PG2: Faux Stainglass GlowLight

Fig 11	17. After assembling all the elements of the design, I then chose to place a border of leading around the entire piece to bring the design together and give it a finished look. I ran some more opaque (black) clay through the pasta machine on medium to create a very long strip about and inch or so wide. I snugged this up against the assembled design, stretching gently and pulling so it would fit all the way around. I cut the ends of the clay on the snugged strip so they were abutting, not overlapping and blended the seam. (Click on the thumbnail for a closer look.)
Fig 12	18. After making sure the strip was firmly attached to the design with no daylight or cracks, I trimmed it freehand to get an even and pleasant looking frame. (Click on the thumbnail for a closer look.) Leaving the entire design on the glass, I placed another piece of tile on top of it to keep it flat and baked at the manufacturer recommended temperature for 10 minutes. I let it cool on the stovetop still sandwiched until the tiles were cool to the touch. I peeled the design carefully from the glass and flipped it over face DOWN; poured a thick layer of undiluted Transparent Liquid Sculpey (TLS) onto the back and smeared it around until it was even. Next I flipped the design back over onto the glass with the back up and baked it withOUT the tile on top and baked for another 10 minutes. When it cooled, I carefully sliced the design from the glass. The TLS fills in any gaps that were created with shrinkage during cooking and gave the entire design strength. I set the design aside.
Fig 13	19. Now I needed to make the sides where I could stuff the workings for the lights. I grabbed my pile of scrap clay (mud pile) and just smooshed it all together and ran it through the pasta machine on the medium setting. Looking at Fig 12, you'll see some of my mud pile in the pasta machine. (Click on the thumbnail for a closer look.) I then took that sheet and folded it lengthwise so I ended up with a nice, long, continuous sheet of clay. Since I use so many different brands of clay and inclusions, my mud pile was filled with great diversity. To ensure the entire wall of the design was consistent in strength throughout, I blended all of my scrap clay together thoroughly before I began cutting or shaping the walls.
Fig 14	20. I trimmed the scrap clay so it was about an inch or so wide, giving me nice straight sides. I placed the design back onto the work/baking surface. I stood the sheet of clay on its side and then pressed it to the side of the design. (Click on the thumbnail for a closer look.) The first sheet I had wasn't quite long enough, so I simply began with another sheet to make it all the way around and then pressed the ends together.
Fig 15	21. The sheet of clay had a tendency to be a bit wobbly (See Fig 13), so I formed a tube with 3 pieces of typing paper and sized it to fit quite snugly against the wall before taping it. I used ordinary Scotch Tape®. You can use any brand and it will hold up just fine under the baking temperatures. I put this contraption into the oven on the lowest rack setting (I use a conventional oven) and baked for 15 minutes at the manufacturer's recommended temperature. (Click on the thumbnail for a closer look.) If the tube of typing paper is too tall, feel free to size it down so you can fit it into your own cooking appliance.
Fig 16	22. After the first sheet cooled, I applied a second layer by running a very thin layer of TLS around roughly the top 1/8" of the first layer, then pinching the lower side of the second sheet to the upper edge of the first layer. At this point, I discovered the bond between the first layer and the design was rather tenuous, so I applied a square rope of clay at the base of the wall to seal any cracks between design and wall and to ensure the wall will not separate from the design. (Click on the thumbnail for a closer look.) In order to get the rope to seat with no air bubbles and so it would grab both wall and design, I used a standard #2 pencil eraser to press it into place. I placed the typing paper tube back into the design and baked.
Fig 17	23. I applied a third layer to the upper edge of the second layer using the same method as in Step 22. (Click on the thumbnail for a closer look.)
Fig 18	24. I placed the typing paper tube back into the design and baked for 15 minutes. (Click on the thumbnail for a closer look.)
Fig 19	25. Now here is where your imagination can run rampant. You can cane the walls, apply fabric with TLS, use powders, paper, whatever your heart desires. I chose to use a light green yarn and just wrapped the whole skein around it! I secured the edges of the yarn with white glue. (Click on the thumbnail for a closer look.) The yarn held up just fine under the cooking temperatures with no discoloration. Warning: Do not apply white glue to your artwork until the last step. The glue will turn a nice, toasty brown when baked!
Fig 20	26. The walls of the design were still quite flimsy so they needed shoring. I found a nice long cardboard box and cut a piece out of it. At this point, I didn't concern myself much with the length or width so long as it was longer and wider than what I needed! (Click on the thumbnail for a closer look.)

How I Made A Faux Stain Glass "GlowLight" Page 1
	To download the 5 second MPEG video (473Kb) showing this with lights flashing gently behind the rose, click HERE. It's quite pretty. It looks a bit like candle light! For a closer look, click on the thumbnails. To download the TEXT version, go HERE. This can be unzipped and opened in any word processor and printed.

Copyright Colleen D. Bergeron. Last revised: May 16, 2006.

Copyright Colleen D. Bergeron.
Last revised: May 16, 2006.