More Practice

Ive been doing a bit more practice on my heads with some small piecesof glass apprx 120x90mm.The top and bottom are a red flashed glass with blasting,painting and silver-stain. The middle one a piece of reclaimed glass from an old fanlight which had been siver stained originally.I sandblasted and painted it and expected it to metal when i fired it at the higher temperature needed for the black but it didnt thankfully. Normally you fire the black first and then the silver stain at a lower temperature.The silver stain can go a milky colour if its fired too high. Based on Harry Clarkes doe-eyed heads.You can see more at Lustrousglass.com

Alas poor Yorick !

This is a small panel that ive just completed,similar to the last post's one.Its done mostly in red flashed french glass with sandblasting,painting and silver-staining.Theres also a bit of blue on green flashed and blue on clear flashed for the head.Its about the same size 300x200mm.The reference is to Hamlet,who when given the skull of of his pal Yorick by the gravediggers,holds it up and says "Alas poor Yorick,I knew him well" or some such speel.i know its not much like a skull but thats why im not doing technical drawing. Feel free to comment and check out my website Lustrousglass.com

Glow

This is a small panel,300x200mm that i did a while back to practice doing figures which i dont find very easy.All the glass is Lamberts handmade multi- coloured,im not sure of the exact type,very expensive and very nice. Its sandblasted in places and painted and fired in the kiln. Theres more to see at www.Lustrousglass.com Feel free to comment and be sure to check out the older posts..

French Horn

This is a panel Ive been working on for a friend who runs a wine shop in south county Dublin. He wanted something curvy with a wine theme.he also has a liking for Mouton Rothschild wines.This winery has a habit of getting a different artist to design each years label,going back to 1946.Everybody from Dali to Bacon to Picasso and others not as well known.The artists are paid no money for their work, but given instead a certain number of cases of wine of two different years, obviously including the year they provided the label for. Often theres some kind of horned sheep reference going on,mouton as you know being the french for sheep.My interpretation of the 1999 label which was by Raymond Savignac is shown above.It was probably one of the easier ones to interpret!Have a look at the other years labels Here . The size is about 760 x380mm .The glass is Purple waterglass for the grapes,green Kokomo for the leaves,red St Just sandblasted for the wine glass and a nice dark blue flashed on green for the wine bottle.The label is a pale yellow semi- antique with some painting and a bit of silver-stain.The background is a semi-antique clear,painted with scrolls to represent the sheeps horns.Im hoping to do the partner of this for the other side of the door,white wine,possibly Champagne. The bubbles appeal to me.See more colour at Lustrousglass.com

Dundrum Blooms

These are a few of my brass ring panels,for sale in a flower shop in Windy Arbour,Dundrum called appropriately Dundrum Blooms ,run by Eva,a friend of mine.We just did a re-arrangement of them from a side window to a front window where they catch the light better. A blooming great idea. Eva's flower arrangements are amazing.She is a medal winner at Bloom ,Irelands answer to the Chelsea Flower Show...See more Glass at Lustrousglass.com

Strangest Genius Harry Clarke

Have a look at the new Harry Clarke book launched last week in the Harry Clarke room in Bewelys Oriental Cafe in Dublin by Sunniva Clarke Sheridan,Harry's grandaughter and the authors Lucy Costigan and Michael Cullen.Published by The History Press Ireland. A real gem..Get your own copy!! Also check out www.harryclarke.net , going live at the end of the month

Wallflower..

This is a leaded glass panel that i did this week for a lady in Terenure who has quite a few panels hanging on her back garden wall. It was done in semi-obscure Baroque glass which shows the colour regardless of whether there's light shining through it,perfect for hanging on a wall.The background is a very pale blue waterglass which shows up as quite a deep blue against the white background..Feel free to comment... Theres more to see at Lustrousglass.com

Restoration saga..

