Hey viewers, Don’t miss out! The contest will end in two weeks for today.Remember, the contest is to find the most beautiful glass window picture in the world (or at least in our little portion of it). Win one hundred bucks just for sending in a digital window picture. I love beautiful glass windows, don’t you? For the details (there are a few simple rules) go to:

http://hubpages.com/hub/VoteTheMostBeautifulGlassWindowInTheWorld

I’ll be grateful if you participate! )

Jerry (webmaster: Crafting Glass)

Welcome to CraftingGlass.com! Crafting Glass features videos, articles, pictures, and blogs on making and caring for beautiful glass objects. Whether it is information on stained glass, etched glass, or glass beads you will find it here. The sources for the tools and supplies you will need for crafting and maintaining decorative glass likely will be found here as well. Tips on buying, installing, and repairing window glass are provided on this web site also. For a list of categories please look in the column on the left side of this page. Please feel free to comment (blog) on any article or video. I also welcome suggestions for new articles, pictures, or videos in the broad catagory of “glass” (use the “contact us/me” page), How awesome can glass be? Well, just look at the beautiful images below for some idea of the beauty and versatility of glass.

Central Train Station R10/O5, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Architectural glass by Derix Glass Studios (derix.com). Pictured is the Glass art ceiling and glass art pillars.

Narcissus Quagliata, artist

A small stained glass window in an near 100 year old home.

A hand blown and hand cut small glass vase.

Agate glass pitcher

When creating a stain glass window the design may begin as a drawing, a painting, a photograph or any other kind of graphic artwork. The design needs to be simple and bold. Once you are happy with the design you can start work on the stain glass window. Nothing is better or creates character like a stained glass window, it is elegant and it adds sophistication to your home, the light that is produced is soft and is diffused into your home and creates a soothing atmosphere.

It’s a good idea to make two copies of the pattern so that you can use one copy to cut the templates and the other copy to place on the work piece to see how it fits. You can cut some costs if someone can donate their old cutters to you, but even if you need to go out and purchase some stained glass cutters they are usually a pretty reasonable price.

Creating stain glass there are many techniques that can be used. When creating the classic stained glass window, there are many pieces of color glasses, you will need to cut each piece so they fit together, then you will need to take lead, brass or copper and use it as a buffer between the glass.

Rub the lead lines and get them well coated with the chemical on the cotton. Take an old rag and polish the lead lines very vigorously. To create an illusion of a lead line you need to do it on both sides of the glass.

Sometimes, a piece of stained glass will lose its original brightness and color that the lead lines once had. The blackness or copper of the patina will dull and you find that over time there will be a buildup of some type of corrosion and it usually appears around the edges of the lead. Most manufactures use lead as the bonding material because it is flexible to use and it last for a very long time.

Lead is used and stripped into predetermined shapes so that they can be fitted between then the pieces of glass.

As you get some experience under your belt you can acquire more tools and accessories as deemed necessary by you- the master craftsman. If you do your homework earlier on before diving in with both feet, you will find that some of the tools you use will continue to be used by you for many, many years to come. These tools help assist an individual in marking, cutting, smoothing, and soldering the glass. To make stained glass, you will first need to get the tools and materials ready.

Some people use stain glass making as a hobby and other times the hobby becomes a business. Stain glass windows are becoming very popular again and many people want these colorful windows in their home to brighten and bring good cheer. Many people bring the stain glass windows into their homes by purchasing lamp shades that are stained glass. One of the most popular stained glass lamps is tiffany.

David Fishman
http://www.articlesbase.com/home-improvement-articles/stain-glass-windows-add-color-to-your-home-122508.html

Today I have posted (just below this post) a video showing some of the inspiring work of glass artist Guy Kemper. Guy says that he started out in stained glass but now his work is hard to catagorize. He now sometimes calls himself an artist in “blown glass paintings”…..whatever you call it, his work is awesome! One sample picture is right here in this post. Now please watch the video in the next post. It is a little longer (about 8 minutes) than the usual short vids I post here but it is worth your time, believe me.

Jerry (webmaster, Crafting Glass)

Guy’s web site:

http://www.kemperstudio.com/

Special from Kentucky Educational Television (PBS) on local stained glass artist Guy Kemper.

Duration : 0:8:33

Read the rest of this entry »

I believe this is the most awesome, unique use of glass I’ve ever seen. This work is by the artist Walter Gordinier with glass materials mostly (all?) from the great glass company Uroboros.

Please look here (below) to be inspired!

http://www.uroboros.com/images/artist_gallery/Walter_Gordanier/full_images/image1.jpg

Thanks for visiting my web site!

Jerry (webmaster, Crafting Glass)