Having a blast.....

Before Christmas I posted about the great stained glass taster day that I had with artist Christian Ryan. I enjoyed myself so much that I booked a glass painting weekend to learn the original techniques employed by people for centuries in producing windows and panels etc. The recent snow sadly meant it was cancelled at the last minute. Whilst the others have re-arranged to attend courses later in the year, Christian offered me the opportunity to do the two days on my own with his guidance, so I went to Bridgend on Wednesday and Friday this week to learn more. I consider myself very lucky to have had this opportunity as Christian geared things towards techniques I was keen to explore whilst ensuring that I tackled the core processes planned for the original course. So, I spent the first morning learning how to mix the specialised paint and practicing line drawing on glass (hard!!) before trying out different surface decoration techniques. All of the above small samples on the lightbox were subsequently fired once in the kiln and I can now incorporate them into a finished panel if I want to. I also worked on two larger pieces which were fired once before I worked back into them yesterday, adding layers of shading, tone and texture. I am excited to see how they will emerge from the kiln when I pick them up in a week or so's time.

Yesterday I screen printed some enamel onto glass and the pieces I did need to be fired before I can see how they turn out. This was something of an experiment for both of us as Christian does not use enamels in his studio work and we transferred the images on to the glass via a thermofax screen, technically better suited to fabric and even paper. Thermofax screens were new to Christian so we're both interested to see if the results can be the starting point for other ideas. I shall share the results when I pick them up but I also had the opportunity to try sandblasting glass yesterday, courtesy of Christian's friend Rod who has a sandblasting box in his glass workshop nearby. I loved it, although it is fair to say that whilst I did all the resist work myself, it was Christian that got his hands dirty and actually sandblasted all my samples. Here is a small selection:

A pva and bubblewrap resist

Torn masking tape on each side with both sides later sandblasted

Hand cut letters using sticky backed plastic. Ignore the wonky scalpel skills!

Pieces from a roll of adhesive backed fabric trimming

Sticky backed plastic resists on both sides. Sandblasted on both sides.

All in all I had two fabulous days and my head is full of the information I absorbed. I made lots of notes and have to think now what I will do next. This is not an activity that can just be picked up and worked on. Lots of tools and specialist materials are required so taking it further will require commitment and a real desire to do so on my part. I am keen to learn more and investigate how glass and print can be married together. I also want to try glass engraving and etching. So many things. Not enough time!