Tissue Paper Stained Glass

We haven't used the light table for a few weeks so I put out some tissue paper (kept neat and tidy sorted in a vegetable serving tray) and covered the light table with sticky clear contact paper. We've used the sticky plastic covering in lots of other projects (Stained Glass Patterns, Signs of Fall Nature Collage). 

Cadence was immediately drawn to the activity and began to experiment with placing the tissue on the light source. Because it's so thin, the light from the table illuminates the tissue and gives it a pretty glow.

Cadence spent some time adding the tissue squares to the table and observing how the colours seemed to 'mix' when overlapping and created new shades. It was also interesting to hear her discuss how the pieces looked when on top of each other. She noticed many new little shapes emerging. Because the contact paper does not dry out, this activity remained on the light table for long and the kids could come and go as they pleased, adding squares to the collage as they wanted.

I spent some time discussing the art with Cadence and telling her that it reminded me of stained glass. We did some research online and found many beautiful pictures of stained glass art from around the world. This lead to a great discussion about how stained glass is made. Cadence decided she wanted to make some stained glass that had a definite design within it and she came up with a plan for how to do so.

First she drew on the clear contact paper (with the backing still on) using a permanent marker.

Then we carefully peeled the backing off and placed the design on the light table, sticky side up.

She began to fill in the design using different colours, being careful to stay as close as possible within the lines.

The result - a beautiful piece of stained glass artwork!

We hung it in her bedroom window so that she could enjoy it further. We also love displaying our children's artwork around the house in interesting places so that they feel valued and their art becomes a part of our home's culture and decor.