Thursday, July 30, 2009

Snowy Owl Stained Glass Suncatcher

I love owls, I really do. Birds of all kinds fascinate me. I got interested in birds about 10 years ago and have traveled to both ends of the State of Tennessee to see various species~a real bird freak. I've been lucky enough to see a few owls out in the wild, but I've never seen a Snowy Owl. They usually don't make their way this far south but there was one that showed up last winter in Spring Hill, Tennessee, just a few hours away. I kick myself now for not making the effort to go see it.
Here is a new owl that I just added to my Etsy shop. Below are are steps involved in creating this piece.
I use the same pattern that I use for my other owls minus the ear tufts. The paper pattern is cut out and glued to the glass. Then the glass pieces are hand cut following the paper pattern outline. I've selected 3 different types of opal white glass along with black glass for the bill and lemon yellow glass globs for the eyes. Two glass globs of similar shape and size are selected making each owl and cat ornament unique.
Next, the glass pieces are grinded down to size to fit together like a puzzle. The bill will be tacked on later.
Each piece of glass is then wrapped with copper foil except for the outside edges.
After all the pieces are foiled, the entire owl is tacked down and its time for solder.
First, one side is soldered then the piece is turned over and the backside gets soldered also.
The entire owl is then wrapped with a "U" shaped lead came for strength and stability.
A single loop is soldered to the back of the owl for hanging.
Black patina is applied darkening the shiny solder and lead came to a rich dark gray.
The black bill is tinned with solder and tacked to the body of the owl. The bill is then treated with black patina.
Next comes the paint. Both pupils are hand painted~not an easy thing to do on the curved surface of a glass glob. The trick is to get both pupils similar. Now, the little guy can see.
I attach about 4 inches of black jack chain to the loop so the owl can hang. Additional chain is available upon request and at a minimal cost. Time to take a boat load of pictures and get this guy listed for sale.



3 comments:

The Great Ethan Allen said...

Great Step by step pics! It looks great!

livingglassart said...

Thanks so much! I have to remember to stop and pick up the camera before I go onto the next step. I caught myself forgetting a few times.

Fridman said...

I was impressed by the depth of the ayes. A very nice “step by step” work. Do you have more?