Working on Sketches

I have been really wanting to make a nativity scene for Christmas. But I missed my opportunity, since I started this after Christmas. So I'm hoping I'll get this done before next Christmas. 

I'm getting it done, very slowly. The above is the inked study on white paper. I'm eliminating a bunch of the ornamentation and the column, and will be adding new things. I hope to transfer this design onto some very nice cotton 300 lb paper. And then, perhaps, I'll try to paint it.

That's terrifying, because whenever I add color or paint, somehow a great drawing becomes an awful painting.

Stained Glass Watercolors

The Stained glass triptych.

Do you remember when I made those mirrors with frosting spray and dorm mirrors? Well, before I did that I wanted to add something to my kitchen walls. My kitchen is dark. Dark cabinets, dark counter top, very little natural light and just can lights for the ceiling. I tried everything to lighten it up as I was FORBIDDEN to paint the cabinets. (sarge...... and his opinions. ) I painted the walls, several times, I added under cabinet lighting, I added a bead-board backsplash to cover the ugly brown tile. I tried to add light wherever I can.

 Before I got here....

Where  I ended up. (Gosh, the beige ceiling and floors flare so badly with the grey. ) 

I thought, Hey, how about something like this? It's not too dark and might actually lighten up the space.

Last year I started a project based on these leaded glass mirrors.

Ballard Street Mirror

I couldn't afford the hefty price tag and started coming up with ideas. Click below to look at my stained glass inspiration.












So before I did the above, I tried something else.

My Pinterest Gallery

Now, I couldn't find any mirrors I or stained glass  I could afford, and to do my own mirrors,  I thought might look too "homemade". 

Lets give some context. So, back in art school, I was on a study abroad program. It's focus was on drawing and painting. Specifically watercolor. I was fascinated by these old churches, the exquisite iconography and the stained glass. My final project was a horrible ink stained triptych of the stained glass and wood carved pieces in these old Swiss churches.

I don't have pictures which is good because looking back..I'm not terribly happy with them. But that's the thing about art, you get better. I lost them awhile ago anyway. So I started thinking , hey, I know watercolor (spoiler: I was wrong) why don't I draw some beautiful stained glass, and just color it in? Based on the stained glass gallery I made in Pinterest.

My drawings below. 

More drawing

Inking with acid free micron markers.

My sister, Sully an ACTUAL water color artist, helping me.

The only one I really like.

Oh God, this one is so awful.

Over-worked. Colors seem too muddy. 

I should have stopped here, The result is over done.

The one on the top right was awful. I started again.

The colors just aren't right.

I have stopped doing the stained glass triptych again. I just struggle so much with the color. Watercolor is the easiest the learn, the hardest to master.



Ps. I cannot for the life of me get all these pictures aligned. I have tried everything. Except changing the HTML code. Because no thanks.

Ruth

Wow, it's been awhile. Stained glass project.

The past two years I've found it very hard to blog. Maybe it was my son going to school. Or maybe it was the motivation was never there anymore. Any moments I spent were mostly being sucked into my phone complacently surfing the web. Oh my gosh, Pinterest pretty much had every spare moment not being a Mom, or doing stuff, was on my couch while my kids watched way too much T.V.

I somehow managed to do quite a lot of stuff, but never felt the need to post about it. But, today, its raining, and I've somehow exhausted the internet. So, I'm posting some thing I had just finished. Well, rather the craftsmen finished the project, I just gave it to them to do. Note to all you out there, it's ok to let a professional do the hard work. Seriously, it will be better and cheaper than trying do somethings all by yourself.

So, this stained glass had been wandering out various households.

It was originally three antique transom pieces that had been re-worked to one large piece to cover a bathroom window. The stained glass people didn't do an amazing job. There was no re-bar to support the very heavy piece and after 20 years it was sagging and falling apart. Not to mention the color choices were a bit weird. So it had been in my sisters house, then my Mother's house. After my Mom moved, there was no other place for it to go. It was in the garage and I decided I would try to use it in my bathroom window. The huge 4'x4' window was naked save for blinds that let very little light in. But alas, there was no apparently studs to hold the 50 pound piece. So, it stayed behind my dresser, mostly peeking out, and it irritated me that I couldn't use it. The colors chosen were weird, my sister said the stained glass guy she used for some reason chose blue when there was no blue in the original piece and she was a bit miffed. I researched stained glass repair and reworking and it was so complicated with a huge amount of tools I just didn't feel I could tackle it myself. I had wanted to separate the three original pieces and hang them separately. So finally after 6 months of staring, I got my butt in gear and looked for some professionals. I found a stained glass shop a few miles from me, whose sign I drive by almost daily. I never thought to actually see if they were in business until now. Well, they were. 

Whiteworth stained glass:

/http://whitworthstainedglass.com/

I called and asked if they did repair and refashioning on old stained glass. Jack, the owner said yes and I dragged the large and wobbly and falling apart piece and managed  to put it in my minivan. (Thank god for minivans ;) I drove it over, showed it to him and he was pretty surprised I was able to manage it into my van given the state of disrepair it was in. And not break it I guess. After talking it over with my Mom and my sister it looked like I could go ahead and have Jack and his team to fix it. The price was better than I was expecting for the labor. So I came up with the mock-ups of how I wanted them to look finished.

Option 1

Option 2

Option 3

I went with option 3, with green and white borders added new to match the green in the shields. 

In about 3 weeks, Jack gave me a call and said he had finished. 

I was thrilled, they came out beautifully.

The final resting place of these pieces was my Mothers kitchen. She had three big windows that needed a little excitement.

The added border goes perfectly with the decor in her house, and adds some excitement to her kitchen. It made a perfect mothers day gift, albeit, a few weeks after Mothers day. Thanks to all my sisters and brothers that helped pay for it, and a big thank you to Whitworth stained glass for creating it.

,Ruth