Finished window project
Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2013 1:13 pm
Please accept my apologies in advance for the long posting, but I felt that it would be better to explain the whole process than just to post a picture.
Started this project more than a year ago – speedbumps and chaos put it on the back burner. Our daughter took a digital photograph in Noble Woods, a beautiful wooded park less than a mile from our homes. Once I saw the photo, I wanted to screenprint the design on glass and reverse paint it with glass enamels. I tested the process by making a 10”x15” hanging panel (can be viewed at http://www.tedbachglass.com), and decided to use the same design for a 22”x46” window in our home. The only major change I made was to screenprint the basic design on the front of the glass and to apply spot colors on the reverse side instead of doing both on the reverse. This change resulted in more texture when viewed from the front side.
The panels are not that large, but they are almost too big for my Skutt 1014 kiln. Each panel is 10”x17” – soon I discovered that the images were too large to be processed on my laser printer, they were too large for the silkscreens I normally use, too large for my exposure setup, and too large for my printing setup. I encountered problems with every step because of the larger scale. Once I actually set my mind to finish the project, however, things went more smoothly that I had expected. Each speedbump became a lesson learned.
The original image was tweaked in photoshop to render a sharp black and white image. The image was then separated into four panels, which were then sent to a blueprint company in digital format to be printed on vellum for exposure on my silkscreens. Each panel was screen printed on Uroboros 90coe 6mm clear glass with FuseMaster low fire black glass enamel and fired. The next step was to add spot color with FuseMaster Transparent enamels on the reverse side of the glass, using hand cut clear vinyl masks. I chose to airbrush the enamels to get even coverage, and that choice allowed me to do some shading, most noticeable in the sky. When all of the spot colors were applied and fired, the back of each panel was airbrushed with several coats of Reusche Matt White Translucent enamel to emulate sandblasting. Then each panel was fired once again. In total, these panels were fired over twenty times from start to finish . . . and that doesn’t include the re-do that was necessary when I foolishly leaned my elbow on the middle of one panel while trying to remove a piece of vinyl mask from another panel next to it. I still can hear the sound of that crack in my brain!The completed panels were placed in the custom wood frame using glazing points, and the frame was installed in the existing window frame.
This is the largest glass project I have ever attempted, and it was fun, interesting and exciting at every turn. I am very pleased with the final result. After this experience, I’m not so easily convinced that “size doesn’t matter!”
Started this project more than a year ago – speedbumps and chaos put it on the back burner. Our daughter took a digital photograph in Noble Woods, a beautiful wooded park less than a mile from our homes. Once I saw the photo, I wanted to screenprint the design on glass and reverse paint it with glass enamels. I tested the process by making a 10”x15” hanging panel (can be viewed at http://www.tedbachglass.com), and decided to use the same design for a 22”x46” window in our home. The only major change I made was to screenprint the basic design on the front of the glass and to apply spot colors on the reverse side instead of doing both on the reverse. This change resulted in more texture when viewed from the front side.
The panels are not that large, but they are almost too big for my Skutt 1014 kiln. Each panel is 10”x17” – soon I discovered that the images were too large to be processed on my laser printer, they were too large for the silkscreens I normally use, too large for my exposure setup, and too large for my printing setup. I encountered problems with every step because of the larger scale. Once I actually set my mind to finish the project, however, things went more smoothly that I had expected. Each speedbump became a lesson learned.
The original image was tweaked in photoshop to render a sharp black and white image. The image was then separated into four panels, which were then sent to a blueprint company in digital format to be printed on vellum for exposure on my silkscreens. Each panel was screen printed on Uroboros 90coe 6mm clear glass with FuseMaster low fire black glass enamel and fired. The next step was to add spot color with FuseMaster Transparent enamels on the reverse side of the glass, using hand cut clear vinyl masks. I chose to airbrush the enamels to get even coverage, and that choice allowed me to do some shading, most noticeable in the sky. When all of the spot colors were applied and fired, the back of each panel was airbrushed with several coats of Reusche Matt White Translucent enamel to emulate sandblasting. Then each panel was fired once again. In total, these panels were fired over twenty times from start to finish . . . and that doesn’t include the re-do that was necessary when I foolishly leaned my elbow on the middle of one panel while trying to remove a piece of vinyl mask from another panel next to it. I still can hear the sound of that crack in my brain!The completed panels were placed in the custom wood frame using glazing points, and the frame was installed in the existing window frame.
This is the largest glass project I have ever attempted, and it was fun, interesting and exciting at every turn. I am very pleased with the final result. After this experience, I’m not so easily convinced that “size doesn’t matter!”