STAINED GLASS
Stained Glass combines drawing, colour, light and precise technical work with glass. The course follows the complete process from the first sketch through cutting, copper-foil work and soldering to the finished piece.
Programme
Work starts with designing an image that can actually be realised in glass. Students move from sketch to working design, learning to organise shapes, joints and composition in relation to the material rather than treating the drawing as an independent illustration. From the start, the visual idea and the construction method are developed together, and that connection remains central throughout the course.
Students then work directly with different kinds of glass, developing skills in selection, processing and accurate cutting. The main practical method is the Tiffany technique: individual pieces are edged with copper foil and joined by soldering to form a complete composition. Because the technical system is visible in the final object, precision of cutting, fitting and assembly becomes part of the visual quality of the work.
Colour balance is studied together with the way transmitted light changes colour, contrast and the perception of form. Students therefore consider not only the arrangement of coloured pieces but the behaviour of the finished work in light. The course finishes with finishing and presentation, bringing sketching, glass preparation, Tiffany assembly, soldering and colour control together in one completed stained-glass piece.
What You Will Learn
- develop a stained-glass sketch and working design
- select and process different kinds of glass
- cut glass accurately
- work with the Tiffany copper-foil technique
- solder individual pieces into a complete composition
- control colour balance and the interaction of light and shadow
- finish and present a completed stained-glass work
How You Learn
Technical and creative decisions are developed together from the beginning. Students do not design an image first and solve construction later; the properties of glass, cutting, joints and light are part of the design process itself. Practical and theoretical work therefore begins in parallel and leads toward one finished object.
Outcome
A completed stained-glass piece and a working foundation in the principal stages of the process: design, glass preparation, Tiffany assembly, soldering, colour control and finishing.