Author Archives

    Stephen Byrne

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    The Talbot Hound: episode 1

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    The undercoat

    Here’s what made us realise we had to film these episodes for you: a few weeks ago, someone commented on one of our short YouTube videos.

    I see what’s happened here. The video title had raised their expectations. It suggested they could learn a skill like how to paint stained glass (true) in minutes (false).

    Like “How to change the lightbulb on your Chrysler”.

    But “How to paint stained glass” is not like that. It’s not like that at all.

    David’s apprenticeship took 7 years (and counting), and mine was 4 (that’s why I can’t paint the same images he can).

    Isn’t this a big part of the pleasure of why we take the pain to learn new skills? Time passes. We grow older. And along with the wrinkles comes the knowledge that this year we’ve improved our mastery of a skill: this time last year, we couldn’t have succeeded the way we can today. So time’s passage is now marked out by more than wrinkles. We’ve learned to achieve results we couldn’t achieve before.

    But indeed the fault was ours for the video’s misleading title. It was click bait, which is always silly.

    And what this comment made us realise is, we want to work with people who don’t need sensational titles.

    We also want to work with people who are happy with longer videos videos (except when 5 minutes is all it takes). So if it takes 90 minutes or 3 hours, they’ll put the time in.

    Here is episode 1 (a mere 11 minutes, but don’t panic, there’s much more to come). Download the video here. Watch it below. Afterwards, ask a question: if we’re not bound by client confidentiality, we’ll reply (though if you ask us “how do you … ?”, then sometimes we’ll have to say “It’s in this online course“, because teaching – like learning – takes a lot of time).

    And, to be direct with you, the purpose of this series is not to instruct you but to offer you a glimpse of studio life – so you see how things work out in practise, which is often different from the theory (like when David tries to undercoat his glass, below).

    And so, returning to the YouTube comment, to be direct with you: this really is like watching men flying jets.

    The difference is, since we don’t cut out anything apart from a few seconds when I move the camera, these episodes will reveal a lot.

    What they reveal, however, depends on you – you’ll all pick up on many different things:

    Episode 2, next Friday.

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    How to mix a small quantity of glass paint

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    Part 2

    Last month you saw an email we received from David. He asked about mixing a small quantity of glass paint – our usual approach being to mix a lot of paint, enough to keep us going for a week or fortnight.

    David wrote:

    Hello Gentlemen,

    My question is : How do you mix up small quantities of paint for just 2 or 3 small suns …

    Stained-glass sun

    …

    Full email and my answer here.

    And I promised you a film.

    Which I’ve now prepared.

    It’s in 3 parts.

    Part 1:
    the way I was first shown to mix a small quantity of glass paint and what’s wrong with this approach

    Part 2:
    a slower, better way to mix a small quantity of glass paint

    Part 3:
    five days later – has it dried out?

    Here you are, glass paint fanatic I know you are – and kindly be advised that I am headless throughout this fascinating video …

    I hope this particularly helps new students coming here from our book, The Glass Painter’s Method – because yes, when you’re starting, it can be frightening I admit to mix the large quantity of glass paint we use here. (Though not as frightening surely as watching someone who talks but doesn’t seem to own a head.)

    By all means mix a teaspoon-and-a-half to start with.

    Just don’t do it like Part 1.

    Take 10 minutes and do it like Part 2.

    After 5 goes, you’ll be doing it in half-the-time.

    Then you’ll be ready to mix your paint the way we recommend.

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    About mixing a small quantity of glass paint

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    Part 1

    small quantity of glass paint

    We’re glad to hear your questions. They tell us what’s important to you – and we want to know, because your perspectives aren’t the same as ours. For instance, we design and paint to earn a living. Many of you do it because you love it. We love it too. But we also earn a living from it – it’s not the same. It can’t be.

    Here’s a familiar theme: how to mix your glass paint.

    Our approach is totally at odds with the recipes you read in many books and with what happens in most classes.

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    How we plate stained glass

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    Sorry, Rosemary, this is shockingly late: you asked us about plating:

    … and we’ve been so busy in the studio, it’s only now that we can sit down and answer your question.

    You might plate one piece of glass behind another for several different reasons.

    For instance:

    1. This is the only way to achieve the colour you want.
    2. You want to use silver stain but the coloured glass you’ve chosen just won’t take stain at all.
    3. To achieve a particular effect e.g. the drowned Orphelia painted on the piece behind, then blue shaded glass plated on top to represent the watery grave in which she lies.

    Thus the up-side is you achieve the precise effect you want.

    But plating has its down-sides such as:

    1. The risk of condensation in between the plated glass.
    2. The increased time to cut, paint, stain, fire and assemble the glass in lead.
    3. The added weight.

    If your plated stained glass forms part of a weather-fronting window, item 1. is serious indeed.

    Items 2. and 3. become serious if you plan to plate extensively.

    Therefore it’s altogether easier when your plan is to make a small stained glass window which will be framed, for instance, and hung inside against a window.

    A decorative panel, not a fitted stained-glass window.

    So from his sketch of Our Lady of Walsingham …

    David prepared a small water-coloured cartoon:

    He cut the glass and painted the trace-lines:

    Then strengthened and shaded it, so:

    And also plated most of it, sometimes to get the rich, deep colour he wanted, sometimes because the glass would not take silver stain.

    The process is:

    1. Cut the glass, then paint and stain and fire it each time.
    2. After the last firing, check again the pieces are the same size, and grind them if they aren’t.
    3. Clean them.
    4. Wrap the glass together in copper foil.
    5. Lead the glass in deep-hearted lead, then solder and cement as usual.

    Here’s a whirlwind overview:

    Leaving aside the risk, is plating worth the work?

    Only your human eye can make this judgment.

    Consider this example from the window we featured in several of our earlier posts this year (e.g. here and here and here).

    The painted glass on its own:

    Here it is side-by-side with the glass we chose to plate it with:

    And the effect:

    Sometimes, plating is the only way.

    Talk soon.

    Best,

    P.S. We don’t use plating very often. If we plated often, I’m sure we’d find improvements we could introduce. Please therefore just take this account of what we do right now as a prompt for you to find a new and better way.

    P.S. In January, I wrote a post about the undercoat. A colleague from Michigan, Tom N., emailed us with photos and some excellent new information about the technique. Our huge thanks to Tom: we’ll add his contribution soon.