Painted Light Blog

My Student’s First Stained Glass Window

Valerie — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 21:08:11 +0000

Copper foil and leaded window

My student did such a great job on her first window. It’s hard to believe that she’s never done stained glass before! I’m excited to see what she designs for her second window. I’ve taught her to the copper foil method (with a little lead) and she’ll learn how to lead for her next window. Teaching is such a rewarding part of my business. I love to share my knowledge and to see what people do with it!

Tree of Life Stained Glass Ark Door Windows, Completed

Valerie — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 21:27:05 +0000

Waiting to be installed

Nervous laughter!

Entrance to the synagogue

Close up view

Front view of finished windows with the interior lights on

Installing the curved windows went very well. Since I divided the arch into six smaller windows, it was manageable to transport and install. I soldered steel rebar underneath and across each window, so we had to notch out the wood below before setting them in. I was happy to discover that you can really see a lot of the window from the sides of the room. I love the three dimensional aspect of this piece. It was a huge job for me, but also one of the most rewarding!

Leading Stained Glass on a Curved Work Surface, Part 7

Valerie — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 16:36:47 +0000

View of leading in progress

View of the top two windows

Side view from above

Side view from above - panels are not in final order

Leading the lower curved window

Once I got used to working on a step stool and sometimes on just one leg, the leading went better than I thought. There were a few times when I had to cut a piece in order for it not to stick out too much from the surface. I couldn’t really have the pieces be larger than 4″ unless they were angled to the side. Since I made the curved project in six windows, I soldered 1/2″ steel rebar on the top part of each window to cover the seams. That worked out great since it covered the seams, and created a ledge for the upper window.

Creating The Curved Stained Glass Windows That Will Be Installed Behind The Ark Doors, Part 6

Valerie — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 02:08:24 +0000

Mold that the stained glass windows will be built on

Glass cut - waiting to be grinded, then leaded

I’ve got one week to finish and install these windows! My fingertips have calluses on them which really is helping me work long hours. I ground the glass for 6 hours straight today and got over a third done. Coming up, I will be putting in some 12-13 hour days! I’ve never leaded a curved window, so am anxious to see how it goes. I had a mold made of wood so I can use it as a table to create the curve I need.

Link to Valerie Batt’s interview at the Hot Shops May Open House

Valerie — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 19:33:36 +0000

This is a little embarrassing because I’m not used to being interviewed, but I thought I’d share it anyway! Daniel and his wife Rebeca who did the interview came in during the end of our two day open house to test out their microphone. The Hot Shops has two open houses a year – the first weekend of May and the first weekend of December. It’s a great time to come down and visit all the artists in their studios! I work everyday, but a lot of the artists don’t so it’s a good chance to catch everyone in action.

http://www.vimeo.com/12493704

Installing Tree of Life Stained Glass Ark Windows, Part 5

Valerie — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 01:52:41 +0000

Notching out trim to fit over rebar

Doors are installed!

Installing the arched window

Windows installed!

The first part of the installation is complete! I’ve got until June 24th to create the curved glass windows that will be installed behind the arched window. I’ll take pictures soon to explain. What a relief to get the windows in. Everything went so smoothly thanks to the guys at Hawkins Construction who helped!

Process Photos for Arched Tree of Life Stained Glass Window, Part 4

Valerie — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 01:25:06 +0000

Doors with arch window showing cut paper templates

Paper templates cut and placed on drawing

Background glass drawn out - ready to cut

Most of the glass cut and on the pattern

Glass grinded to fit perfectly in the pattern

Leading the arch

Leaded and soldered

Cement pushed in the channel of the lead before cleaning

Whiting sprinkled to clean off cement and polish window

Excess cement scraped away from lead

Finished Window after polishing

I won’t normally to process blogs like this, but for such a detailed, large window I thought it would be interesting to show the steps. It was challenging to cut the background glass so that one piece flowed into the other throughout the entire window. Since the window was so large, I had to sandwich it between 2 sheets of plywood to flip it. I soldered 4 strips of rebar on the back side of the window to give it support. I ran the rebar along the branched to hide the lines.

Jewish Press Article About Stained Glass Ark

Valerie — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 16:44:24 +0000

Click on the link below to see the article that was on the cover of the Jewish Press in Omaha! It talks about my stained glass windows for the Ark doors and the Erman family who donatated the Ark.

http://www.jewishomaha.org/page.aspx?id=221469

Leading, Soldering, and Cementing Section of Stained Glass Ark Doors, Part 3

Valerie — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 13:15:27 +0000

Glass is cut and ground to fit perfectly and ready to lead!

Leading lower 12 inches of door using various widths of lead

Lower left door showing soldered joints

Cementing the windows - one of the final steps

Whiting added to clean off cement

Cement cleaned off - almost done!

Here are a series of photos showing some of the steps involved in creating a leaded glass window. I like to use various widths of lead. I used 5/16″ around the tree pieces and 1/8″ for the flowers. The pieces have to be cut perfectly to use such a narrow width! Above the flowers, I used zinc metal instead of lead to add to the strength of the window. I will patina the metal to match the color of the lead. One of the final steps will be adding rebar to the back of the window so that when it’s installed, it can be notched into the wood frame.

Cutting Glass for Tree of Life Stained Glass Ark Doors, Part 2

Valerie — Mon, 31 May 2010 03:37:56 +0000

Using paper templates to start cutting the leaves

Branches and leaves cut

Cutting the background glass

Glass cut and ready to lead - the bottom 12 inches

I decided to cut all the glass for the two doors at once. Since the glass is all opaque, I cut paper templates to use for the shapes. It’s a great way to figure out just the section of glass I want to use for each piece. It’s amazing how in each sheet of glass, there is so much variation in color. This is where I’m “painting” with glass. The tree is starting to come to life!