Why did I make this wolf in stained glass?

I was asked to make a stained glass wolf for a customer who had previously commissioned me to make large and small pieces. Never having made a wolf before, I was a little nervous.

Saying no to custom requests

Custom pieces are very much a collaboration between the customer and the maker. This is what makes them unique and makes sure the customer gets what they want. This means sometimes you have to say no; I had to say no to a request to make a scaled up version of my ribbons/stalactites to span a long hallway; 8 foot shards of glass in a high footfall area of a house seemed a little impractical. As a customer you also have to be prepared to say no when something doesn’t meet your brief.

Design stage

I usually start by drawing freehand but for this one I decided I could use the picture to trace the actual shapes then scale it up using Rapid Resizer. This was because I was really not confident about drawing a wolf…Bad taxidermy was to the forefront of my mind. You’ll notice I don’t usually add detailed facial features I did this and printed out the picture, sticking together sheets of A4 paper to make a full wolf’s head.

The importance of scale

Because the stipulation was that it had blue eyes, this was my starting point for sizing. I didn’t want the eyes to be tiny; they had to be a focal point. This meant the piece would have to be a reasonable size – at least 40cm. I gave an indicative price at this stage, including design and drawing time, production time and materials. I wasn’t sure if it was going to be free-form with hanging loops attached beside the ears, or whether it should be framed. I gave two price options and we agreed framing would probably be best.

How glass breaks

When you are making something from glass, it’s not enough to just draw lines as you see them. Glass likes to break in straight lines so part of the design process is turning the image you see into a pattern that would work with glass. I sent a photo of my first drawing that was based on a tracing of the image sent… and I’m very glad his comment was that it looked a little like Elvis. He was right; the face just didn’t look right.

Back to the drawing board, this time without the wolf photo as a constraint. I made it fairly symmetrical, although I’m not really a fan of symmetry in my own work so it wasn’t exact.; I didn’t want it to look computer generated. I started with a pencil drawing then created the cutting lines using a sharpie. Again, I scaled it up to size and sent a picture. Much better.

Once the majority of the face was assembled we agreed that amber glass would be used for the surround. I had initially thought blue (like the eyes) would work but once I saw the wolf’s face the amber seemed to suit much better – the customer agreed.

Eyes – so much drama!

The most difficult thing about this one was the eyes. Using blue glass is one thing; making it look like eyes is another! I tried fusing glass – layering white on black on blue. All that happened was the whole lot fused into a little ball… I couldn’t get the temperature/timing right no matter how many times I tried. I tried glass pebbles. They stuck out too much so I ground them flat on the back, but they still looked like they were popping out.

Paint, dry, paint, dry, repeat

So I went back to the blue glass and this time I painted colour onto the back of the glass to create the colours of the iris. My partner had suggested this ages ago and I wasn’t sure I could do it, but this turned out to be the best option once I realised the paint should be on the back, not the front of the glass. Layer by later, I added greens, browns and blues. Each layer dried for 24 hours and after the final layer I dried it in the oven to set the paint permanently. The finishing touch was a blue swarovski crystal on top of the black pupil creating some additional reflection.

After this was all assembled I framed it with zinc came which I prefer to lead. You can see some different approaches to framing & hanging here in my gallery.

• Lead is flexible to work with whereas zinc is inflexible.
• Zinc comes in 2m lengths and I used to use a hacksaw to cut it which took forever. Recently I switched to a mini angle grinder which cuts it in seconds. It’s a bit of a faff drawing out the shapes to cut, but it gives a nice solid finish.
• The glass sits in a channel inside the zinc and you then solder all the seams onto the zinc to keep it secure.
• Scrubbing the zinc with wire wool gives it a great finish.
• I made hanging loops from strong copper wire and soldered these inside the zinc channel so they won’t come off.

I’m pleased with Zelda, and hope the owner likes her too! If you have an idea for a custom piece of art, get in touch and we can discuss how it all works – just add your name, email and a short message below, hit Send now and I’ll get back to you soon:-

PS my dog was called Zelda..a lovely big black labrador who lived until we were both 17. I like to think some of her spirit is in this wolf.