From ink to glass
02Jul
In an interesting challenge, I've been commissioned to create a stained glass panel based on a tattoo. Color is usually a significant part of glasswork, so it will be fun to work with only translucence and value.
This is a smaller piece, so I'll be capturing most of the detail using silkscreen and painting techniques. Here are the first few steps showing the piecing in clear, gray and white glass, along with the pieces after silkscreening, ready to be fired in the kiln. Next up will be handpainting the shading.
Part of the fun of this tattoo-inspired stained glass piece is in using glass paints to emulate the look of tattoo inks. Here's a closeup of some of the streaking and stippling techniques that I'm using to try to capture that style.
Here's a look at the construction for this tattoo-based stained glass piece (the first time I've ever done a glass project entirely in black and white!). Here we see the panel assembled with lead came between each piece of glass, the soldering process in action, and the final panel once soldered.
From here it will be glazed, cleaned, patinated, waxed and buffed before going to the client.
Even though this was one of our smaller projects, it was a wonderful challenge to create a glass piece that focused solely on form, line and translucence in the absence of color, and it has definitely helped me grow as an artist. I feel that every project has something to teach if you're willing to learn.
The client also left one of the most thoughtful, heartfelt reviews that we've ever received. It's always wonderful to know that our efforts are understood and appreciated, and this makes me want to keep pushing further to be able to bring this same joy to more clients in the future.
