Glass Painting & Silverstaining

Glass paint consists mainly of glass that is ground to a fine powder with the addition of oxide and flux to assist in the fusing process.  In order for the paint to adhere to the glass it is put in the kiln and fired to about 650ºC.  At this temperature it fuses with the glass giving it a permanence that has enabled stained glass painting to have survived from the medieval period.  Typically the paint is brown or black because the artist is blotting out the light to create the image hence the term ‘painting with light.’  In a separate firing the yellow colour is added which is know as silver stain, a mix of silver nitrate and gum.