Process - 'Human Hands' - Games Exhibition 2012

'Human Hands' by Deirdre Finnerty, 2012

My panel, 'Human Hands', won third prize in the Games Exhibition in the National Waterfront Museum in Swansea. The exhibition was hosted by the Swansea School of Glass and in association with the British Society of Master Glass Painters. The exhibition consisted of 37 glass artists, many of whom are both nationally and internationally renowned.

I have posted here my process of design and fabrication for this panel. Process is an integral part of my own personal arts practice.

DESIGN & CARTOON - My idea for this panel was simple. I wanted to illustrate a pair of hands using stained glass techniques. I selected the colours of glass I wanted and placed them side by side in the window to work out an arrangement to suit my design. My design process for this was intentionally intuitive and immediate. I designed very freely and probably for the first time as it was not being graded. The only true judge was myself.

A cartoon is a full scale working drawing that shows where texture and paint is applied to the glass.

The cartoon or full scale working drawing

CUTLINE - The cutline is used to cut the precise shapes of glass. The cutline is an accurate plan of the heartline of the lead - this must be 1.4mm thickness. The cutline will also show you where you may need to adjust to eliminate unforeseen impossible cuts!

Cutting glass requires accuracy and skill. I immensely enjoy this part as I gain immense satisfaction from cutting a tricky curve or a temperamental type of glass. Personally, I see myself firstly as a craftsman and secondly as an artist. 

Cutline, set-square, grozers on a light-box

BLACKLINE - A blackline is when you paint the lead lines onto a piece of glass larger than the panel you're making using an acrylic based paint. This allows to see how your panel will look like when it is leaded up.

Selecting Glass

Using the blackline to see how the colours work together

Selecting more glass

SURFACE  - The techniques that I intended to use were sandblasting and painting. I chose to sandblast first and used the cartoon as a plan to show where the glass would be etched.

Looking at the cartoon next to the blackline to see where the paint and texture will go

Sandblasted glass in the window to see how the light works

PAINTING - I painted the glass whilst it was on the blackline so that I could see how the daylight worked with what I applied

Painting directly onto the blackline

Adding and removing paint

Unfired paint and enamels

Unfired paint on light-box

FIRING - The glass then needs to be fired to make the paint permanent. Firing temperatures depend on the type of kiln you have.

Glass in the kiln

'Human Hands' - Finished piece

Deirdre the Curator

I am, at the moment, seeing what it is like to be a curator of an exhibition. It was an opportunity provided to me through the Mission Gallery and Jamie Hill partnership and also because I expressed an interest in knowing more about exhibitions and how they happen.


So far it has been a relatively stress-free experience and has been quite exciting too. All the artists that I invited accepted and are submitting really exciting pieces for the space!


I currently have less than two weeks to get a catalogue together and to arrange the installation of the show - and to decide what work to put in myself! I think that is the hardest part - it would be really great to make a new piece for this show but it just isn't feasible at the moment. The glass department is closed for the summer as they are starting construction work on the new extension. So I have to use something I made earlier.


Today I plan on writing the press release/catalogue intro, my own artists statement and choose what pieces to put in, all this amongst bringing the cat to the vet and decide what to wear for my friend's birthday tonight.


There's just so many distractions!


Oh! Look! It's lunch time!