Perfectly Imperfect Stained-Glass Jewelry

The focus of stained-glass artworks is typically on the flawlessness and beauty in the perfectly organized and constructed design. Perfectionism is a trait that can be overwhelming at times, and for visual artists, it can be damaging to an in-progress artwork. I teach artistically and academically gifted students, and the majority display traits of perfectionism as well as emotional sensitivity and heightened awareness of self, social connections, and global issues.

For this reason, I decided to develop a project that focused on embracing the imperfections, finding beauty in the broken, and harmony between color and shape.

Project Overview
I challenged students to create stained-glass jewelry designs that embraced these ideals and create perfectly imperfect pieces that demonstrate their understanding of harmony in art. Necklaces, rings, pins, earrings, and keychains were constructed from broken, cast-off pieces of stained glass. To ensure students understood the technique of traditional stained glass, I asked them to cut at least one piece of glass themselves.

Inspiration from Dale Chihuly
We started the lesson by exploring the work and artistic life of master glass artist Dale Chihuly through a fun “workout warm-up” that embraced the concept of harmony. Students struck unique body poses and stretches as we engaged in a whole-group conversation about our artist inspiration. Talking about art while balancing on one foot or holding a challenging stretch was difficult, but students embraced it. This was a departure from our normal schedule and gave students a chance to learn kinetically. We had a lot of fun and had a few laughs while we learned. These warm-up sessions created a sense of community and organically integrated physical education into the art room.

To further inspire students, we took a field trip to our local museum to see one of Chihuly’s impressive glass chandeliers firsthand.

Pre-Assessment and Planning
Embracing the imperfection was difficult for students at first, but we took it one step at a time. I began the project with an easy pre-assessment on jewelry design using cardstock, micron, and watercolor, inspired by earrings a friend had given me.

We then turned our focus to stained glass by creating planning pages that consisted of a concept mind map, color scheme, research on our artist inspiration, and three thumbnail sketches. Students also chose from broken pieces of glass at this time to give them a starting point for their sketches.

Creating a Calmness
To accomplish this stained-glass project successfully and safely, I developed stations. I set up two stations for stained glass and another that focused on an observational study of a still life so students could explore further the concept of harmony, specifically in the balance of objects and color. Students could work on the still life between taking turns at the stained-glass stations as they rotated back and forth every other day. Students at the still-life stations were quietly focused on their drawings, while students at the stained-glass stations were busy cutting, grinding, and soldering. I was able to circle around the classroom and make sure students were working safely with this new advanced media.