Stained glass is unique in the world of art in that it is the only medium to fully exploit the relationship between glass and light. Light is an intangible phenomenon and since the dawn of time has been associated with philosophies and religions. It symbolizes life, goodness, revelation and beauty.

The desire of the early architects to bring this light to life and to educate a mostly illiterate congregation brought about the golden age of Gothic architecture and stained glass.

 
 

The Medieval Christian Church used coloured glass deliberately, aware that colour and light are both spiritual and sensual.

We still look in amazement at the beauty of a rainbow and marvel at the pureness of its colours. The rainbow, according to the book of Genesis, was Gods covenant with man after the Flood.

At the end of the Dark Ages there was a boom in church building and these churches and cathedrals were filled with colour and light.  Difficult to imagine what the people thought of this as they gazed at these pictures and stories brought to them in this way. They would have never seen any thing so beautiful or spiritual.

It is hard to trace the exact origins of stained glass. It does have some similarities in materials and techniques used by the goldsmith for cloisonné enamelling. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloisonne 

Its not beyond imagination to think that the first stained glass artists saw the goldsmith running his band of gold around glass or filling it with enamel and decided to try it with glass. Using a cheaper alternative, lead, and with the advent of the invention of lead milling and casting, it was then possible to hold the glass together in large portable panels.

These artists then discovered that iron filings ground together with flux and powdered glass could be painted onto the surface of the glass pieces. When fired in a kiln to melting point and cooled they were able to produce glass pieces with detail on such as faces, hands and drapery.

The earliest surviving examples of painted stained glass are the head of Christ from the abbey church at Wissembourg in Alsace from around 1060AD

 

and the famous five prophet windows in Augsburg Cathedral Middle of 12th Century.     

                    

These windows show us that there are already styles and techniques being used that one would expect from a practised artist.

This is a detail from a 16th century window in St Marys Church, Fairford and depicts a two headed Satan illuminated by the glow of hell. Love these windows!

There was a revival of stained glass in the nineteenth century. With the advent of the Gothic Revival the artists and architects of the time designed using forms and patterns that had been used in the middle ages. They combined serious study with romantic visions of romance and chivalry.  Two major artist of this time were William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones.

Edward Burne Jones was the most influential stained glass designer of the late 19th Century.

The link below will take you to a brief history and some pictures of his work.

 http://www.visitcumbria.com/edward-burne-jones.htm

The techniques and materials I use differ very little from those used by the earliest stained glass artists and craftsmen. There is a larger colour range of glass available, the tools have been improved with time and designs and styles change year after year but the basics are still those of an ancient tradition.  That being the case I feel honoured to be following in their footsteps. We stained glass artists of today are taking stained glass to a new dimension.  Adding fused and textured detail and also by encapsualting the panels into sealed units to save energy. As with any craft it is evolving year on year and we embrace change with great enthusiasm, as it will bring yet another way of working or another style to our work. And like all artists it is this that keeeps us awake at night designing!

On my to do list for 2011 was to start my first blog to tell the world about me and my glass, so, hello!! 

I am Genevieve, a glass artist based in Halifax in West Yorkshire and this is my make or break year. What started as a hobby nearly 10 years ago is now becoming a realistic life changing event…  I still have a day job, but the end is in sight.  I have given myself a deadline of September 2011 for proving that I can make a living from my glass and I am now doing everything I can to succeed.  We only get one life, and I want to stop playing safe, and actually do something I love doing. 

So far the year has started well with lots of people interested in my stained glass and fused glass courses.  I run these in my workshop at my house and I totally love doing them.  I can’t get over how exciting it is sharing a passion with other people and inspiring them with my enthusiasm.  And the surprising thing is how much inspiration I get back in return - the different interpretations of the same set of instructions sets my mind racing with more ideas which I can now apply to my own work - Brilliant!  If you want to see pictures of work from some of my students, have a look at the photo gallery on my website http://www.wickedgencrafts.co.uk/index_files/Page575.htm

Should you be interested in attending one of my courses please don’t hesitate to get in touch

I should really promote myself as a juggler as that is really what I spend myself doing - too many things I should be doing, too many things I want to be doing and then all the other bits and pieces that need to be fitted in around them all!  Last weekend was mad and I achieved nothing on the glass front - on Friday evening it was off to my running club’s annual dinner (arriving late because the kids didn’t want mum & dad to leave), dinner, speaches, 10 minutes on the dance floor and then rushing home for an early night so that we can get up in the morning to pack and then set off for Wolverhampton to register for Tough Guy.  This was the Christmas present I had requested from my other half and Sunday was the event itself - cold, wet, muddy and painful but great fun. 

