See the rest of this series here.

The end of my last Stained Glass class this morning meant two things: one, I did indeed finish my panel! You can see the whole thing below. Two, it meant it was time to start thinking of what else I can make.

Here’s what I did today: I finished soldering the zinc frame to itself and to the panel, then we used wire to make loops. I soldered those to the frame to serve as hooks for a chain when I hang it in my window. I put some final touches on the patina, cleaned it up, and:

I’m pretty pleased. Like I wrote last week, it’s pretty cool that I was able to finish a (sufficiently modest) project as a beginner during my first class. The colors turned out great, and I like the different textures as well, which are visible in the photo at top.

My classmates who are fellow beginners, like me, were finishing up and thinking of future projects. PK was soldering the last of four panels that will create her lampshade, which still looks great:

And Fran was also soldering her Frank Lloyd Wright panel — here’s the first side done:

Well, that’s the end of fall term. I signed up for my first art classes since elementary school and both learned how to draw and completed my first stained glass project. (You can read all of my posts here.)

Both were easier than I thought, thanks to a couple of great teachers and the other beginner students. And even though my drawing and stained glass classmates and I all started this without knowing what to expect, it looks like we’re leaving inspired to continue our various artistic adventures.

So what do you think? Inspired to take a class of your own? What do you want to make next? Here’s the school catalog.

— George