just great!
Stained Glass and Dentistry
October 10th, 2009
Window showing broken pieces
Taking out the old cement
Finished windows
Stained glass and the dentistry are not two professions that would normally be brought up in the same conversation. This week though, I felt like a dentist. I was cleaning up two old stained glass windows after I had replaced multiple broken pieces in each one. I was taking out the old cement that was coming out of the space between the zinc came and the glass. (See the picture above) The old cement was rock hard and I was using an exacto knife to try to get it out of the space and off the glass. I started having flashbacks of last year when the dental assistant was using a similar, but much cooler, tool to chip away at the plaque on my teeth. It gave me the shivers and I did this for two hours. Eeek!!!
Fundraiser for Susan G. Komen for the Cure
October 1st, 2009
I recently participated, along with other local Omaha artists, in the fundraiser “A Bid for the Cure” at Markel BMW which helped kick off Breast Cancer Awareness Month. It was great to sell my work and get exposure, but most importantly it was so nice to be able to contribute to an important cause. I even agreed to appear on the local news program Action 3 News Midday Show to help promote the event. I don’t know what I was thinking, because I am not a natural public speaker and it was nerve-wracking, but I got through it!
Hopefully enough money was raised through our art that this will become an annual event.
