Fixing the Sun

In our first stained glass class, they gave us a simple pattern to make. It's a 5x4 inch scene of the sun setting over mountains with a trail. 11 pieces. We've used it to practice cutting, grinding, soldering, etc. Things went fine, but in my OCD nature to get the solder lines really smooth, I kept the soldering iron on one of the seams too long and cracked the glass. Right through the middle of the sun. I was bummed. Luckily my first big project didn't suffer the same fate. In class this week, I held up my broken sun for everyone to see. gasps from all.

Luckily, my instructor specializes in restoration and used my broken piece as an example for the rest of the class. He showed us how to remove the broken piece and prepare the void to accept a new piece of glass. I cut the glass for the new sun this morning and will get to finish the piece this weekend, thanks to my gorgeous new grinder. Ken wants to hang it on the window of his office.

Also this weekend, besides the hellebore nursery visit I've scheduled for 1pm on Saturday, I'll be cutting and grinding the glass for my second project. We're learning the lead came technique this weekend. As a fool, I chose the following pattern filled with troublesome diamonds. I predict I will be insane and/or cut to smithereens by Sunday.


Fun fact: old windows had small glass panes for two reasons. 1. large sheets of glass were difficult to make and, therefore, very expensive and rare. And 2. because they were expensive and difficult to come by, they were considered a luxury item. People were taxed based on the size of their window panes.