Stained glass - almost instant gratification...

If you've followed any of my previous posts you're probably aware that I'm not the most patient type. I want to create a piece of pottery, have it dry before I finish the next one, fill the kiln with all the dried pieces that same day, get the kiln going as I leave for the day and open it when I come back the next!

Working with clay has taught me to be a little more patient --- at least when it comes to creating my pottery pieces! Waiting is the name of the game. From start to finish can take weeks if not months. If you work with clay you have learned a bit of patience.

Now I've started working with stained glass. I'm in the beginning baby-step phase so I'm slower in some areas than I probably will be after I'm comfortable with the idea that I probably won't slice my finger off with that sharp glass. In other ways I'm probably faster as I'm not doing anything intricate or overly involved.

Compared to working with clay, completion of one of my stained glass "masterpieces" (cough, cough) at this point is almost instant gratification! Design, cut, grind, clean, foil, flux, solder, clean, wax. Zip, zip, zip, done!

I know anyone who's bypassed where I am in this process is laughing at that last paragraph, right? No need to write and set me straight, as time goes on and I learn more I'll probably someday cringe that I could have been so naive.

At least right now I don't have to wait weeks and weeks to see the end product once I've started. I've made a few pieces from start to finish in no time. I suppose that if I took out the drying time, the waiting on the kiln to fire and cool times, that the actual time involved in making a piece of pottery compared to making a piece of stained glass art might almost be the same. But I don't have to wait for the glass to cook and cool!

I have fallen in love with making stained glass already. I can't wait to explore this form of art further. I won't share any of my pieces yet. I already know they're the ones that will be relegated to a drawer somewhere someday...the ones I'll look back on and go, "gee, how did I think that looked good?". But I will hold onto them and smile fondly when I find them in the drawer.