Saturday, October 9, 2010

Starry Night completed!

This wonderful 21" x 27" Van Gogh window is complete. Eric is preparing a custom-stained wooden frame for it, to which installation hardware will be added. My signature and the date have been etched into the lower right corner.

The solder has been patinaed in traditional black which brings out the shapes and glass colors even more vibrantly.  The first photo is in full sun, the second is in the shade.  As the window goes through the day, and the seasons, you can see how the the quality of the light and the colors of the glass will change.  A closer look (in person) will show all the different textures of the glass.  (Click on photo to enlarge, use back arrow to return).

Starry Night is a vibrant, artistic addition to the room, a great conversation piece, and "an heirloom work of art to be admired daily and treasured forever!"  Call to have me build one for you!

Click here for Boehm Stained Glass Studio website.

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Starry night soldering has begun

And here is the window after an additional 3 hours, with the front side soldered with 60/40 solder.  Before soldering, the copper foil was brushed with flux, a liquid which enables the solder to adhere to the foil.  Then, working around the window, small dots of solder were applied to the seams between the pieces so that they were tacked together.

The metal jig surrounding the window was then removed and the paper pattern beneath it was slid out from under the window.  This way, the pattern stays relatively clean and can be re-used.  (Click on photo to enlarge, use back arrow to return).

Also, a metal channel frame was custom cut, fitted to all 4 sides, and soldered at the corners.  Next steps:  Carefully turning it over, soldering the back, washing, applying black patina, and waxing.  Updates to follow!

Click here for Boehm Stained Glass Studio website.

Starry Night copper foiled


After 7 hours and 29 yards of copper foil, the window is now ready for soldering.  To get to this point, each of the 200+ pieces of glass were removed one at a time and wrapped with 7/32" adhesive copper foil tape.  The tape was applied directly in the center of the edge of each piece of glass so that the overlap on the front and back is consistent.  Then the tape was burnished to further secure it to the glass. After foiling, each piece was returned to its place in the "glass jigsaw puzzle".  (Click on photo to enlarge, use back arrow to return).

Click here for Boehm Stained Glass Studio website.