My project for course: Contemporary Stained Glass Design - Paria Canyon

Me and my roomates are big on backpacking so I picked my favorite trip we've done as the inspiration for this project. The picture above is from our 4 day trip through Paria Canyon in Utah/Arizona. I loved the colors when we were out there - bright oranges in the mornings and evenings, bright greens/yellows of plants growing in the river, and it was fun to choose glass colors/textures/opacities for this landscape. The folks at Allen Kenoyer Glass in Lawndale CA (LA area) help me pick colors, explain why pink/reds were so expensive, and were super helpful answering questions.

I feel like I generally prefer cathedral glass, but wanted to experiment with a couple of textures/opacities - I liked the mix of three different earthy tones that were quite different types of glass. I chose the darkest brown glass for the foreground because I was hoping it would create a sense of space and constrast with the canyon wall in the background, and the light actually comes through that glass to make a beautiful, bourbon color.

The soldering process went a lot better than I thought it would (it was the step I was the most intimidated by) and I think its probably the part I had the most fun with - followed closed by buffing the wax off at the end and seeing how shiny everything looked. The hardest bits for me was the lead work, and attaching the sun/jump rings at the end.

I was loved with how that opaque piece of glass that looked like a bit tan/white marbled GLOWED orange in the light. It honestly made the piece for me - it was such a surprise, and reminded me of how the sun made the canyon glow bright orange at sunset. I'm adding a picture in below. This may be more sentimental for me, but it was the coolest thing.

The one thing I would change would be the overlay of the sun. That was such a cool piece of glass and I think the lead looks too thick behind it. Next time I'll try to inlay it rather than attaching it on top.