Deck the halls with stained glass artwork. (Falalalala, lalalala)
BY LILLIAN GAUDIANO
Dec. 23, 2020
Last trimester, Ms. Hannah Tauroney’s fine crafts class created an array of colorful stained glass pieces that brightened up the lobby of the high school for the last few weeks of November.
According to Ms. Tauroney, teaching the medium of stained glass in Fine Crafts class has been a tradition going back at least 15 years to when she was a student of BEHS art teacher Ms. Peg Maxwell, who is teaching remotely this year.
Because of her experience with learning how to create stained glass art in Ms. Maxwell’s class, Ms. Tauroney wanted to continue the tradition and make sure other students would get the same opportunity.
During the stained glass unit, students learned not only how to work with glass, but how to create designs in a way that allows the pieces of glass to fit together and create an image.
Ms. Tauroney notes that Abrielle Powers’ bee and honeycomb design and Julianna Czachor’s mountain landscape are beautiful examples of how students used different interlocking shapes to their advantage. Every design made for the summative pieces was made by the students themselves.
“Each piece is as original and unique as the student that made it,” Ms. Tauroney says.
Although they could use reference images to base their designs on, they weren’t allowed to use pre-made designs from the internet. Before creating their final project, each student also made a stained glass feather as a formative assignment to get a feel for how the stained glass process worked.
The stained glass process consists of three basic steps: cutting the glass, foiling the glass, and soldering the glass pieces together. In Ms. Tauroney’s class, students learned how to cut, foil, and solder through watching videos on each technique.
To cut the glass they needed to cut paper pieces and trace them on glass, score the glass, snap it, and grind the glass so that the pieces fit together. To foil the glass they applied copper foil to the edges of the glass pieces, and then they soldered the pieces together.
Although the process is very intricate, Ms. Tauroney says it can also be done at home, and stained glass art makes a great hobby although it's initially expensive.
“If it's something you enjoy it may be worth it. There is so much you can do with it,” says Ms. Tauroney.
The students’ artwork has been displayed in the main office window for the past few weeks, and there are also images of their work on both the Bonny Eagle Facebook page and website.
Ms. Tauroney is very proud of the stained glass art that her students were able to produce, and she is “confident in saying that everyone in class mastered it.”
Dec. 23, 2020
Last trimester, Ms. Hannah Tauroney’s fine crafts class created an array of colorful stained glass pieces that brightened up the lobby of the high school for the last few weeks of November.
According to Ms. Tauroney, teaching the medium of stained glass in Fine Crafts class has been a tradition going back at least 15 years to when she was a student of BEHS art teacher Ms. Peg Maxwell, who is teaching remotely this year.
Because of her experience with learning how to create stained glass art in Ms. Maxwell’s class, Ms. Tauroney wanted to continue the tradition and make sure other students would get the same opportunity.
During the stained glass unit, students learned not only how to work with glass, but how to create designs in a way that allows the pieces of glass to fit together and create an image.
Ms. Tauroney notes that Abrielle Powers’ bee and honeycomb design and Julianna Czachor’s mountain landscape are beautiful examples of how students used different interlocking shapes to their advantage. Every design made for the summative pieces was made by the students themselves.
“Each piece is as original and unique as the student that made it,” Ms. Tauroney says.
Although they could use reference images to base their designs on, they weren’t allowed to use pre-made designs from the internet. Before creating their final project, each student also made a stained glass feather as a formative assignment to get a feel for how the stained glass process worked.
The stained glass process consists of three basic steps: cutting the glass, foiling the glass, and soldering the glass pieces together. In Ms. Tauroney’s class, students learned how to cut, foil, and solder through watching videos on each technique.
To cut the glass they needed to cut paper pieces and trace them on glass, score the glass, snap it, and grind the glass so that the pieces fit together. To foil the glass they applied copper foil to the edges of the glass pieces, and then they soldered the pieces together.
Although the process is very intricate, Ms. Tauroney says it can also be done at home, and stained glass art makes a great hobby although it's initially expensive.
“If it's something you enjoy it may be worth it. There is so much you can do with it,” says Ms. Tauroney.
The students’ artwork has been displayed in the main office window for the past few weeks, and there are also images of their work on both the Bonny Eagle Facebook page and website.
Ms. Tauroney is very proud of the stained glass art that her students were able to produce, and she is “confident in saying that everyone in class mastered it.”