It's Rye Scallop Week at the end of the month and from that came the idea of a panel with shells actually leaded in to it. I was kindly given some shells that required some cleaning first - couldn't get much fresher! (After cleaning here)
So I chose my shells and placed them within the overall outline (size) of the panel. Then the glass lines were drawn in. The glass is cut to size but the shells are left alone so I had to work around them.
The glass was chosen in a range of blues:
After the glass is cut I lay out every piece along with the shells to get an idea of the finished piece:
The shells are fairly flat and for the best part are rounded too. Only the bottoms of each shell proved to be a bit of a problem. For leading up I used a large lead which would help to cover any particularly difficult shell edges:
The whole panel needed a jiggle and everything to be packed tighter before soldering.
So far it's all coming together quite well although the panel does do a slight 'up and down' thing along one of the edges due to the shells not being completely flat.
Because the leaded light cement (the stuff that weather proofs a panel) is a dark grey gunky substance I masked off the shells. The front rough surface would have badly discoloured if I didn't.
The cement gets brushed on into all of the gaps between the lead and the glass or shells and is covered in whiting. It gets to sit like this for an hour before the first clean up:
After this clean up I check one of the shells. Any spillage of the cement on the edges of the shells comes off with some white spirit thankfully! Cover up again and clean up fully the next day followed with black grate polish on the lead.
And it's nearly there. At this point the shells look a little 'flat' in colour so I tested on another shell some olive oil of all things! It worked a treat as it added a gentle shine and really brought out the deep colours that the shells were hiding.
Enjoy!!
It's also worth having a look at the backs of the shells too:
