Here’s how it happened …
Hello again!
Right – here’s what life was like in the studio earlier on today:
Hot and unbearably smelly outside (the studio is beside a farm).
Very warm inside – with the air just about breathable.
And the paint on my palette was drying up faster than I wanted.
A good question from a colleague in Maryland, USA:
I am an experimental physicist in mid-career and very busy with work – so my time spent on stained glass and glass painting is very sporadic – it has been 8 or 10 months since my last project.
Is it OK to make the lump of paint (as you teach) and leave it for 6 months to a year?
Should it be tended to periodically over that time?
Will it “come back” and be usable after a very long time?
And the answers are …
It’s the fourth day of this intensive technique-focused glass painting course for our five long-haul students – four colleagues from different states of the USA, and one from Kuwait. (For the 90-second video intro, please see here.)
Yesterday and today: oil.
The case against oil: it’s smelly, and it’s messy. You need extra palettes and extra brushes. Students need to learn how, once the oil has seeped down and been absorbed by the unfired water-based paint beneath, the paint itself becomes fragile. And another thing: it’s a good idea to adjust the firing schedule so the volatile fumes can burn off and escape.
All in all it’s rather inconvenient. Hmmmm – no wonder it isn’t taught in college or class. Too much nuisance.
So, the case for oil is what, I wonder …
Sue Sills wrote and asked us about mixing glass paint with white vinegar:
I have only used water and gum for mixing tracing paint so far.
But I was recently told that you can use white vinegar instead of water and that it stopped the paint from drying out so quickly, thus making it better for tracing lines.
Do you know if this is so?