Unveiling the Magic Behind Breath taking Stained Glass.

Hello and welcome to another blog post, for the next few weeks I will be interviewing my fellow sellers on The British Craft House

Today we have JOYSOFGLASS, an absolutely fabulous stained glass artist. Her art work always makes me smile, it is so bright and cheerful! I am in awe of her cutting skills!  Enjoy!

Tell us a little bit about yourself and your business.  

I’m a Glass Artist. I mainly do Stained Glass but Tiffany Copper Foiled Suncatchers rather than the Leaded windows I started with.  I’ve been glassing since I did a course in Leaded stained glass in early 2008 and selling on line since 2009.

What initially drew you to the art of stained glass?

I was in my church choir from age 9 until I left town to go to University and then work in IT in London. The church had a superb Altar window. I sat underneath it 3 times a week for years and must have got into my blood as when I was offered  a 3 day course of anything I fancied in 2008, by my WI,  I chose stained glass.

Can you walk us through the process of creating a stained glass piece, from initial concept to finished product?

I draw my design on paper using the computer to draw circles and rectangles as the computer does those better than me. I do a lot of tracing to keep within the frames the computer draws. When I have my pattern I scan it into the computer and can then print it multiple times whenever I want to make it again. I need 2 patterns per piece as one gets wet in the process.
I choose my glass and cut all the pieces. Then I grind all the edges of each piece, they have to be smooth and the grinder can also make sure things fit together well. Then wash everything to get the ‘grind’ off before  copper foiling. This is a thin copper tape, normally 7/32 inch wide, which is self-adhesive. I wrap it round the edges of each piece, use a fidd to burnish all over the copper so it adheres well. Then I put all the pieces back on the paper pattern like a jigsaw (the dry one as the first gets too wet when I grind), switch the soldering iron, brush the glass all over with liquid flux and  solder it all together . Back, front and all round the edge to cover all the copper tape. Last stage is to attach hanging rings, a good wash in soapy Fairy water before attaching a hanging chain and a thorough polish with carnauba wax car polish. All that is left is to photograph, list it in my shop and sell it.

Where do you find inspiration for your designs?

Anywhere really. I see things when I am out and about or spot something on the internet, think about it for a while until my head works out what it wants to do with the idea and how to translate into a cutable glass design.

What are some of the biggest challenges you face as a stained glass artist?

My fingers can get a bit sore and I can’t copper foil wearing plasters on them so have to be very careful not to make them bleed  I wear gloves, gardening ones actually and always have since I started. I rarely handle any glass without gloves on. I am on blood thinners so if I stick a bit of glass in the end of my finger (favourite way to cut myself) I have to wait at least  half an hour before I can use my finger again.  My grinder top is full of water and in winter as I work in an unheated garage I have to it with water from the kettle as cold water really makes them sore.

How do you ensure the quality and longevity of your stained glass pieces?

I examine each piece as I make it and check for weak points and correct them to strengthen as well as I can.  I use twisted glass as a frame round bigger pieces. Glass is likely to break when dropped but if it has wire round it is far less likely to fall to pieces. My daughter has a water lily which I designed for her. It has a little internal crack I have noticed but it is still absolutely fine. Thank goodness for the twisted wire frame.  As I polish I examine everything holding it up to the light to make sure there are no rough bits, usually found if the duster catches them. I never switch the soldering iron off until I’ve finished polishing in case I need to do any touch up to the soldering.

What are some of the biggest challenges you face as a seller?

Getting my work out there. Such a big wide world but social media is fickle and sometimes spreads my posts well and at other times it hides me.

Can you describe a typical day or week in your life?

I glass most days I am at home even if only for a few hours. I am officially retired (used to be in IT) so don’t get up early but I do go to bed very late. Currently 00.27  according to my laptop..  I usually print off the patterns I am going to make that day and head for the garage.  Then back to the house after cutting and grinding as I copper foil in the living room and solder in the porch (warmer and good light). 
If It’s sunny I might pop into the garden for an hour or so to tidy the garden but otherwise I just occupy myself, very happily, doing what I love, glassing.
Hopefully later in the afternoon if I have orders from the previous day or earlier that day I pop out to the local post office to catch the 4.15pm collection.

Do you offer custom stained glass commissions? If so, how can potential customers get in touch with you?

If someone wants me to make something then I will always happily consider it. Customers contact me via my Facebook or Instagram account or by email as either a returning customer or from my contact page on my own Joysofglass website. I don’t sell from there, no need to as I have good shopping platforms to use which are already set up for that but I do use my website as a shop front to direct to my actual online shops.  My British Crafthouse shop is of course my favourite and I actually have two. One full of stained glass, the other fused as I have too many listings for just one shop.

What has been your most rewarding experience as a stained glass artist?

My very best experience was only last month when I was presented by Theo Paphitis with my SBS award. The whole experience of the event was epic.
Otherwise I get rewarding experiences most days with lovely emails from my customers and super reviews. Makes every little cut of my fingers worthwhile.

Have you ever had a particularly unique or challenging stained glass commission?

Bob my husband decided we needed to replace the door from the kitchen to the porch to let in more light. So he said I will make the door and you can make the window (2 long thin panes required and leaded not copper foiled).  I did it but it was a challenge. My glass bench is not set up for large pieces, not as big as those two window panes anyway and I had to work wherever I could  find space in our already messily full garage.  Really love it though and it is so good to have something we both made which we see all day every day.

What makes your products unique and stand out from others?

Over time I have of course become more and better skilled and I do pay extreme attention to detail. I have a very wide range of designs now, a massive selection of all types and shades of glass and I hope my enjoyment in creating comes through in my work. I sometimes feel guilty that with so many of my own designs it must be hard for other glass artist so design something which is not a copy of one of mine. But I don’t feel too bad about it. 

What are some future goals you have for your craft business?

More of the same. I cannot expand my ‘operations’ as I am constrained by my house and I am perfectly happy making as much glass as I can sell while also doing the other things we do such as quite a lot of holidaying and travelling.

What is your favourite listing on your TBCH shop?  

Sorry I don’t have one. I have such a lot of designs and often they are also in different colours and I really do like most of them. My Hare is my current favourite but that is because I love hares and this design is very new. February and I’ve already sold 4. It is out of stock at this moment. I made another yesterday but sold it right away.  That’s my job for Sunday, make a 5th..

What piece of advice would you give to your younger self?

Have more confidence in yourself. Don’t wait so long to get that confidence. You can do whatever you want. Just get out there and do it.

 What hobbies do you like to do? How do you relax?

My camera lives round my neck when we are out and about. So I take photos but my favourite way to take photos is when we are away somewhere. Have a few days in Derbyshire planned shortly. Then Cyprus for a week in April. June will be France with the caravan and September hopefully Italy.

Tell me a strange or unusual fact about yourself/ any claim to fame?  

I sing. I sang as a child .. age 3 was first time on stage I believe singing “me and my teddy”. I was quite a good singer. I took A level music ( a long long time ago)  with my voice as my instrument. Sadly smoking lost a couple of octaves for a while but having stopped that  in 2006 I am now mostly recovered and I Always sing when working, in  the garage, in the garden, in the house. And if I have a cold and therefore a croak I am really rather good at whistling. I have perfect pitch so that helps for tunes but I can also do a four finger really really loud one if pressed. My daughters will bear witness to that as I had to use it sometimes if I lost them when we were out .