As a child I loved to make things, tapping into a part of me that’s creative, practical and pretty much essential to my well-being; the sad thing is it now only finds an occasional outlet in bursts of household DIY! It has certainly been a long time since I rushed home clutching a ‘work of art’ in the hope of winning ‘pride of place’ on the mantelpiece, or prime position on the fridge door. That was until, very recently, when an extremely pleasurable day spent at Lightworks Stained Glass in Clitheroe helped me create my latest ‘masterpiece’.
If you’ve wandered around many a cathedral or church and marvelled at the colourful shadows cast on the stone floors, felt uplifted by multi-coloured lights dancing around the walls, then you’re probably fascinated, as I am, in the skilful art of stained glass creation. Imagine my delight when I discovered a one-day beginner’s course practically on my doorstep.
Tucked away on a side street just past The Emporium is Clitheroe, Lightworks is an unassuming little workshop that’s full of truly amazing creations in progress or close to completion by the amazing brother and sister team Daniel and Deborah Burke, and long–time collaborator Abigail. But today it’s a workshop for me and a couple of other ladies (one from Chester, one from Yorkshire). The workshops only
cater for a maximum of four at a time and with excellent teachers in Daniel, Deborah and Abigail on hand, you’re immediately at ease and feel confident about the task ahead.
Daniel talks us through the health & safety, the tools involved (and how to hold them) and pretty soon we’re cutting, then snapping off straight-edged bits of glass. A few minutes later we’re onto curves (certainly more challenging). I would never have imagined that my stance and movement through the body, would play such an important part in the success or failure of cutting a piece of glass – but how it does! This took a while to master and the concentration in the room was tangible as we all perfected our style.
Once comfortable with lines and curves, it was time to select the pattern for our own stained glass creation. I went for a rose design and one that had some of those challenging curves. My fellow artists chose a yacht design and sunrise, then we picked the coloured glass we’d like to use from an array of supplies in the back room. We’d be starting on our designs after a short lunch break –which isn’t part of the deal but there are lots of really lovely places nearby. A quick walk around town was definitely in order as I suddenly realised that I’ve not concentrated so intently on learning something new for a very long time; whilst it felt really brilliant, I was also surprisingly tired. Just half an hour later, I was raring to go and pretty convinced I had a future in stained glass window creation.
We started the afternoon learning how to cut the lead strips into which each individual piece of glass sits, who’d have guessed a simple design would have so many pieces of glass (and all mine seem to be curved)? The glass of course needs to have some kind of frame so we created the temporary frame in which the glass and lead pieces sit and are kept tight together. One deviation from the template for each glass piece and the whole design could be compromised. Some minor slips and Abigail (thank goodness) was able to help tweak the template to accommodate them “that’s 10 years experience for you” she said politely, as we headed to the grinder to correct a bit of a wonky curve here and there. I may have to keep the desk job after all.
That considerable experience across the Lightworks team, is evident in the superb works that you’ll spot around the studio. From a newly commissioned church window of St Bernadette, which is sketched out and hanging on one wall and slowly coming to life on one of the work benches, to contemporary works and stunning household items such as a beautiful fire screen that caught my eye. They’re regularly commissioned to create new pieces including a recent memorial window, or to repair and renovate domestic as well as religious stained glass windows.
As my little window gradually starts to take shape I couldn’t be more in awe of the craftspeople who made the cathedrals and churches of old, and the modern day artists like Daniel, Deborah and Abigail who have the privilege of restoring them to life or creating new artworks for the admiration of generations to come.
The final bit of training (and secretly the bit that’s worrying me most) is soldering the lead and glass pieces together –as it involves a large gas bottle and something that looks like it could do some serious damage! We rub each of the joints, where the lead meets, with a wax-like substance called ‘flux’ then, after a demonstration or two, we each get to grips with the soldering iron. We hold the iron and solder together “so they just touch” until a molten bead drops onto each joint. These all work effortlessly to bind the sections together and very soon our windows take on the familiar ‘stained glass’ look.
The afternoon has flown by and, as we proud artists hold our new creations up to the light, I couldn’t feel more satisfied or happy. The day has been a revelation and reignited that love of creating that genuinely makes me feel great. Of course my ‘masterpiece’ has pride of place on the window sill, where the light catches the red and green glass and makes lovely patterns for all to admire and I’m proud to say ‘I made that’.
If you’ve ever wanted to try your hand at creating stained glass I can’t recommend this one day course enough. I’ll certainly be back for more.
Courses take place throughout the year on alternate Saturdays. Priced £120, includes tuition, teas and coffees and you take home a wonderful glass panel as a souvenir!
Lightworks Stained Glass Ltd, 122 Lowergate, Clitheroe, Lancashire, BB7 1AG
Tel: 01200 429500
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