Home again on Sunday evening and just time to have a bit of a tidy up of my kiln and workshop before getting the kids to bed, having dinner and then collapsing into bed myself.  No lie in on Monday as it’s off to Busy Bees at the library in Hebdon Bridge with little Zachary and a day of domestic duties.  This frees me up a little for Monday evening to fire up the kiln to slump Amy’s first piece from the fused glass course in January - this is a lovely pink oval dish which came out on Tuesday evening and is beautiful.  Next to be slumped is a square red platter containing lots of coiled copper wire which went in on Wednesday night and looked great when I checked it at the top temperature.  Unfortunately by Thursday evening it had cracked -on close inspection, it seems that the coils of thick copper wire put too much stress into the piece as this is where the glass cracked - a lesson learned there! 

Tuesday evening was interesting as I went to The Arts Factory in Keighley for a Creative Conversation, an evening of wine, food, chat and networking.  They were looking for input into the use fo some new premises in Keighley so I had a really nice evening of writing ideas and suggestions on different pieces of flip chart paper, munching on yummy indian nibbles and talking to other creative people.  I had not previously appreciated that The Arts Factory offered so much in terms of support for local and emerging artists so I am looking forward to be able to get some help and support from them over the coming weeks and months.

Last week I had fired a full kiln of glass components and panels and these came out beautifully so yesterday evening was a session of cleaning them all of fibre paper and sanding the edges ready for their next stages.  I produced a trio of confetti flower panels which will each be framed and are the start of my collection for the British Craft Trade Fair in April and I am really pleased with them - just need to sign them all and mount them and they can be photographed and safely stored until then.  My three wavy hearts of glass came out beautifully and the next step is to tack fuse them onto clear glass and then mount them each in a frame.  I did a batch each of green and purple wavy glass pendants which still need a bit of cold working before heading back in the kiln for a fire polish - some more items for April. 

Tonight should have been spent doing more tidying of my workshop, but piano practice is a must as I am sitting my grade 8 exam next month and my preparation is not what it should be.  I had a piano lesson yesterday and whilst I don’t think I am heading for a total disaster, I really do not want to let myself down so close to finishing a long held goal. 

Pete’s cooking dinner at the moment giving me 10 minutes to write this blog and then I need to dash back downstairs to get the workshop ready for a stained glass course on Saturday.  It wouldn’t be so bad, but I have to fit in a day job on four days a week, which makes everything even more stressful and busy. Anyway, I’m off for a bit more juggling before dinner and bed, so I’ll see you later….

... but there is always just one more thing I could fit in beforehand. 

Another busy week but 2 more bookings on my stained glass course in March has meant that I now have my first full course!  I have been putting details of my courses on as many websites as possible and it is paying off as bookings are coming in every week now which is great news.  Of course every cheque that comes in goes straight back out again on insurance, more glass supplies, magazine promotion and a whole host of other things constantly draining my bank account.  My excitement at a full course however was short lived with a last minute cancellation today for my fused glass starting tomorrow - a birthday present from hubby didn’t go down as well as expected so I’m going to have to give them a refund which I could have done without.  So just the one student this weekend which makes it slightly more relaxed.  The house is tidy, my workshop is tidy and all ready to start and lunch is in the fridge so I am ready. 

Should you be interested in attending one of my courses please don’t hesitate to get in touch

At last I have managed to find some time to put some more of my work up for sale!  It’s all such a race to get things done - trying to make things vs running courses vs sales and marketing for both of these vs all the preparation I should be doing for the British Craft Trade Fair.  So much to do, so little time! 

This weekend’s fused glass course went well.  One of the students dropped out at the last minute which was a shame, but meant that my remaining student had my undivided attention for the two days.  This made it highly intensive for both of us and we were both totally shattered by the end of Sunday but Thad went away with as much knowledge as I could share with him in two days and lots of enthusiasm as well as some very nice fused pieces to take away and some more to follow in the post.

I have found another potential outlet for my work - a local framing shop just outside of Friendly, had lots of original work on display around their walls and on enquiry they are very welcoming to people who want to display their work and they don’t charge anything if they sell anything - wow!!  So, I told them I would be back very soon with some of my work and hopefully they will want to have some of my framed panels on display.  Of course, this means pinching things out of my stock of work for the BCTF, which means making replacements, which means finding more time from somewhere!!

Enough blogging for today - I can hear Zachary crying, I haven’t practised the piano yet today, I skipped my Monday night run, I haven’t eaten dinner yet and it is already gone half past nine.  Help!!