Astronomical Stained Glass Panel - Finished!!

[marc4darkskies]

You may recall my thread from last year where my wife Gail was making a stained glass panel inspired by my hobby. Here it is finished framed and hanging in front of my "control room" window (our study). She actually finished it months ago but problems with my mitre saw delayed the frame building (DO NOT buy a Ryobi compound mitre saw! :mad2:)

The white blob you can see through the blue glass near the centre is actually my observatory.

I absolutely :love:the way it turned out!! Thank you honey! :love::D

http://www.pbase.com/image/141176059/original

Cheers, Marcus

[tilbrook@rbe.ne]

Hi, Marcus.

Love it!!:eyepop:
Something to be proud of, your wife has great skill.

Cheers,

Justin.

[lacad01]

That's fantastic Marc, your wife has a great talent there :thumbsup:

[Robh]

Hi Marcus. Lucky you!

Very nice piece of artwork.

Regards, Rob

[leon]

Awesome work, you have a very clever wife, love it.

Leon

[Rodstar]

Marcus, that is simply gorgeous. I am very impressed, and a tad green (with envy). I have just showed my wife, she thinks it is lovely too!

[rogerg]

That's quite spectacular! what a lot of work.

[iceman]

Brilliant! Love it!

[marc4darkskies]

Yes, my wife's not just a pretty face ;) - she's got talent! It's very painstaking work to design, cut, grind and solder this kind of panel.

Of course ... she had expert technical guidance from her hubby as well! :D ... errr ... and the hardwood frame is well built too :whistle:

Thanks for the kind remarks guys - I'll get her to read them herself this evening ... she's out working on another (non astronomy) panel as I type.

Cheers, Marcus

[ballaratdragons]

WOW, that is an absolutely gorgous wooden frame Marcus!!! :thumbsup: :lol:

Oh, yeah, the glasswork is superb too ;)

[multiweb]

It looks awesome backlit. Well done. :thumbsup:

[traveller]

True love :thumbsup:

[acropolite]

Lovely work, does she have a sister...:P

[marc4darkskies]

Thank you everyone for all the kind words! It was fun to do, only 329 pieces, that was enough to keep me busy for a few months! It was also fun to have Marc assist me with my hobby (consulting and critiqueing only! ;))

Yes Phil, I do have a sister...do you have a lot of money? ;):P ... hmmm ... then again if you are an amateur astronomer and if you are like my husband ... you have no money!!!!

Gail (Mrs Marc4darkskies)

[strongmanmike]

Fabulous final result Gail.

Is there a wider field view....so we can see its place in the study..?

Mike

[Shark Bait]

Beautiful glass Gail.

Is the glass you use created in the same way that the 'old' glass was made?

[Ausrock]

As a (ex) stained glass artist I must compliment you on the panel :thumbsup:.

Stu, what specifically are you asking re new vs "old" glass?

[Shark Bait]

In 2005 I visited Ireland with my Wife. Some of the stained glass in the old cathedrals was many hundreds of years old.

According to the information provided by one of the Dublin cathedral guides, the old stained glass making skills have been replaced by modern glass manufacturing techniques that cannot be considered to be 'real' stained glass.

To my untrained eye, the finished product still looks the same excepting that modern glass looks smoother when compared to the very old examples. The skill that goes into this work is obviously high.

Why would modern glass not be considered to be at the same or even higher quality compared to some of the old cathedral stained glass?

[alan meehan]

Very nice ,Marcus your wife has done a beautifull job,i hope she is wearing protective gear when using the lead as a friend of mine who did leadlighting got sick from using lead and soldering
AL

[TheDecepticon]

Fantastic artwork. :eyepop:

I can see that it would appeal to a much wider audience as well. :thumbsup:

[bartman]

That is bloody awesome Gail!
I liked it last year when it was unfinished, but love it now. Well done!
I'm sure such work would enhance any obs. You should Market your product! Tailor made Panels............maybe even curved ones to suit round obs?
Cheers
Bartman

[jjjnettie]

That is a sensational piece of work! :D

[Ausrock]

I envy you your trip:).

Yes, in general, modern manufacturing techniques have taken over, however, there are still companies making stained glass in more traditional ways........these days the most common is large mouth blown cylinders which have the top and bottom removed and are then "cut" down one side allowing the cylinder to flatten out when re-heated. Glass made this way carries all the "imperfections" inherent in the process......virtually any glass made before float glass was developed in the '50s will show variations in thickness, etc.

The guide's opinion regarding "real" s/glass is unfortunate.............take this from someone who studied traditional kiln fired stained glass "painting", warm glass techniques, etc. ;)

[Ric]

That's a lovely piece of artwork.

Well done Gail, you have real skill and talent.

Cheers

[wavelandscott]

Wonderful stuff! I love it! Well done Gail...and the frame is okay too...

[niko]

that's fantastic!

[venus]

A wonderful work of astro art!

[AstralTraveller]

That looks beautiful. Very impressive. How big is it?? I'm trying to get a mental picture of what it would look like.

[Matt Wastell]

That is a work of art! Stunning.

[marc4darkskies]

WOW! I am amazed at all the lovely compliments, Thank you all so much for appreciating my humble efforts! :thanx:



Sorry Mike, I didnt have Marc's focal reducer attached to the camera at the time ;), I'll see what I can do on the weekend for you!



Thanks David! I'm glad you liked it... it is 79 x 64 cm

Thank you all again!

Gail

[DavidU]

Masterful artwork right there !

[gregbradley]

A fabulous piece of art.

Lucky you.

Greg.

[kustard]

Most impressive!

You should get your wife to do commission work for astro clubs with their logo's (or even one for IceInSpace) :)

[Garyh]

Marcus! that is lovely, I want one!

[Kevnool]

Hi Gail

That is brilliant.
Fantastic piece of work.
A treasure for sure.

Cheers Kev.

[AG Hybrid]

That should be an APOD.

[bloodhound31]

Beautiful, skilful, meaningful, thoughtful, colourful, wonderful, cheerful, eyeful, delightful, purposeful, useful, peaceful, powerful, careful and graceful.

[marc4darkskies]

I can tell you right now that Gail is very chuffed (and a little surprised) to get such wonderfully generous feedback from you guys!! That kind of feedback is no surprise to me of course - but thank you!

Cheers, Marcus

PS: I've actually suggested to Gail she should do commission work but right now she prefers to do it for love.

[marc4darkskies]

Here are a couple of wide field shots. It fits nicely in the window and contributes nicely to the astronomical theme in our study! :D

Probably as close to an astro image I'll get for a while with the current Sydney weather!!

[Ausrock]

That panel really looks good in that window!

This thread has actually got me thinking about glass work again for the first time in about 15 years :eyepop:. I have a 10" rondel (Gail will understand) that was a back up for a commision (2 were required, 3 were made) that has a real Earth(ish) look to it.........now all I have to do is figure out 1) a suitable design and 2) where the heck I'd put it. One half of the commision is in the pic below.

[marc4darkskies]

That's a lovely design Chris! Gail says she's never used rondels but the 3D effect is nice and worth thinking about to incorporate into a project. She tends to be more the "realist" in her designs (as opposed to geometric or stylised) but you've got ME thinking of another astro design now - perhaps a bit more stylised! :lol:

Cheers, Marcus

[strongmanmike]

Looks really good guys :thumbsup:

Great study Marcus.

Mike