Cardinals in Stained Glass

Of all the birds I've made in stained glass, Cardinals remain the most popular.  They are often viewed as a memory of those who have passed on.  I was commissioned by my customer in Atlanta to create this panel for his father in Dallas, in memory of his mom.  It's a smaller version of a window I did in late 2015.  (Link appears at bottom of post).


Computer rendition of finished panel. 

Pattern making:  Here I’ve taken the white “cartoon” or original pattern, and overlaid it on Manila folders with sheets of carbon paper in between.  I work on Homasote boards, which is a spongy industrial soundproofing material which accepts pushpins and has some “give” for glass cutting.  Here I’ve push-pinned the “cartoon” in place while I trace all the markings.  Each pattern piece has a unique number and each one is marked with the color glass.

After the markings are transferred, I cut the outside border of the pattern with regular scissors.  When cutting apart the pattern pieces, as I’m doing here, I use specialized stained glass pattern shears.  They are double-bladed and leave a thin piece of paper between the pieces.  This will be taken up later by the copper foil.

Here is the glass color palette.  There are two main types of glass, Cathedral and opalescent.  You can see through most Cathedral glass and it often has a texture to it.  Opalescent glass is mostly opaque and is a denser glass. I’m using all Cathedral glass for this project so that you’ll be able to see through the panel.  The overall colors will also be brighter.  The border glass will be a textured rough rolled glass which is different clear than the background.  For that, I’ve chosen clear Artique glass which has a light texture of short lines.  Its nearly transparent.

 Here I’m tracing one of the border glass patterns onto the back of the glass.  Cutting is always done on the smooth side.

 I take photos with my left hand, but it would normally be resting on the ruler as I “score” or cut a groove into the glass.  Shown is an oil-filled pistol grip glass cutter which is used at a 90 degree angle to the glass.  As the cutting blade digs into the glass, it leaves a small amount of oil behind which helps the glass to separate.

Now most of the clear rough rolled glass border pieces have been cut.  I’m using these blue “running pliers” to snap the score in a straight line.

After I’ve scored the straight lines, I use the metal end of the glass cutter to tap repeatedly along the score, on the front and back.  This will eventually loosen the glass enough to separate, or make it easier to use the running pliers.

Next, each piece of glass gets the edges ground in the electric glass grinder.  Beneath the surface is a reservoir of water which is wicked up to the grinding bit by the sponge. The water serves to keep the grinding bit cool.

 Here is a stack of cut clear background glass with their patterns.  It appears clear like window glass, but it actually has a light texture to it.

 

I hand-cut the majority of the glass, but on some occasions, I use this wet ring saw.  Here I’ve cut out a deep curve for the male Cardinal. You can see the water spraying onto the glass.

At this point, all the colors are cut for the male and now I’ve traced the colors for the female.  The two shades of amber glass which I chose for this project are antique glass.  Both have a nice texture to them and a rich color.

Here’s a photo which shows some of the textures of the different color glass.  All the glass has been cut but some trimming still needs to be done.

Here’s a view from above the panel with all glass cut.  Notice that the “fence” is still in place, holding all the glass in.  This fence will be removed after I’ve completed the “tack soldering” process.  I call this the “ugly duckling” phase.  The true beauty of the piece can’t be seen until its fully soldered and patina-ed.

 Here I’ve begun the process of applying copper foil to the edges of each piece of glass.  The foil is adhesive, 7/32”, and black on the inside.  The reason for that is so when I’ve applied the black patina to the solder, the interior of the foil will not be visible.  “Black backed” copper foil is always used on clear and Cathedral glass such as I'm using for this panel.

Here I’m using a “fid” or flat plastic wand to press the foil onto the glass on all three sides.  This prevents any chemicals from working their way underneath.

 
Painting the birds’ feet and beaks was a better option than cutting separate pieces of glass, due to their small size.  I used Pebeo permanent glass paint.  After the paint was allowed to dry for 24 hours, I baked it in a 325 degree oven for 40 minutes to make it permanent.

 

 Now all of the glass has been foiled, and the beaks and feet are done.  Whenever I do animals of any kind, including birds, I make the eyes from clear gray glass.  When the light shines through, it gives them a lifelike look.

Here I’m etching my name and date into the lower right panel.  It can barely be seen when the piece is hanging.

Now I'm applying liquid flux to the copper foil.  This is a catalyst which helps the solder to flow freely.

Onto the “tack soldering” whereby I use small dots of solder at the intersections of the pieces, and randomly throughout the panel.  This serves to lock the pieces together.

Now that the panel has been “tack soldered”, I removed the “fence” and slid out the paper “cartoon”.

Then I cleaned the flux off the panel using a neutralizing spray.

First peek!

Here’s my husband Eric using a chop saw to miter-cut zinc framing in custom lengths for the panel.

Here, Eric is fitting the zinc frame onto the clear border of the panel.  Then he put the “fence” back on to secure the frame for me to solder it onto the panel.

Here I’ve soldered the lead lines to the frame, and also soldered all the corners. This is done on both the back and the front of the panel and instantly makes it stable and strong.

Here’s the panel, fully soldered and framed.

One of two hanging hooks soldered to the upper corners. 

 Here I’m brushing on black patina.  This chemical instantly turns the zinc frame and the solder black.  After it sets for a while, I clean the whole panel again using the neutralizing spray.

Here’s the panel after its been patina-ed, propped up for it to dry. The lighting affects how the stained glass appears. I love the bright colors in this panel.

Here’s a view of the finished panel prior to waxing.  It’s up against a white wall.

And here it is after waxing, with the setting sun behind it. Now you can see more of the texture of the various pieces of glass. Before we packed it for shipping, I gave it another buffing. 

