How to Display your Stained Glass Art

January 30, 2010 monarchskiesstainedglass

Good evening everyone! I want to take this opportunity to say thank you for taking the time to read my postings and ask your questions – they give me new ideas as to what to write about next. Speaking of which, there were a few questions as to how to display the finished pieces – a very important part of stained glass art! There are various different ways to display stained glass art, depending on what exactly the finished piece is meant for.

For example, I have mostly been working on panels meant to be displayed in windows. If you wish to display your art in a window, it must have at least two metal hooks soldered to the frame – and not just any size hooks. I would recommend making sure that the hooks selected to be attached are not easily bendable, no matter what size your panel is. Also, if soldered onto the frame properly there will be no gap between the hook and the frame. Another important point is that these hooks should be on the edge of the top of the frame – do not put them on the sides or close to the top center. This is to provide the best balance for the chain that the piece is hanging from.

Speaking of chains, this part depends on the size of the pice you wish to display as well. For example, I have one of my contemporary flower panels hanging with several strands of fishing line, as I felt that the piece was too small for a heavy chain. I would not recommend the fishing line for a panel the size of my iris panel, however, as that would be too heavy for me to trust the fishing line to hold. A chain would be appropriate in the case of the iris panel. There are different colors and thicknesses of chains available, such as gold or silver. It would all depend of the color scheme of your home and, of course, of the piece itself. The thickness of the chain would be something that depends on the weight of the piece.

As for what to hang the piece from, I would not recommend suction cups for the pieces I have in my gallery posting. Suction cups would only work well for small suncatchers, as anything larger would be too heavy for the suction cup to hold. In these cases I would reccommend hanging the piece from a nail driven into the wall or window frame, as this would provide more stability than a suction cup.

Now, most of my pieces do not have hooks soldered to them for hanging. In this case, most panels can easily be propped up against the wall on a shelf, or they can be placed the same way that a picture frame can be - in a holder on a table top. Another interesting note, not all stained glass panels have to be framed in zinc or lead – they can be framed in wooden frames, much like regular pictures can be. This is not something that I have tried yet, but plan to someday.

I hope that this post has answered any questions about how to display stained glass panels. Thank you all again for taking the time too read my posts and have a great night!