he question as to which order of the initial courses (Copper foil, Leading, Appliqué mosaic, Traditional Stained glass painting) to come on does crop up – and the honest answer is that it really does not matter. All share learning about glass cutting and shaping, with specifics about each technique within each individual course – whatever you learn from one course accelerates your progress or adds to your capabilities in another. It’s all about what you personally would like to achieve. Anyway, it is worth bearing in mind:
- Traditional leading techniques are used to create a weatherproof and/or larger scale panel – hence their use in windows.
- Copperfoil techniques are used to create more detailed work with narrower borders between pieces – but are not weatherproof (however it is perfectly feasible to include a special copperfoiled section within a leaded panel using a specific approach to ensure weatherproofing).
- Appliqué/mosaic panels can be made weatherproof, as window panels, simply by presenting the flat pane to the exterior with the mosaic to the interior
Whilst a separate art in its own right, a great enhancement to all glasswork can be made through ‘Traditional Stained Glass Painting’ (See the Courses section of the website). This course can be usefully taken at pretty much any point.
Then there are topic courses – ‘to raise your game’ in specific areas, particularly soldering and glass cutting and once competent across most areas the ‘Masterclass’ is highly recommended – to cover a range of advanced techniques and approaches that can transform your work.