And here it is, double boxed and securely packed for its journey to Dallas.  Thank you Jeff for calling upon me to create this panel for your dad.  I'm honored for it to take its place among the rest of his art collection.

To view the larger version of this window, please click here.


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Stained Glass Cardinals Window

The design for this window was inspired by a low resolution image found online by my customers.  The finished window is 24" wide by 36" high.  Follow along to see how I created this latest project.

I prepared a few different designs for the birds with various combinations of colors for the border glass which my customers requested .. Here is the full-color computer rendition of the chosen design.

I designed the top Cardinal from this photograph.  The bottom Cardinal is a copyright-free design by Spectrum Glass. 

Here's another rendition which features a female Cardinal and a clear, textured glass border.  For every custom design, I offer many combinations of colors from which to choose.

 Here's the pattern making process.  I've got the "cartoon" or paper pattern on top of a layer of carbon paper which is on top of a layer of taped-together file folders.  I trace all the borders, numbers and colors onto the file folders.  During this process, I use push pins to hold everything in place without shifting.

The outside edge of the pattern is cut with regular scissors.  But the inside pieces are cut with specialized, double-bladed stained glass pattern shears.  They cut a thin strip of paper between each piece.  This space will be taken up later by copper foil.

Here I've traced the pattern pieces with a silver Sharpie pen onto the black glass.  I've also numbered each piece.  I use the purple pistol-grip oil-filled glass cutter and a flat ruler to score the glass.

 Scoring the glass. 

 

After the glass is scored, I use the metal end of the glass cutter to tap repeatedly on the front, along the score.  Then I turn the glass over and do the same on the back.  Eventually the glass "loosens" and will split along the line, as shown.

 

For shorter, straight pieces, I score the glass, then use a pair of these blue "running pliers" to snap the score.

 

There were several pieces of glass in this project that did not lend themselves to hand cutting.  Or, it was simply more efficient to use my electric ring saw as shown.  Here I've traced several patterns onto the White Wispy glass.  This is a wet saw.  Therefore, I coated all the markings with lip balm to prevent the ink from washing off.

 After all the white glass was cut, I moved onto the gray branches.  Here they are, numbered and ready to be placed onto the cartoon.

Now I've cut the black border, the medium blue border, the white wispy glass and the gray branches.  Notice that there is a metal "fence" or "jig" around the cartoon.  This will hold the glass in place as I work.

Here's a quick example of the kind of cuts that an electric saw can make .. It would be very risky to try and do a deep concave cut like this by hand.

At this stage, all of the glass for the design has been cut and trimmed to fit comfortably.  Now its time to apply the copper foil.

Here are three types of copper foil which comes in several different sizes as well.  For this project, I'm using 7/32" foil with three different interior colors.  I used the "black back" foil on the see-through glass (the reds and the pale gray of the eyes) .. The "silver back" for the white wispy glass .. And the copper for the black border and the gray branches.  The reason for using three different colors is to show the glass at its best.  The silver will brighten the white, the black can be seen through the red and will become invisible after the black patina is applied, and the copper cannot be seen since it is used on opalescent, or non see-through glass.

 Here I'm applying silver back foil to the center of the edge of piece of the wispy white.

The foil is then wrapped around the sides and burnished onto the glass using a "fid" or flexible, flat plastic wand.

 Since this piece is so large, it is also rather heavy.  In order to strengthen the piece and minimize chances of breakage, I've run many lengths of "Strong Line Internal Steel Reinforcement" through the piece.  It runs vertically alongside all of the branches and horizontally along several of the smaller branches as well as the birds. 

 

Here the steel reinforcement can be seen between the glass.  After the window is soldered, the reinforcement becomes part of the window and cannot be seen.  In addition to the steel reinforcement, I added some copper braided reinforcement wire as well.

 

 After all of the glass pieces have been foiled and reinforced, I etched my name, the month and the year into the lower right hand border panel as shown.  After the window is cleaned and waxed, the signature is barely visible.

 The next step is "tack soldering".  At this point, the window is still captured inside of the "fence".  I've applied liquid flux to all of the copper foil.  This is a liquid agent which allows the solder to melt evenly along the foil.  Then I've added small dots of solder along the intersections and at key points on the window.  This is done to temporarily lock the glass in place so that I can remove the fence.

The window has been tack soldered and the fence is now off.  I'm sliding the cartoon out from under the window.  This is to protect it from the chemicals and the soldering process and cleaning which will follow.

Now the front of the window has been soldered.  Notice that I do not add foil, nor solder, to the outside border.  This is to facilitate the attachment of the metal channel, or frame.

My husband Eric is now custom cutting and fitting a heavy brass frame to the perimeter of the piece.

Once the frame is in place, he puts the fence back on to lock it there.  Then I solder the corners and I also solder the lead lines to the frame for added strength and stability.  Shown here is a metal acid brush which a cap full of liquid solder.  After the frame is in place, I carefully turn the window over and solder the back. Then the flux is thoroughly cleaned off.

Next, I use a different metal acid brush to apply Novacan Black Patina to all of the solder as shown.  It reacts instantly.  I let it set for a while, then this gets cleaned off as well.  After the window is allowed to air dry, I coat the entire thing, back, front and frame, with stained glass finishing compound.  This is a light carnauba wax.  I allow that to dry, then I buff it off.

Again, here's a look at the computer rendition ..

And here is the actual finished window as seen on a large light box. Stained glass will look different, depending on the lighting.  That's one of the factors that make them so vibrant!

And here is the window in different light.

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And here are the Cardinals in their new home!  Thanks again, Lauri and Jim, for the pleasure of creating this for you, and for the photo!

 

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