Stained Glass, Leaded Glass, Coloured Glass and Clear Glass

The term ‘Stained Glass’ & ‘Leaded Glass’ is often misused and can cause confusion. Originally it referred to the process of creating panels which are hand painted in special ‘stains’ and ‘paints’ and then kiln fired at about 500°c to fire the art work into the glass. Today we have a myriad of ‘Coloured Glass’ to choose from which is often incorrectly called stained glass.

Panels can often be a combination of stained, coloured and clear glass with varying textures.

There are two aspects to glass. One is colour and the other is texture. Both are used to effectively produce a panel to create the artistic illusion that is required by the artist and client. Follow the link to www.armstrongglass.com to see examples and get an idea of what is available.

Once the glass has been painted and fired and/or the coloured or clear glass is cut and ground to shape it is then built into a window by lead cames encompassing the edges of each piece of glass. Leads come in various sizes with different sizes generally used to further create artistic illusion and interest.

We have an extensive selection of pattern books that can be used to give inspiration. We would then normally design something just for you bearing in mind your preferences and dislikes.

We always visit you to discuss any project (this gives us a feel for the finished situation). Having talked about and around the project we come away and carry out the design aspects then revisit you. If you like the design great if not we ‘tinker’ with it until it is correct. We then choose glass colours and textures together. Only then can a realistic price be given….all our quotations are fixed price, free and written to include a specification of the work including time scales. Beware if anyone can give you a price before the design is on paper!

All windows are made using traditional techniques and must not be confused with the plastic film variety using stick on lead that is used by double glazing companies. We can supply this stick on variety by our sister company T and M Glass just follow the link.