Blog : The beginning

When I signed up to a stained glass design City and Guilds course 18 years ago, I had no concept of the complexity of it. Making a stained glass panel is simple in principle right? wrong. I had done a little bit of ceramics previously, so this should be simple - no kiln gods to contend with. Stained glass craft is not one to be rushed, it is for the patient, logical, practical minded person? right? Not me then. It has been a real enjoyment to slow down and to put my energy into making beautiful stained glass.

I am hoping that I will be able to share some of my tips with you and the mistakes I have made to open up the craft to more people.

At the moment I am not a full time stained glass maker, my background is in science and research and I am still working for the NHS. My love of crafts started with a pottery throwing class during my PhD, where the teacher quite often had a smoke out of the window and threw us a few tips now and then, therefore we became self-learners and made tonnes of mistakes. I still have some of my (very heavy, badly made) plates and jugs from that time. The last couple of years since my children have grown, I re-joined my local evening class and have begun a journey of self- discovery as well as re-learning and re-igniting my enjoyment for glass in many of its shapes and forms.

Top tip: fantastic resources can be found here- this was the beginning of my journey many years ago visiting Ely Cathedral. https://stainedglassmuseum.com.