‘Working with stained glass was like alchemy’
Julie Dyson, from Kent, enjoys doing lots of crafts and has always loved coloured glass. Now, finally, she has had the chance to try making stained glass.
Iam passionate about crafts, whether it’s making pompoms or collages, and at Christmas I sell my crafts at fairs. I’ve tried everything from upcycling furniture to decorating our house, and fit it in along with my part-time job as a receptionist at a care home.
I’ve always wanted to learn to make stained glass. I find the coloured glass utterly mesmerising and, although I am not religious, I enjoy going into churches and looking at the windows.
Liza Townsend has been an artist for 25 years, as well as teaching stained glass. Walking into her garden studio in Biddenden, Kent, was like entering an Aladdin’s cave of stained glass, and I was in awe of how beautiful the artwork was.
Prior to the session, I had sent over some design ideas that I liked, and we settled on a small, square piece, with abstract geometric shapes. I knew it would have to be a fairly easy design.
Then, I had to decide what glass I wanted to use; Liza had four giant boxes of glass with different colours and textures. She advised me on which colours would complement each other. Thinking about the colour scheme of my own house, I chose to work with light blues, greens and silver.
The process of learning a new skill was challenging. I laid the glass over the design I’d chosen and traced those patterns on each individual piece of glass. Then, I used an oil-filled cutter to score the glass into the shape I wanted. Next, Liza taught me how to
When the sun shines, it’ll reflect off the glass beautifully
use running pliers to break the glass into the scored shapes. I was nervous the glass might shatter, but instead I heard the most satisfying ‘click’ as it popped into the shape! We then used a diamond grinder to file down the sharp edges.
I didn’t realise how intricate the process of making stained glass was. We attached thin copper foil around every edge, folding it over and smoothing it out, and then soldered the glass pieces together via the copper foil joints. It was amazing to watch the molten lead solder flood over the foil – like alchemy! Now, I could see the shards of greeny blue glass were working together with the silver, and we decided on a lead frame.
I already have plans to learn more from Liza on another visit. I hope to gain enough skills that I can take it up as a hobby. In the meantime, I have put my piece in my kitchen, as I spend a lot of time cooking. When the sun comes through, it’ll reflect off the glass in a beautiful way.
Liza Townsend teaches traditional stained glass techniques. For more information about her art, visit lizastainedglass.com. For her residential courses, visit cottagegardenyurt.co.uk