Painted Stained Glass Projects For Houston Church Windows

Scottish Stained Glass:  Houston’s Premiere Painted Stained Glass Artist

Painted stained glass is a complicated process that we, at Scottish Stained Glass, have taken years to hone our skills in.  The process for painting stained glass is actually quite fascinating and requires years of extensive experience to master, which is why we have spent almost 3 decades learning this age-old craft. Whether your Houston church stained glass is old or new, we can confidently handle any scope of work.  From painted stained glass restoration to original painted stained glass creation, we are the Houston areas specialists. To get a better understanding of the complex processes involved in crafting your one-of-a-kind painted stained glass masterpiece, read on.

The Lovely Tradition Of Painted Stained On Churches

There is no denying that painted stained glass is a gorgeous and unique way to add character and charm to chapels in Houston.  Although it may appear simple, it is actually achieved through a complicated and, some may say, scientific method because the colors you see on painted stained glass are actually achieved through the use of complicated chemical interactions of different minerals and oils.

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.  For this reason, 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.

Houston’s Painted Stained Glass Experts

Matching styles on restoration projects is definitely a challenge and means figuring out what type of techniques the original artist used.  For example, some artists would sometimes paint the black paint on their glass and then use a wood stick to rub off part of the black paint to give the piece texture. They would also use this technique to scribe in individual elements like blades of glass.

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

Whatever the original technique our skilled artists do numerous iterations to exactly mimic the look of your chapel’s stained glass. Difficult as it may be,  we are always up to the challenge here at Scottish Stained Glass and love what we do!  Contact us to find out more about original or restoration painted stained glass for your Houston Church today!