Leaded Glass Column Workshop

What a treat! A whole day of creativity with my partner, making something completely new together.

We arrived at Karen Ongley-Snooks’ beautiful garden workshop at 9:15 am — very unusual for us to be early! Karen was warm and welcoming, and we began the day with a hot drink and a chat in her studio.

This workshop was my birthday gift after seeing Karen’s work last year at the Chichester Art Trail. Her leaded glass pieces looked stunning in a garden setting, and we had commented how much fun it would be to design one of our own. A year later, here we were!

Learning the Basics

Karen started by teaching us how to cut clear glass. Using oil-filled cutting tools, we practised scoring the surface and “bouncing” the tool along the line to fracture the glass. Next came grozing pliers for snapping pieces cleanly, and running pliers for splitting glass neatly along the score.

Once we had the hang of cutting, Karen left us (with another round of tea!) to explore the rainbow of coloured glass. Choosing colours was harder than I expected. I’d already sketched a few ideas, so I went back to my drawing to guide me before matching colours to my design.

My piece was inspired by West Sussex — the rolling Downs, patchwork fields, beach, and sea all found their way into my design.

Cutting, Arranging & Lunch Break

We spent the morning cutting and arranging different colours into sequences, laying them out on our templates. It was exciting to see our ideas taking shape.

Then came a very welcome break: a fabulous lunch of homemade chicken soup with crusty wholemeal bread, eaten in Karen’s kitchen. Fuel for the afternoon ahead!

Working with Lead

Back in the studio (with another hot drink in hand), Karen demonstrated how to stretch and straighten strips of lead. We learnt how to open the lead with a fid (All nova) tool, cut the outer frame using a lead knife and hold everything steady with horseshoe nails.

The fiddly part was fitting thinner lead strips between each piece of glass. This tested my patience! Getting each section just the right size was tricky — mine were often too short or too long. But once everything was in place, it was deeply satisfying to see the design come together.

Soldering & Finishing

With all the glass and lead arranged, we secured the column by brushing the joins, rubbing them with tallow, and then carefully soldering each join with a small soldering iron. This was slow and detailed work, especially with all my little pieces, but so rewarding once finished.

We repeated the soldering on both sides before Karen mounted the columns into sturdy ground spikes — ready for the garden!

A Beautiful Ending

At the end of the day, we stood back to admire our work, oohing and aahing over the colours and designs. My partner and I were both thrilled with what we had created — two unique pieces of artwork for our new garden in West Somerset.

Karen sent us home with aftercare instructions: leave the columns overnight to set, then polish them with a rag, glass cleaner, and a touch of WD-40 to make the glass and lead shine.

It was an exhausting but amazing day — creative, hands-on, and so special to share with my partner. Now every time I see the column in the garden, it reminds me of West Sussex, the workshop, and a wonderful creative experience.

What creative workshops have you enjoyed recently?

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