I love the smell of leadlight cement in the morning...

One of the worst aspects of working with leaded glass is the cementing of the panel. A viscous, gooey, black gunk (traditionally made from whiting, boiled linseed oil, soot black and white spirit) is forced between the lead cames and the glass. In theory this waterproofs the panel, and adds a little strength. In practice it covers me in viscous, gooey, black gunk and makes me smell like I bathe in white spirit.

Stained Glass door panel, Cottesloe, 1999.

In 1998, Jo and I moved into a small Colonial style cottage in Cottesloe, Perth, Western Australia. I had never lived in a house with stained glass before, and took this photo one afternoon. Thinking back, this was the first time I ever really looked at stained glass. Three years later I started Morning Glass....

CAD Leadline drawing and several pieces of glass

Today I started work on a pair of door panels for a client who is installing a large oak door, and wants to incorporate some contemporary leaded glass. The panel depicts an abstracted tree on a blue background. Work went well, and almost all the glass has now been cut. With a fair wind the panels should be ready for encapsulation by the end of next week...

Hilary, soldering a "Strathdon" panel

Needed the heater cranked up today - snow on the roads on the way to the workshops and a cold day ahead. Spent the first part of the morning running paint tests for the Westhill Community Centre panel, then worked with Hilary on a Strahdon panel for Robertson's Stone.

Casting, Ballantine Ironworks

Morning Glass have been asked to produce a design for a panel for the owners of the Ballantine Iron Works in Bo'ness. Yesterday I went down to meet the clients and discuss the panel. The foundry produces cast iron railings, postboxes, and all sorts of ornamental iron work, using traditional methods including sand casting (picture above).

Leading up

Spent all day at the workshop, finishing off two small panels. This is me, piecing together the second panel, bathed in the glow of a halogen workshop heater set up on the desktop three feet away from me. I must get the main workshop propane heater fixed - needs a new thermocouple...

Iron shed, near Acharacle

We are in the early stages of planning a new workshop for Morning Glass and I find myself obsessing over sheds of every shape, size and hue. While going through photographs for my Flickr photostream I found this image of a tin shed from the West Coast of Scotland.

Auchterless Kirk - West Rose Window (detail)

This morning I drove up to Auchterless Church to cut a template for a memorial window for one of the inner rooms of the church. The existing stained glass windows in the church are truly beautiful.

Corella and Spectrum coloured glass cut and arranged for piecing

One of the panels I am working on right now consists of a huge number of small glass pieces. In an attempt to avoid drifting into madness, I am taking a much more logical approach to cutting, labelling and stacking glass than I normally manage. The shards of glass, laid out in lines on the bench, make it look like I am carrying out an archaeological excavation.

Rain clearing from the Dee Valley - Morning Glass Workshop in foreground

Spent the morning at the workshop cutting glass for a series of two windows. On the drive over the rain cleared to blue skies, and fog filled the Dee Valley. Sometimes the workshop is a good place to be. Other times, like this morning, it's cold enough to make your teeth ache. Drove home with the van heater on full blast after the workshop heater packed in...