Dramatic stained glass.

Dramatic stained glass. Few art forms display such raw, dramatic beauty as stained-glasswindows catching the full light of the sun. The ruby reds, deep sapphireblues and the powerful lines of the leading seem to have an intoxicatingallure, forcing a person to stop and marvel at the colors, theiconography and the stories these windows tell. This project simulates narrative stained-glass windows, and isappropriate for elementary and secondary classrooms. These windows havea brilliancy and glow like no other process I've ever seen, shortof traditional stained glass stained glass,in general, windows made of colored glass. To a large extent, the name is a misnomer, for staining is only one of the methods of coloring employed, and the best medieval glass made little use of it. . If you are dissatisfied with conventionalmedia for stained-glass projects (tissue paper, cellophane cellophane,thin, transparent sheet or tube of regenerated cellulose. Cellophane is used in packaging and as a membrane for dialysis. It is sometimes dyed and can be moisture-proofed by a thin coating of pyroxylin. , colored andoiled papers, permanent markers on film, etc.) you must give this a try.You will not be disappointed! The skills involved in this process combine to make a wonderfulcumulative lesson at the end of the year. To create these narrativewindows, students must have working knowledge of basic color Noun 1. basic color - a dye that is considered to be a base because the chromophore is part of a positive ionbasic colour, basic dyedye, dyestuff - a usually soluble substance for staining or coloring e.g. fabrics or hair theory,narrative imagery and iconography, positive and negative space, andcontour line-drawing, along with an understanding of Gothic art Gothic artArchitecture, sculpture, and painting that flourished in Western and central Europe in the Middle Ages. It evolved from Romanesque art and lasted from the mid-12th century to the end of the 15th century. styles. Since this project requires the use of utility knives, it may bebest for fifth-through 12th-grade students. Testing the project withindividual 10-year-olds revealed that safely cutting the poster boardwas difficult. The process can also be adapted for scissors. GOTHIC CREATIVITY As part of a unit on Gothic architecture Gothic architectureArchitectural style in Europe that lasted from the mid 12th century to the 16th century, particularly a style of masonry building characterized by cavernous spaces with the expanse of walls broken up by overlaid tracery. in anart-appreciation course, my class of elementary-education collegestudents decided they would like to create their own stained-glasswindows. Actual glass was not an option due to the limitations of theclassroom, moreover, my students and I preferred to use materials thatwould translate well to elementary-age students. Time was also a factor,as we were limited to three one-hour classes once we initiated theproject. Out of necessity, I developed and tried the following process withgreat results. The narrative windows it produces possess rich, brilliantand glowing colors--the best I've ever seen short of genuine, thickstained glass. A word of caution, however: High-gloss polyurethane mustbe used, and this material requires very good ventilation until itdries. This should pose little problem, however, if the teacher spraysthe polyurethane outside of the class. Our class comprised 22 studentsmaking very large panels. Despite this, only 30 minutes were required toapply a double coat of the polyurethane to the projects. THE PILGRIMAGE OF PREPARATION Prior to the project, my students andI visited a local Catholic church that has beautiful and intricateGothic-style stained-glass windows. These windows were produced in atraditional stained-glass workshop in Europe, and provided excellentillustrations of the unique color and light of stained glass, as well asthe use of narrative imagery, iconography and composition. When we returned to our school, we found two large windows withmultiple panes that we could use to hold our constructed images. Thesebecame our "site" windows. Deciding on a didactic theme, students brainstormed until they cameup with the idea of "night and day." They proceeded to developcompositions working in teams; combining sketches made from magazinepictures and objects they brought to class. Ultimately, the sketcheswere developed into contour line drawings. These drawings werephotocopied until they were in scale with the site window.Transparencies were then made of the scaled photocopies. A WINDOW ON THE CREATIVE PROCESS Students were each given twosheets of black poster board to serve as the "pane" of theirstained-glass window Noun 1. stained-glass window - a window made of stained glasswindow - a framework of wood or metal that contains a glass windowpane and is built into a wall or roof to admit light or air . After carefully measuring and arranging theirdesigns, the students began the process of transferring their sketchesto the black background. The transparencies were used to project thedrawings onto one of the sheets of poster board. Being careful to leavea 1-inch border around the edges of their panes, the students lightlydrew over the projected lines with a light-colored crayon crayon,any drawing material available in stick form. The term includes charcoal, conte crayon, chalk, pastel, grease crayon, litho crayon, and children's wax colors. . In order to create the "lead frame" for their