A glass act

Most people associate it with churches, but many are lucky enough to have stained glass panels in their homes. One of the things I miss about our last house, a Victorian terrace, is the stained glass window on the landing, which on sunny mornings projected pretty red and blue patterns onto the stairs.

As an art form, people tend to think of stained glass as quite a difficult medium – not something you can get your teeth into overnight. I fall into that camp, and although I always admire stained glass work, the idea of having a go myself didn’t enter my head. Far too hard, I always imagined.

Yet that is not the case, as I discovered when I joined a class at Shipley’s Kirkgate Studios.

No-one could fail to be motivated by the enthusiasm of tutor Evan Jones, who began his love affair with stained glass in 1966 at a studio in Bristol, and went on to teach the subject in secondary schools for 20 years.

“I love the sounds and smells, sight and touch of all the different materials,” he says. “And I like all the stages involved in the art – I especially love the thinking process behind the design. I never tire of looking at stained glass, or of making stained glass and being involved with it.”

With the class assembled at their work benches, Evan starts by describing a stained glass exhibition of work by the Russian artist, Marc Chagall, he’d seen while on holiday in the Mediterranean during the Easter break.

“It was absolutely fantastic – I was knocked out by it. He’s thrown on the paint, splattered it on, brushed it and let the highlights come through. I got so involved photographing it, I got told off for being too close.”

It soon becomes clear that Evan’s love of stained glass has rubbed off on his students. “I really enjoy myself,” says Olive Pope, as she carefully cuts a piece of glass. “It is not difficult, you just have to persevere. You draw it carefully, and if it doesn’t fit its space, you try again. It can be frustrating, but it is lovely to finish a piece of work.”

The 87-year-old began with a Welsh dragon, and in the seven years since joining the class has produced many different pieces, including a beautiful circular window of garden birds.

Nearby, Ray Bell, 73, is working on a complex design of a seated woman. “You use your hands and your brain when working with stained glass,” he says.

Ray shows me how tracing paper is used to translate the shape from an image to the glass.

To cut the shape, an oil-filled glass cutter is needed. This is not much larger than a ball point pen, but to use it you really have to concentrate as both hands are needed to operate the cutter, one at the bottom to guide it, and the other at the top to push in the oil. “You make it look so easy,” I tell Evan.

“The oil helps the wheel at the bottom to score the glass,” says Evan, handing me a pair of protective glasses. I slide the cutter across a piece of orange coloured glass. I should hear a slight grating sound, indicating a cut, but I don’t.

On my second attempt, I press slightly harder and there is a definite sound. Evan hands me a ‘cut runner’ – like a pair of plastic pliers – which I apply to the glass. To my amazement, it snaps across the cut.

Evan then demonstrates how to cut curves. “You have to use the cut runner at each end,” he says. The glass breaks with a wave-like edge – I’m fascinated.

Some glass is pre-coloured, or glass can be coloured using special paint and fired in a kiln. Evan shows the class samples of glass from the Victorian age, with a range of stunning, rich colours.

Joan Tate, 82, has made a stained-glass picture featuring a fairy holding a rose for the window of her Saltaire home, and a stained glass dolphin for her daughter’s bathroom.

“I’m doing a cat picture now for my friend who loves cats,” she says.

Trish Riley started eight months ago and is making a decorative mirror. “I find it quite hard, but I love stained glass and the end result is worth the effort. It is very satisfying when you hang it on the wall.”

Heather Parry, 56, of Ilkley, tells how she made stained glass panels for her summer house, and is now making the windows with a design featuring rowan tree leaves.

Evan – who has made stained glass windows for many places including churches, a theatre, visitor centres and homes – explains how the edges of the glass can be smoothed off using a special grinder.

“It has an industrial diamond coating on the drum and, using water as a lubricant, we grind the glass.

“It is a challenge – there is easy glass that cuts like a knife through butter, and glass that is more difficult to break off.”

He adds: “Once you have started, you will not want to stop. It really grabs you.”

It really grabbed me. I loved it – it is exciting and creative in a way that tests the imagination. I vowed that as soon as feasibly possible, I will sign up for classes.

For more information, contact Kirkgate Studios & Workshop, Kirkgate, Shipley BD18 3EH, call (01274) 598928 or e-mail info@ksandw.org.uk.