Some Tiffany panels.

While I'm working out what next stained glass window to make, I have been making a few gifts for family and friends. They are made with the Tiffany technique which I really like to use, especially for the more 'delicate' designs. 

There is still a lot to learn and techniques to master, but I learn something new with every panel I make and get more experienced in the soldering for instance.

The three panels below maybe look alike but are very different at the same time.

The one on the left was my first flower and has no real frame around it. The leaves should look different too. Let's call that 'the artists previledge'  (..)

The second one in the middle, a rose, has a lead frame around it. The same lead strips I use for the stained glass panels. You might say that this makes it look more complete.

The one on the right is slightly bigger, with the glass frame around it. 

A tulip again, great leaves this time :-) and some sunshine added.

Giving the design a frame in a different colour and letting some parts of the design as it were 'on top' of the frame and of each other, this gives the panel more depth. 

The two little hooks I made from tinned wire. and soldered them on to the frame.

(Don't forget you can click on the picture to enlarge it.)

Marianne's panel

Marianne kindly sent me this photo and it looks beautiful here in her home.

Finished !

Finally, after 4 months the window is finished and placed in the door.

The carpenter did a good job and all that is left is painting the door and replacing the door handle.

I'm very happy with the result and can't wait to start the next project.

View from the hall.

Detail.

View from the living room.

View from the living room with the other window in the back.

The soldering finished.

Finishing the soldering an applying the past took quite a while but it's all finished now.

I'm taking the door and the window to the carpenter tomorrow.

Almost there...

Very exiting seeing the panel without the distracting green paper behind it.

It looks great. I'm very pleased with the result so far.

One side is soldered here and I have flipped it to start on the other side so this side is still 'clean'.

As this window will be placed in a door there is no front or back but I tried to make sure the glass surface is the same on one side as the waterglass I have used has a bumpy side and a more flat side.

Soldering was, as I found in the other window, difficult at first to get the hang of it again and I have had some melt down accidents ! I don't mind, I was able to repair them and the joints will not be what you see best looking at the window but it will be the glass, so making a few soldering mistakes is ok.

I've counted the joints and there are 224 joints to be soldered together, on each side that is!

Tomorrow I'll apply the paste as I explained in my last blog, and let the window rest for a day.

When it's all finished and cleaned up, I'll make a photo and post this in my next post.

Fully assembled.

Here it is, fully assembled.

Just a few lead strips will have to be replaced (they are to short) and then I can commence soldering all the joints on both sides.

After that I'll have to apply special paste to rub into the cracks between the lead and the glass.

Before this paste hardens I'll press the lead strips down on to the glass for a neat fit and then remove the excess paste.

The carpenter will make an opening in the door to fit the window in, next week.

I love my hobby !  :-)

The top part is ready.

Choosing the right colour glass for the focal point of the top part was not easy. I tried out a some other colours like orange and a flaming brownish red and yellow, but I decided to choose blue with a different texture: there is some white in it too and it's not waterglass like most of the rest of the window.
For the teardrop shape I used that flaming brownish red and yellow. In the glass sheat I found a piece that was ideal for this shape. When the window is finished and there is light shining through the window I'll make a photo and post it so you can see what I mean.

This way the colours in this window and in the window of the bathroom door complement each other.

I have said it before that the sort of 'green' looking parts are really yellow glass: the paper underneath the window I used to draw the design on is old wallpaper of a green colour :-)

How it looks so far.

As my glass room is very small and has for the most part an inclined ceiling, it is very difficult to get a top view of the whole window.

This is the best shot I could make.

Can't wait till it's finished!

------

I had to turn the plank with the window on it around to be able to reach the other end of the panel.

My glass room is great but like I said also a bit small. But I'll manage. I'm not complaining. It's great I don't have to work in the cold garage or something.

The last part will not be easy. Also I have not decided on the colours and what glass to use yet.

At the FOKA shop I bought a very nice blue glass with fine white stripes in it. I might use that.

Also a bevel (or bevels) is something I have thought of using in the top part of the window but that might be just a little to much. 

We'll see how things develope and I hope to finish this window within the next 2 weeks.

Making the centre piece.

As the Flower turned out not to bad this gave me some confidence to fit and solder the pieces of glass surrounding it.

In the first photo you can see the copperfoil on the sides that touch the Flower. These are the sides that will be soldered.

------

This is how it looks.

The egdes are still a bit rough and need grinding but I love the blue and red together.

------
Here you can see why this is called 'water glass'.

------

Here is the piece fitted in the window.

The soldering is not finished yet and looks very shiny and light compared to the lead strips.

This will all be solved when the rest of the window is soldered and cleaned up.

How I would love to have a light behind the window so I can show you the colours as they really are.

Be patient Marian !  :-)

Fitting in the Tiffany piece.

I'm very glad to have changed the design so it will be one window instead of two identical ones.

In the FOKA shop I found beautiful flaming red and yellow glass which will be fitted all around the edge with bright red squares in the corners.

The bottom part is completely finished now and I have made good progress today with the centre part. This is the part where the Tiffany flower (some people say it looks like a butterfly) will be fitted.

The rectangular pieces and the strips are easy to do so that went really well.

I forgot to say that at the bottom and at the top of the centre part a steel-lead strip is used to make the window more stable.

The surrounding lead strips are regular 6 mm strips as the window will be placed in a frame in the door.