This is a commission that i have just completed for an educational establishment in Marino,former city estate of Lord Charlemont on Dublins northside.The window as i found it had been vandalised by a would-be burglar using a tree support as a battering ram. The bottom three panels had been replaced about twenty years earlier possibly as a result of a previous break- in. The blue and yellow colours were not in keeping with the original colours which were of a very pale blue and green shade,semi obscure.To compound things further,the whole original window came from a bigger opening in a different building elsewhere on the grounds and was cut down in places and had some of the the edge leads left out completely to fit in the smaller openings.Great fun taking them out with nothing holding them together! Some of the painted and silver stained pieces were missing,notably in the six rectangular pieces which form the bottom of the lower shield.
So in total what i did was,take out the four long narrow panels on the sides of the window,disassemble,re-align symmetrically and re-lead whilst replacing any broken pieces,maybe 30% of it. I took out the shield panel,disassembled it, replaced some of the broken painted panes with new painted sections, re-leaded it and then replaced it one panel down which gives it more balance and echoes the placement in similar windows nearby.The two narrower panels at the bottom were amalgamated and painted and silver stained to complete the missing sections of the shield.The panel where the shield originally was,was remade in the very pale green that i used for all the blue/green replacements. I didnt go at the top arched section save for some heavy cleaning as that was not in the remit. The lettering in the panel spells YHWH,which reads right to left in Hebrew and stands for Jehovah as far as im aware but i stand to be corrected.Sorry for no inside picture before the work started but the boarding up worked against me. Feel free to comment and be sure to have a look at my older posts and www.Lustrousglass.com for lots more work

Jellyfish Shoal

This is a collection of the jellyfish pieces (140mmx140mm) ive been working on.All leaded together into a panel 550mm wide,put into a nice oak frame supported by an upturned bowl that i turned. The bowl has the old clutch taken from my transit van screwed into it to give it weight and stability.Lots of practice on sandblasting, painting and silverstaining.The glass is a mixture of St Just red flashed and Lamberts Blue/Green. More to see at Lustrousglass.com

Halls Pictorial..

This is a before and after of a door surround that i just completed in Terenure in Dublin.The client wanted a design that was on other doors in the house copied with certain colours added ,to replace the obscure panes that were there. The purples and small details are waterglass ,the diamonds are a Wismach blue and the background is a semi-antique clear which glistens in the sunshine. See more at Lustrousglass.com . Feel free to comment

Dan Tien

This is a panel that i've just completed for a friend of mine Dave Shipsey who runs a Complementary Health Studio in Dublin called Dan Tien Check it out,he's a top class acupuncturist and much else besides. It goes over the front door and will make his place easier to find.The top and bottom panel are made of St. Just blue flashed glass,sandblasted for the lettering and the evolving symbol.The middle section is a Desag blue sandblasted opaque self-colour, again with the symbol.The side sections are a plain dark blue Desag to match.Feel free to comment. More to see at Lustrousglass.com

Deep Space

This is a small panel about 160mmx220mm.It is made of two pieces of glass plated together.The middle panel is a piece of Lamberts multicoloured glass,the exact one im not sure.Its sandblasted with some kind of design through to clear glass.The bottom panel is a piece of ordinary window glass painted with Reusche tracing black and some amber siver stain.And the top panel is the two pieces of glass together,one on top of the other.They are to go onto a wall light,a kind of light box.Theres more to see at Lustrousglass.com

Sample Panels

These are two panels that i have just completed for a friend who makes double-glazed windows.They are to go in these complete windows that he brings around as samples.Orders may follow.They are both painted with the background clear,and measure 229mm x435mm.See more Glass at Lustrousglass.com

Head over Heels

This is another one in the brass ring series,the rings i found in the scrapyard which were formerly sealing rings on a General Motors diesel compressor.Check out previous posts for more of the panels,i think i made 15 in all.The glass is Lamberts for the flower heads and a purple Kokomo for the base of one which unfortunately the photograph doesnt do justice to,or maybe its the photographer doesnt.. The other base is a blue/green Lamberts.The background glass is clear and plain. Theres more to see at Lustrousglass.com

Jellies

These are some of the the small pieces(140mm square) i have been working on recently,with a few older ones thrown in so to speak,all in a neat 3x3 lineup.Im not sure if they would look better in a different sequence,il rearrange until it looks right.They are in mostly Lamberts,with some sandblasting,painting and silver stain.Theres more on my website Lustrousglass.com

More Underwater Adventures..

