Silver stained glass
This was a short session held just before the Christmas break, whereby I mixed and laid down a silver stain that I had decided to use to bring two areas of Sooty's body into a yellow harmony with the rest of the figure. I had used the technique before and wanted to include the process in this much larger, complex piece as a reminder of its specific qualities. Silver stain is a chemical process whereby an oxide of silver is applied to glass, which when kiln fired, its ions migrate into the glass. A process that permanently stains the glass a transparent yellow. This means that you can get two distinct (clear & yellow) areas in a single piece of glass without having cut the areas out of separate pieces and joining them. The technique was so widely used that the whole medium of “stained glass” obtained its name from the use of silver stains.
The Sooty element of the work sat on a lightbox, showing the two plain glass sections
Painted glass panel with silver stain
Silver stain comes in a variety of yellows, the one I used in the image above being a very orange one. It is always applied to the back of the glass.
The two pieces of plain glass, now with applied silver stain on the back
Silver stain is very expensive. For instance Reusche Amber Silver Stain, if purchased from the Creative Glass Guild, is £50 for a 1oz tub and a pale yellow £24 for the same amount. It is therefore to be used very selectively. The two sections above were both made of plain clear glass that I decided needed to be a warm orange yellow, so I have used Reusche Orange Silver Stain.
A small glass palette used to prepare the stain
You can mix the stain with water or oil. I used lavender oil, using a small flexible palette knife to mix the amount needed until it was brushable. Before applying the stain, the glass was oiled by putting a few drops of lavender oil on the surface and then rubbing it in and wiping it off with a paper towel.
Brushes and applicators kept for silver staining purposes only
I used the square ended brush to the right of the collection of applicators above and the fan brush to smooth and slightly graduate the stain. Lavender oil on paper towels was used to clean the brushes afterwards, not soapy water.
The two sections had to be turned over to have the silver stain applied.
Session 10 was the last session I attended in 2023. However on the 23rd of December I was knocked over by a car and had to recover my physical fitness before re-starting. I am just about there in terms of regaining the flexibility to work on a heavy large piece such as this, so hopefully will be returning to the stained glass workshop to complete the final stages of leading it all together very soon.
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