I have noticed a resurgence of interest in Celtic heritage these days. Stained Glass enthusiasts have found inspiration and challenge in the beauty of Celtic knotwork.
You may have noticed that I am also a fan of Celtic design. Be sure to check out the free Celtic patterns on this site, and then, if you are looking for more Celtic designs, take a look at these pattern books available at Amazon:
I highly recommend Glass Patterns Quarterly as a source of free patterns, tutorials, inspiration, and just plain good information regarding stained glass, hot glass, glass beads, etc.
I have read on other websites that this a magazine just for beginners, but do not be misled. While it is an excellent source of basic, yet attractive suncatcher patterns, and usually contains at least one beginner pattern with step-by-step photographed instructions, it also has more advanced patterns, and it is a source of inspiration regardless of experience level.
The Winter 2006 issue, for example, features Playing Hands, a pattern by artist Robert Oddy which requires glass plating. The description and well-photographed step-by-step instructions by the artist give a good introduction to this intriguing, more advanced technique.
The elegant and graceful Egrets panel, designed by Mark Waterbury, is another more advanced pattern that utilizes brass rods, and copper foil and copper wire overlay in construction.
For beginners to the lead came method there is a simple lead panel with materials list and step-by-step instructions with photographs.
The same issue also offers at least eight straightforward Celtic freeform suncatcher patterns and more than a dozen others requiring beginner to intermediate skills.
All of the patterns I have described are contained in a removable center section of the magazine.
As you can see, this quarterly publication has a great deal to offer and is absorbing reading. Even the ads are interesting, showcasing the latest supplies and tools available for stained glass.
You can order Glass Patterns Quarterly by clicking on this link.
If you couldn’t locate the perfect Christmas pattern by looking through our Guide to Free Stained Glass Christmas Patterns, then take a look at these stained glass Christmas pattern books.
Easy-to-Make Christmas and Holiday Lightcatchers by well known artist, craftsman, and designer Ed Sibbett, Jr. contains a collection of full-size templates for 66 beautiful stained glass ornaments designed for Christmas and eleven other holidays.
Dimensions of Christmas by Teny Nudson, contains 3-D and suncatcher holiday projects such as ornaments, freestanding bells, wreaths, angels, and nativity scene. Dimensions of Christmas contains full-size patterns and 15 color photos. This is a bestseller every Christmas for good reason.
Simply Christmas by Suzanne Cooper, a stained glass and glass bead designer, is a great pattern book for beginner to intermediate stained glass crafters. The book has 43 different Christmas patterns ranging from 3 to 57 pieces.
Many years ago I purchased a copy of Fish and Sea Life Cut & Use Stencils
I chose to make the mermaid that appears on the cover of the book.
Here is a color view of the stained glass pattern I made from the stencil. Click the picture for an enlarged view.
You can easily convert these stencils into stained glass patterns or use them for mosaics. I made my pattern by scanning the stencil, saving as a jpg and bringing it up in my Glass Eye 2000 where I could modify it into a stained glass pattern. This particular pattern may require the use of a glass saw to make some of the cuts.
I highly recommend this book. It contains stencils of many different fish, seahorses, shells, crustaceans, underwater plants, octopus, a mermaid, King Neptune, etc.
This book is still available after all of these years (my copy was published in 1983,) which says good things about its popularity. You can buy the book by clicking this link
Remember my post a few days ago about a book on decorative soldering? It was called Solder Magic Book: Instructions and Patterns
I just received my class catalog for the Glass Craft & Bead Expo and I found that the author of that book, Kay Bain-Weiner, will be one of the instructors there and has been an instructor at this event since it began 12 years ago.
At the 2007 Glass Expo she will be teaching three classes: Contemporary Glass Enameling, Solder Sculpturing Fantasy Art, and Creative Designing. Visit the class listings at the Glass Expo website to read details about these and other great classes.
I came across a book on decorative soldering entitled Solder Magic Book: Instructions and Patterns
I looked the book up on Amazon and I found it has two reviews: one review rated it two out of five stars and the other rated it five out of five stars. Neither review was very helpful. the 2-star review just said that there wasn’t much information in the book and you could find it all online, while the 5-star review was just a quote right out of the introduction to the book. (You can read the same thing when you use Amazon’s “search inside” tool.) This didn’t seem very promising, however, the author was just named recipient of the 2006 Art Glass Association Lifetime Achievement Award. Hopefully, that says something for her abilities as a teacher.
Ms. Weiner has written several other how-to books on art glass techniques. For more information see her website. http://kaybainweiner.com/KBW/