These are a few more of my jellyfish, from sandblasted and painted flashed Blue/green Lamberts glass and sandblasted painted and silver-stained red flashed glass from where im not sure,France i think. See Lustrousglass.com
for more.

Underwater animals

Happy 2010 and at last im back doing some glass painting again.These are a couple of small panels(140mm square) in a series of sea creatures that are going to be set into a larger panel . The first is a piece of blue\green art glass that the blue sandblasts off very handily.Its painted and fired.The second is a piece of Lamberts multi-coloured glass that has some really nice colours but for some reason goes a bit muddy when fired in the the kiln,it seems to be a kind of metalling.Maybe a higher temperature would help.I'm working on some more of these creatures and il post them when they come out of the kiln. See more glass at Lustrousglass.com

Retro fitting stained glass.

This is a Terence Conran table that i got in the last Newmarket Brocante.When i saw it i thought it would be ideal for one of my circular panels in the brass rings.As it turned out i needed to make a bigger panel to fit the ledge halfway down which supports it. I made it in strong primary colours which are illuminated by the clip on light underneath.Its got a curly red cable which i think is a bit noticeable.better maybe with black. Or if i could get some kind of rechargeable spot if such a thing exists. The clear glass table top is removed to get a good non reflective photo. Theres more glass on my website Lustrousglass.com

Yew Bowls

These are a couple of bowls made from yew,with nice grain and good colour. The top one is done with an Arbortech disc with chainsaw teeth on an angle grinder,the second one more conventionally on my Woodfast lathe. Its much more relaxing to be using the lathe as working with the arbortech needs 110% concentration if you want to hang on to your fingers and keep your flesh intact. Turning in the same room as you have your computer in is not reccomended either but doesnt hurt quite as much. If you want to see some glass theres lots at Lustrousglass.com .I have some different projects in glass which i'l put up soon.

Raised from the deep

This is a boat called Sundowner that one of my friends in the yard where my studio is has traded some labour for.It had been sunk and spent a little time underwater before being re-raised.Its condition is,as you can imagine quite poor. We moved it into the yard from the Liffey a couple of weekends ago on a truck with a crane which is rated for lifting 8 tonnes.The boat weighs about 6 tonnes plus a fair amount of water and sludge in the bulkheads which put it at the extreme end of lifhting as it was right at the end of the crane arm. It was touch and go but we managed it in the end. The plan is to put it back in the water ,in a restored state,by next season would be good but it will take as long as it takes! I will post more posts on it as the work progresses . If you would like to see my stained glass go to Lustrousglass.com We may even end up putting some stained glass into it!

Red Jelly

This a small piece of red flashed glass about 140mmx140mm,rescued from an old victorian window.Its been sandblasted and painted and has some silver stain to highlight the details.This old glass seems to me to gives a better gradation of shades when im sandblasting than modern red flashed glass that ive found.Its also very thin,about 2mm or so.Wish there was a ready supply of it. See some more at Lustrousglass.com

Little Boxes

As promised here is a slight diversion from the usual glass theme. These are some of the boxes i turned for the Newmarket brocante that i wrote about in a previous post. They are all made from Yew except for the top left hand one which is made from Zebrano. The Yew ive had for nearly twenty years so it was well seasoned by the time it ended up on the lathe.Yew tends to come in small section so boxes suit it well.Yew is not widely grown because of its poisonous berries,which cows are fond of and which has been know to kill them.Hence they came to be grown in graveyards and small parks and other such places.Yew is classified as a softwood but is harder than a lot of the timber classified as hardwoods.It makes for good turning because it is such a hard dense timber.It also finishes very well,doesnt need any sealer,just a handfull of shavings held against the object as it spins on the lathe.All in all a lovely timber.It also has a history of being held sacred by the Druids but thats another story. I should be back on the glass by the next post but if you want to look at some try Lustrousglass.com

