Solar Expansion

The idea for Solar Expansion came from a visit to an exhibit of Abstract Impressionist paintings.  I was inspired to see if I could capture a similar impressionist abstraction of dynamic shape, movement, and color harmony expressed through the hard-edged translucent media of stained glass - essentially painting with glass thus allowing light to actually radiate through the piece, as well as light reflected by the pigment infused into the glass itself.  This play of transmitted and reflected light sets up a deeper dynamic than paint applied on the surface of an opaque substrate.

The title of the piece reflects the idea of a sun’s expanding light bursting into a visible spectrum of color articulated by bands and blocks of glass radiating from the central sphere of bisected by the cool blue arc of a comet’s path.

The size of the piece is 11.5" x 11.0"

 

The initial design was created on an iPad using a digital drawing app “Painting.”   I’ve included a photo of this digital design at right.  The photos below show some of the steps in creating the piece, including the initial pattern and my workspace with the in-progress layout.

Full size pattern Bench layout progress