In South Africa stained glass artists do not get a lot of chances to show what they can do. This project kept us busy for 6 months and really made me dig deep.

Today I want to give you a little behind the scenes sneak peak at what happens inside the studio:

We start with the architect drawings and the raw building site... 

Then the design has to be done to the specs and the specifications of the client. As this window was for a prestigious boys school with a rich history, we prepared a proposal for Tree of Life Window, which included a lot of symbolism:
The Tree of Life symbolizes the values of growth, support, guidance, shelter and community in its strong branches.
Strong roots as a reference to the solid foundation the boys get at Cordwalles, a variety a fruits symbolizing the values being grown at the school and the rewards of dilligence.
A variety of small animals invites one to come closer and look for them in the branches and flowers and foliage.
The design is transferred to full size:

​When the design is approved it is transferred to the full size hardboard templates and manually adjusted to fit the window curves.
Now the glass can be marked, cut out and fitted.
​and finally the painting can start.

From painting on the light table to the kiln...

And then it looks like this when it comes out of the kiln:

Perspective is needed before anything can be approved!

Jan is assembling the first window:

​And when everything is out of the kiln, we can start to assemble. Here is the tribute window the Fowler Family commissioned for the Chapel: "As you sow, so shall you reap."

There is building going on while we design, paint and assemble...

Here Jan is installing the Rose Window. It involved scaffolding... I had to get up there...

And here is some close-ups of the Rose Window.

Lizard

Tortoise

Mouse

And Voila!

There are more updates of detail of the Rose Window: Hedgehog and bunny and hoopoe and gecko and all the other animals, flowers and fruits on our Facebook page.

If you want to be notified of the Artist Walk-through, then please send a return email here.
​We would love to send you an invitation!

Warmly
Jan & Louise

Great words to hear when you have just completed two hours with a team!
All team building exercises are not equal! Some teams just have better cohesion, team spirit and focus. And the team from PricewaterhouseCoopers certainly showed why they were made managers!

The first thing they learned was that time flies when you are having fun! Two hours are over before you know it.
​And that some who did not think that accountants have left brains, indeed were blessed with a left brain!

Pure concentration!

And all three teams were winners - they all had a clear idea of what they wanted to achieve, worked well together as a team by utilizing each individual's strengths, being flexible and by everyone stepping up to participate. 

We ended the session with an I-nfinitepotential assessment session, and I am very happy to say that this is indeed an outstanding team: excellent leadership skills, coherence and best of all, they can have fun together. Well done PricewaterhouseCoopers Pietermaritzburg!

Now this next lamp is a whole different story!
So I am writing this post because nobody likes to be had, right?
It is such a sad moment when someone brings in a stained glass piece to be repaired and we have to tell them it is a fake and cannot be repaired. And we have seen a lot of rubbish being passed off for the real thing, but this... oh this!... takes the grand prize.
​Made out of 2 mm sandblasted glass, painted with non-permanent glass paints and GLUED together.

And this is what it used to look like...

So it is clear to see that the way it looked originally could fool a lot of people!

The aboce pic is of the weight bearing spider glued on too! I would be speechless if I was not so outraged!

So on to the subject of mass produced Chinese imports.
It has been baffling us for years: how can a lamp which will take us at least 3 months to finish, and which we will have to sell for R16 000, be imported from China, transport and the dealer's profit included, and be sold for R3000 or R4000?

And we have looked at them and tried to figure it out: Real glass, looking very much like the glass we import from America at high cost. Thinner than it should be lead lines and very flat lead lines, yes, but how do you get past the labour intensive job that it is, if it is real? Even when you take into account the sweat shop setup, it is still not explained???

Until two customers in a row brought in their broken Chinese stained glass lamps for repairs....
​
Glue again!!!
Glue that is stained black is what keeps the lamp together. And if that is the case, we give you the broken lamp back with our best wishes and instructions to go buy a tube of glue! Sad but true.

So the above is an image of a fake Chinese lamps. Pretty impressive, especially at that price. and as a minimum of 60 units have to be brought in, you at least can be consoled by the fact that 60 other people have the exact same lamp and have been fooled too!

So, how do one then know if it is a fake or not?
Clue number one: If it is to cheap to be true, it is likely to be rubbish.

Our best suggestion:
Find a reputable maker, visit their showroom, and if you like their work and can connect with them, ask them to custom make something for you.
It is worth it, and the real thing will give you years of joy!
And our condolences if you possess one of these. Enjoy it while you can.

OK so I have been stewing on that for some time... steam let off successfully, and hopefully it will be helpful to you too

Warmest regards till next time!
​Louise

The above photo is the beauty restored to her former glory. Below is what she looked like after a terrible hail storm:

As this window was made with handmade glass, the search begins for glass of the same colour, texture and quality.
Not so easy, as there are very few glass importers, and as this kind of glass is the most expensive, big quantities of it are not being imported in the current economic climate.
Here are some of the amazing glass we found:

Next we prepare an exact copy of the pattern. The hardest part is to try and preserve as much of the original glass as we can. It will actually be faster to do a complete remake with the new glass we found, but some glass just cannot be replaced, and for authenticity's sake we prefer to save as much as we can of the original glass:

Everything laid out, ready to go

And then the serious labour starts... carefully cutting apart the old window to remove the damaged glass and old lead came. Then we start to replace the newly cut and fitted glass and lead came.
​And at last, the restored beauty - this time the outside view!

Well worth the effort!

The brief... the colour of the kitchen and an idea from Pinterest

Design is done, changes done until client is happy, another site visit, colour changes to contend with, sizes and template double checked. Time to start cutting:

​

If Zoli will let us...

Finished product!

And now... ta daa! Fabulousness!!!

And this is the talented bunch, creating: