Playing with Colors : Stained Glass Work

Stained Glass at Mysore Palace

Stained Glass work at a Church

Hiii guys! Today I’ll be telling you about stained glass. Which is like glass, but with paint on it :P. I know, sounds like nothing special but believe me, there’s a lot of interesting things to know.

So basically, the term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history (I know, right?), the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches, mosques and other significant buildings. Although traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensional structures and sculpture. (pretty complex, right?)
Stained glass, as an art and a craft, requires the artistic skill to conceive an appropriate and workable design, and the engineering skills to assemble the piece. A window must fit snugly into the space for which it is made, must resist wind and rain, and also, especially in the larger windows, must support its own weight. Many large windows have withstood the test of time and remained substantially intact since the late Middle Ages.
There are many types of stained glass which have been prevalent throughout it’s thousand year history. These include- Gothic stained glass (not the modern day gothic :P), renaissance stained glass and large scale stained glass. Some famous stained glass artists are William Morris, Harry Clarke, Louis Tiffany, Marc Chagall and John La Farge.
The production of stained glass includes 6 basic steps. These steps are Cartoon (which is the primary sketch that dons the window)(not the tom and jerry kind :P), Cutting (which includes the cutting of glass in the shape of cartoon), Painting (the painting of the cartoon), Lead (in this process, lead is incorporated around the cartoon in order to hold the paint and form outlines), glazing (is the term for assembling a panel of stained glass that can then be set into a window) (not the kind which goes on a donut) and Cementing (where the excess liquid is absorbed and this process helps in the water-proofing of the window).

So there you have it, by now you can proclaim yourself to be an expert on stained glass (somewhat :P). I guess I’ll see you with my next post. Don’t miss me much :D.

See you!