windows,the students used utility knives to remove the poster board from thespaces between the lines Between the lines can refer to: The subtext of a letter, fictional work, conversation or other piece of communication Between The Lines (TV series), an early 1990s BBC television programme. of the sketch. Before this process begins, itis important that students review the techniques for safely handling autility knife A utility knife (also called a box cutter, a Stanley knife, a razor blade knife, a carpet knife, or a stationery knife) is a common tool used in various trades and crafts for a variety of purposes. . They must also be careful not to cut across any of thelines themselves or the border. The "lead frame" was placedover the second sheet of poster board and the process was repeated,using the top frame as a template. The removed pieces of poster boardwere saved and used as templates to create the "stained-glass"pieces. After deciding on the color scheme of their windows, the studentstraced these poster-board pieces on appropriately colored sheets ofconstruction paper. When tracing the templates, it is important to leavea 1/2-inch border around the edge of the pattern. Since these papers arethe "stained glass" in the windows, their transparency mustnot be clouded by glue. When the colored pieces had all been traced, students usedhigh-gloss polyurethane to paint both sides of the construction paper.Allowing the polyurethane to soak through Verb 1. soak through - be or become thoroughly soaked or saturated with a liquidsopooze through - run slowly and gradually; "Blood oozed through the bandage" the paper results in atranslucent effect reminiscent of stained glass. The pieces are then cutfrom the paper and glued with white glue onto one of the"lead" frames. It is important that the glue is placed only onthe 1/2-inch border of the "stained glass." After all the pieces had been glued down, the students placed glueon the top edges, and pressed the remaining frame on top of the colored"pane." Using electrical tape or black masking tape, wemounted these "stained-glass" windowpanes one at a time,overlapping the 1-inch borders. When the panes were in place, the sun shone through the window andthe classroom filled with a blaze of red, orange, yellow, purple andblue light. Every mouth fell open as the entire class stared. We knewthat the effect would be good, but we had no idea how beautiful theentire narrative window would look when finished. Moreover, the windowcreated a great sensation in the entire art department, with even themost cynical college art student stopping to appreciate the colors. Atnight, the janitorial staff requested that we leave the lights on sothat they also could appreciate the window. DRAMATIC ADAPTATIONS We completed the window in approximately threehours total time. For a collaborative mural approach such as this, fourto five hours of class time should be expected on the elementary level.But if each student were asked to complete their own pane, with all thepanes in a window relating to the same theme or story, then the timerequired for team brainstorming would be reduced. For younger grades, cutting the poster board with the utilityknives is far too difficult. Instead of poster board, black constructionpaper could be substituted for fourth-graders, though these windows area bit flimsy, and weak glue joints tend to come loose. However, usingtransparent tape and checking each day for loose bits solves thisproblem. For third grade and younger, allow students to cut shapes from aquad-folded piece of black construction paper to create a"snowflake." Use the cutout cut��out?n.1. Something cut out or intended to be cut out from something else.2. Electricity A device that interrupts, bypasses, or disconnects a circuit or circuit element.3. pieces as a pattern and providestudents with pre-treated construction paper (a certain number of eachcolor per table). Use glue liberally and there will be no need for aback sheet. However, this obviously sacrifices the narrative imagery. Teachers could easily use this project to illustrate a book orgroup of poems that the students are reading. Also, a stained-glasswindow could be created for the main concepts in that week'sscience unit. The possibilities are endless. This is a project that I am extremely proud of and excited to sharewith other teachers. You will discover, as I did, how much these windowswill amaze your students, their parents and even your principal. MATERIALS Per student: * 1-2 sheets of black poster board or construction paper * Utility knife (with refill blades) or scissors * 3 sheets of sketch paper * Pencil * A large cutting board * 1 quart of brush-on or 4 cans of spray-on high-gloss polyurethane * Brushes and containers, as needed as neededprn. See prn order. * Several boards or sheets of cardboard for painting * Peacock * brand Sulfite sulfite/sul��fite/ (sul��fit) any salt of sulfurous acid. sul��fiten.A salt or ester of sulfurous acid. Multicolored construction paper (thenumber of colors, size and amount of paper depend on your specific needsand limitations) * Note: In my experience, Peacock Sulfite produces the best resultsfor this project.--M.P. REFERENCE Lawrence, L., G. Seddon and F. Stephens. Stained Glass. CrownPublishers, 1976. Michael Prater prate?v. prat��ed, prat��ing, pratesv.intr.To talk idly and at length; chatter.v.tr.To utter idly or to little purpose.n. is an assistant professor of art education at BallState University in Muncie, Indiana.