Painted Stained Glass Experts For Churches In Fort Collins

Scottish Stained Glass:  Fort Collins Premiere Painted Stained Glass Artist

Painted stained glass is an old and difficult art form that we, at Scottish Stained glass, have spent the last three decades working in and are proud to call ourselves experts in.  While the process is delicate and time-consuming, painted stained glass is also quite fascinating and something we love crafting. Continue reading to get a better understanding of the complex processes involved in crafting a painted stained glass masterpiece.

The Beautiful Tradition Of Painted Stained On Churches

Painted stained glass is a gorgeous way to add to the beauty of your Fort Collins church chapel. However, what may appear to be a simple end piece is actually quite complex to create and involves a fair amount of science.  This is because the colors you see on painted stained glass are achieved through the use of specific chemical interactions of different minerals and oils on the glass at certain temperatures.  Our artists must accurately predict what colors will come from different mixtures of chemicals when fired in our kiln.This is done through trial and error combined with extensive knowledge of the chemical and firing process.  The painted stained glass methods are listed below.

Painted Stained Glass Method 1

The artist starts with colored glass and paints special black paint made of oils and minerals onto it.  This piece of glass is then fired in our kiln at 1250-1450 for a couple of hours until the paint melts into the glass.  The paint then becomes part of the glass and will never rub off or be removed.

Painted Stained Glass Method 2

The second method involves clear glass.  During this process, colors are painted on a clear piece of glass one at a time and fired in between layers of color to build up layers of shading or color. Any color that involves the use of yellow can be particularly difficult in this method as the chemical used for yellows color (silver staining) is very toxic and will destroy other colors.  Because of this, when trying to achieve the color green for instance, the toxic yellow must be painted on the opposite side of the glass as the blue paint in order to keep the yellow from damaging the blue paint.

Painted Stained Glass Restoration In Fort Collins

At Scottish matching styles on restoration projects is a wonderful challenge that we love taking on.  We get a great sense of satisfaction in recreating steps of a former stained glass artist to restore or enhance their work.  What we do is a lot like detective work because it means piecing together different types of chemicals and techniques used by the original artist.  For instance, sometimes artists would paint the black paint on their glass and then use a stick to rub off part of the black paint to give the piece texture, or put in unique elements like blades of glass.  In order to get the exact right look, our artists sometimes do numerous iterations.  Here at Scottish Stained Glass, we are always up to the challenge of restoring your stained glass back to its original beauty.

Learn more about the history of stained glass here or watch the video below.

Contact us today to find out more about original or restoration painted stained glass for your Fort Collins Church.