Modern Stained Glass Art
by Alexandra Berger Clamons
FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Is this stained glass?
A: Yes!
Q: Do you make all of this yourself?
A: I do! I make everything myself, by hand, in my home studio.
Q: How do you make the pieces?
A: Stained glass is a series of steps. I start with flat glass, usually in sheets of 12"x12". First, I cut sheets of glass into the shape I want. Next, I grind each piece on a wet grinder. Then I wrap each piece of glass with copper foil. Once each piece is wrapped, I use a soldering iron and solder all of the pieces together into the object I'm making. Then, I clean and polish the glass and either leave it silver (the color of the solder) or patina it copper or black.
Q: Can I ship these?
A: Yes! All flat pieces (ornaments, sun catchers, pendants) ship without a problem. Just sandwich them between layers of cardboard, not much larger than the piece you're shipping, and tape together with packing tape. Put it into a bubble envelope (make sure it can't wiggle around too much) and you're good to go!
For the potted cacti, the barrels and succulents are quite easy to ship - just wrap in bubble wrap so there are at least 3-4 layers around the piece. Then fill a box with peanuts so that there is at least 2-3" of peanuts between the piece and the walls of the box.
For prickly pears or flat barrels, cut 6 pieces of cardboard that are just larger than the cactus. Sandwich one on each side of the cactus and tape them to each other using packing tape. Do this 2 more times with the remaining 4 pieces of cardboard. Then use packing tape to tape from the cup, up over the cardboard, and back down to the cup so the cardboard is held in place. Wrap the piece in bubble wrap so that there are at least 3-4 layers around the piece. Fill box with peanuts as described above.
When shipping any item, make sure you label it as FRAGILE in Sharpie several times on the padded envelope or box.
Q: What do I do if my piece wobbles in its cup?
A: Sometimes a cactus comes loose from its cup - this is an easy problem. Go ahead and mix up a little bit of liquid glue (Elmer's, whatever) with water in a 3:1 ratio of water:glue. Pour it into your cactus cup to reset it. It'll dry in 3-4 days, set permanently in 6-7 days.
Q: What do I do if my piece breaks?
A: Please contact me if your piece breaks. It does happen on occasion for one reason or another. Send along a photo and I'll let you know if I can repair your piece. Thanks!