At best we’re used to hard-nosed pens and pencils. At worst we always use a keyboard or a touch-screen on our smart-phone. That’s why I owe you this reminder about how to hold your tracing brush. You’ll also find a very helpful video, so you see exactly what I mean.
Stephen Byrne
When You Hold the Bridge and When You Don’t
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Last week when I was teaching a very promising beginner, I was reminded of this useful point.
Namely, it’s easy to take a rule (“Do it like this …”) and generalize it to an incorrect situation.
Here’s an example.
It concerns how you use your painting bridge.
How to Fire Stained Glass – 12 Points You Need to Know
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Stained glass firing schedules
Firing shouldn’t be a problem. ‘Shouldn’t be.’ Yes, I know there are times when, no matter how experienced we are, everyone gets anxious about it. I’m just the same.
But really it’s far easier and more predictable to fire glass paint than ceramic glazes for example. There’s also much less to think about than if you’re fusing. What I’m saying is, glass painters are actually very lucky here: it’s important to keep things in perspective. So here are 12 quick points I always run through before settling on a particular stained glass firing schedule. These points let me get a good night’s sleep (because I mostly fire overnight, you see).
Love Them Starry Skies
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Stained Glass at Night
Or: “Daddy, why is it ever dark?”
It’s a wonderful, heart-lifting sight to espy a church at night, its windows glowing from the light within.
But you must be outside with darkness all around you for this to work.
Otherwise of course the stained glass windows are dull and lifeless.
I say “of course”.
But it still upsets my friend, a successful novelist, who now knows better.