Retro retirement blog (a very short one) about an early and unfortunately short-lived retirement hobby. Like the last retro blog it involves taking a course. Back to October 2013 for this one. This was a retirement activity for Mrs Summerhouse and it seemed like a good one to begin with. Unfortunately for one reason or another it didn’t last but it was fun while it lasted.
Just in case you thought we’d gone completely bonkers with the dogs, here’s a glimpse at the rest of our retirement life.
I’ve often told people what a great guy I am. I have to say I have not always been believed but look at the evidence. As a Christmas present last year I signed up her indoors on a weekend stained glass course at The Hive college in Shipley (info@hivebradford.org.uk). She loved it and made example a – first attempt. She loved it so much she wanted more so I signed her up for a 10 week course which began 3 weeks ago.
My reasoning, apart from being great guy, was that her art – semi abstract landscapes in pastel and watercolour seemed to me to lend themselves to the similarly abstracted medium that is stained glass. You can judge for yourselves by looking at her first efforts at stained glass and compare it with pictures from her exhibition.
First attempt from the weekend course
There are 10 people on her course. Two groups of beginners (in which my wife is placed) and experienced types. It’s an extremely popular course and getting her on it involved clicking the ‘apply’ button at exactly 10 o’clock on the first day of possible application. Anything slower had proved unsuccessful.
So here, mostly in photos, are the stages of the process and her early efforts. Starting with the initial drawings in her, specially bought, notebook.
The first sketches
The ‘cartoon’
The cut line ie. the template you use to cut your glass from
The pieces of glass, carefully cut
The pieces beginning to be assembled so they can be leaded together
Follow the story next week