Remembering My First Stained Glass Project
Posted: Wednesday, August 17, 2011
by The Old Gray Mare
www.DressYourHorse.com
For many years I have been impassioned about mosaics and the stained glass arts. The lovely colors, designs and textures made long lasting impressions on me, even at an early age, in churches and on lamp shades.
In my thirties I finally decided that I simply had to learn the creative processes involved in stained glass. I set about finding classes that worked with my schedule and, before long, I was completely immersed in a panel project that took me all the way up to Grafton, Massachusetts, every Wednesday evening for eight evenings in a row. At the end of that time, the instructor told us, we’d be ready to bring our creation home with us, however long it took on the last night to finish.
By the time week 8 rolled around, we were all ready to solder our panels. The instructor had helped us along the way and this was our grand finale. We were excited to finish our projects. I was thrilled because even just pinning the pieces together gave me such a feeling of accomplishment.
Well, the soldering didn’t come as easily to me as the other steps. I understood the instructions yet no matter how hard I tried, I was critical of my soldering lines. They seemed too wavy or too bumpy or my lead didn’t flow. I was making myself miserable. My progress slowed accordingly.
I think the instructor was grinning and bearing it because I others were also having their share of difficulties. It seems like the orderly progression of our learning processes had disappeared this evening – only two students did their soldering, and were ultimately overjoyed to be finished. In my own mind, I thought to myself, “The one panel was dreadful – didn’t like her colors and her soldering was plain awful.” The other panel was crooked somehow. But both ladies were thrilled with their results and left.
The rest of us continued our struggle with our soldering. Three more people finished and showed us their projects. Not bad. We congratulated them and they also left. Now there was only Bill and myself and the instructor. Class was scheduled to be over in 10 minutes. Our instructor told us to continue working until we were done. An hour passed, then two. We were struggling and the instructor was busy between the two of us. I was getting done, at last, while Bill still had to do the entire back of his panel.
Then it was midnight. I asked the instructor if she was sure we should continue. “I’m sure,” she said. “I just want you to finish up and take your beautiful projects home.” Bill said that he felt like he was sweating bullets, the strain was getting to him.
We finished – at 1 a.m.
Our instructor whooped, broke out a bottle of wine, and we toasted in celebration. I was feeling so elated, I had a second glass of wine. I know, I know. I was driving and had over an hour’s drive. I can handle wine!
We were all amazed at the gorgeous panels we had finally completed. Our instructor told us they turned out especially well.
So I’m headed home – 67 miles. I’m on Route 20 heading to Sturbridge and my panel slips around in the car. I reach to grab it and find myself wrestling with it to get it positioned safely. It took some doing since I was driving. Behind me the blue police lights come on and then the siren. I am pulled over and the officer requests license and registration . . . I wait -
Good grief. It’s now past 2 in the morning and I’m waiting, to get a ticket? The officer comes back and asks me, “So, exactly what are you doing out at this hour anyway?” Here I am with my glass panel story. He looks at me and says, “Had a bit of wine to go with the glass lessons?”
Well, I explained to the officer the how and why of this whole glass panel thing. And then I showed him the panel. He said he was impressed. He also said that we must have a dedicated instructor with “a lot of understanding and even more patience.”
No, I did not get a ticket.
This is only one of my stained glass tales and I can still chuckle at the officer’s reaction. Funny thing is that to this day I’m not overly fond of the soldering.
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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)I have a friend who does stained glass - wonder if she has a story like this - GRINI still laugh about the encounter with the officer and his "dubious" look about stained glass at 2 in the morning. I must have been weaving and probably hot footing it as well. I just wanted to get home. If you asked your friend, she's probably got a few stained glass stories too.
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