In the photo's these rectangular pieces look like they are of a green colour but that is a distortion because of the green paper underneath it. It is all yellow waterglass like used in the centre of the window.

To solder the Tiffany piece together with the other pieces of glass it must be a tight fit so that will take some time to get it right, but it will be very nice to combine the lead strips with the Tiffany technique.

The straight lines surrounding the "Flower" will be lead strips and that part of the surrounding glass that touches the "Flower" will get a copperfoil pasted on it so to solder it tight to the Flower.

I have tried this once before in another panel and I like this combination of the lead strips and the finer lines you get with the Tiffany technique.

New design of the livingroom door window.

This is the window for the livingroom door in the making.

I decided to make it one window in stead of two. This will look good too:

The original design is the centre of the window and all around I already have cut the yellow waterglass like used in the centre panel.

This photo gives you some idea of what it will look like.

The glass is not cut in the right meassures yet so they overlap at some parts. That will look better later.

Also because of the green paper underneath the glass it looks a bit green but it is the yellow like the inside.

Around it I would like to make an edge of a different colour brown glass with yellow flames and something different in the corners.

I'll be going to the FOKA shop in St.Oedenrode for supplies and glass this Saturday. I hope I can find glass with a sparkling colour there.

Bathroom door finished.

You might remember my first large window, the one I made for the bathroom door.
The window was finished but the door and the little hallway it is in needed a lick of paint!
Well, that's almost done and I did not want to wait until yet another door is painted before I show you the result.

The Tiffany Flower.

The centre piece is finished. This is different from the other window. 

The design of the flower is the same but in this panel the flower is made with the Tiffany technique.

I tried this before and liked it so much I wanted to try it again.

A few posts ago: the last one of March, I placed a photo of the whole design. Take a look there and you can see where this object is going to be.
There will be a better photo in the next blog entry.

First frame finished !

This week I didn't manage to get any work done worth mentioning on the window but I made time for it this morning and here is the result.

Finally the first frame is finished. This a third of the whole window.

The top of this frame is a lead strip with a steel core to make the window strong.
I noticed in the photo that some lead strips do not go in a straight line. That will all be fixed when the joints are soldered.

Keeping the middle line in the middle :-)

What did I say in my last entry: the rest is a piece of cake???
I was wrong there, as this part has other "obstacles" to get passed.
Never mind, I still enjoy a challenge.

This is how far I am now.

Not bad for a mornings work, well ... 2,5 hours actually.

The problem is keeping the middle right in the middle :-)  which must sound very clear, but sometimes is difficult to achieve.

I thought the lead around the leaf should have an upward line. It turned out good.

Changing the design as I go along is maybe not the way I should work but I did not think of a few things when I choose this design.

Working my way up I find it is so important the way the lead strips are used. You can change the whole look of a panel by making the wrong choice.

For example: (in the photo below ) I intended to make the V shape like it is layed out on the left side: one strip. But making the leaf on the right and letting the leadstrip go all the way up, makes it more fluent I think and I like this better.

There has to be a horizontal line at the top of this section as this will be a leadstrip with a steel core to make the window stable. There will be two lead-steel strips in this window.

This is a view of the whole project.

Bottom part finished.

The bottom part is finished. 

The leadstrips in the middle are cut so now there is a horizontal line in this part of the window too.

I left the ones that go up to the upper two leaves so not to interupt the curve as I like the way the lines of the lead strips curve their way upward.

Except for the two leaves, the next part will be a lot easier.... I hope.

This is difficult !

Finally I  managed to get some work done on my first of a set of 2 identical windows.
Here are some photo's on the progress made so far.

I'm trying to make the lines as flowing as possible. Using the Tiffany technique was an option, but I'll be using that a little further up. 

Basically I'm deciding on things as I go along. Some would say that is not the way to work but ... it's a window to be used in our own home. If it would be for someone else I would have to keep an eye on the original design.

In the brown glass you can see the structure of the 'water glass' very well.

It is important (I think) to keep the lines in which the pattern goes in the same direction in every piece.

Except the leaves, there I try to make the lines go as they would in the leaf.

The diamond shape, which is blood red,  and some other pieces yet to be used , are the only pieces that are not cut from water glass.

I'll be glad when this part is over. I have learned from this and will use that knowledge while making the second window.

Next photo is a close up. For the top half of the diamond shape piece I used one strip of lead and clipped and cut it so I could fold it over the diamond shape. 

Looks much better this way than using 2 different strips.

I tried that in the bathroom door window and liked the result so I thought to try it here too.

I'll be trying to get this whole part up until the first horizontal lines finished today.

The rest looks like a piece of cake ;-)

The beginning.

Always difficult to start a new window I think. Not that I have that much experience, but making a start, trying to decide where the leadstrips go as I find that very important as this can make all the difference how the end result looks.


Here are the first photo's. 

I decided to use for the bottom and sides the brown colour. Not sure about the top. I'll decide when I get there :-)

The type of glass I will mostly use for these windows is so called water glass. 

The next project: the door to the living room.

After the panel for Marianne I have started making the first of two windows for the livingroom door.

To recap here is the design.
The plan is to make two of these windows and place them side by side in the door.

Trying to work out what colours to use I made a very simple light box so I'm able to see how the different colours go together.

This time it was not that difficult to choose because I wanted to use the same design and colour scheme as the other window.

This is the light box: just a shoe box, a plastic lid and a desk lamp.