Blue Dragon

This is a panel ive done for over a door before i got the kiln.It measures about 100mm by 700mm and is done mostly in undecorated glass with some sandblasted blue on green for the head,teeth and feet.The body is done in different blues,the background in bright yellow waterglass and some red/yellow Kokomo for other bits.He looks more happy than blue,maybe St George has just been polished off..Check out Lustrousglass.com for more panels

Sun Flowers

This is a panel ive done to go in the front door of my girfriends house.Its the one ive used on my profile pic.Its all in unpainted glass with a little bit of sandblasting.The surround is a dark blue Desag,the centre is a tangerine coloured piece of handmade glass , the flowerheads selected for the interesting bits of colour variation and the stalks are that blue-green Kokomo that works well as plant foliage.Its about 750mm square. The glass looks a bit grainy because we held a sheet behind it to get the photo due to the background noise..Theres more to see at Lustrousglass.com

Flowing Tide

These are a pair of panels that i have done for a client in Dublin.They sit either side of a front door and are intended to block out the view of houses across the street.They are done in different types of glass,a lot of semi-obscure Kokomo waterglass,Desag Baroque and various others.There are white walls either side of the door and on a sunny day quite nice displays of colour pass over them...I have been quite busy recently woodturning which is another passion and have been preparing for a craft fair around the middle of October.I will post some pictures of the turned wood in the next few days.I should get back to the glass soon though as this is meant to be a glass blog,though maybe il find some way of combining the two. See more glass stuff on Lustrousglass.com

Flora and Fauna

This is a panel I have done for my parents,to go in the sunroom at the back of their house,It looks out over my Dads beautiful garden,full of well nurtured plants, lots of feeding birds and the odd wandering fox.Its made with various different types of glass,painted and sandblasted and some of it just left alone.The photograph isnt great as its been a grey day any time i went up to take its photo.Camera shy maybe.. Check out Lustrousglass.com for more photos and text.

Rainbow Reprise

This is a door I featured in an earlier post about the Lantern Centre.While visiting there today on a different matter,I found the sun creating an almost prism-like effect in the corridor. Got the camera and got the shot. Thats the extra value of stained glass,all the ever-changing reflecting colour catching you unawares. See more colour at Lustrousglass.com

Eastern View

This is the last panel in the brass rings series.It has just four pieces of glass.A piece of art glass with some nice colours,sandblasted through for the mountain.A piece of plain purple Desag sandblasted and painted for the bridge/river.A piece of red flashed glass,sandblasted and painted for the tree.And a piece of plain blue Desag,sandblasted and painted with clouds for the sky.I think its the panel im most happy with,though the Pink Bloom i put up on Sept 1 comes a close second. Theres more to see at Lustrousglass.com

Late Riser

This is the penultimate panel in the brass rings.Its done in Kokomo blue/green with some painting.Flashed blue on yellow and flashed blue on clear, both sandblasted and painted.A little bit of dark blue Desag,painted as well. And some clear glass for the background.All put together in the brass ring with the grey lead patinated black so that your eye isnt drawn to it.You can see more at Lustrousglass.com

One Too Many..

This is another of those brass rings,nearly at the last of them.The flower heads are done in a flashed orangey-yellow glass,sandblasted and painted.The stalks are done in different shades of green waterglass,painted for effect. The background is a pale blue Desag. Think its more partying tulips.. see more at Lustrousglass.com

Tree Of Life

This is a panel i did for a client's extension in what is a light filled space with windows facing south ,east and west.Lots of light in other words..While i would have put a bright yellow sun in that space in the crown,Rosemary wanted a pale moon, which i have to admit works better.The background is all greens and blues,in waterglass,Desag,Baroque and any other varieties i could find.The tree itself is mostly Kokomo,blue/green at the top and various shades of purple as it goes down,with some waterglass in blue,green and purple as well.Theres also some shades of red in the base for a flamelike effect.The moon is a piece of seedy semi-opaque glass with some striations through it.. See lots more at Lustrousglass.com