Technique is the servant of the artist, not the master. Yet we are forced to focus on it occasionally, because art and technique are intertwined. Each technique produces a distinctive range of effects, and imposes some limitations.
Artists choose among techniques for different reasons.
Sometimes we opt to stay with well-known techniques and explore their potential. Artistic considerations are often compromised by engineering ones, in glass arts more than most. A stained glass window is a heavy, fragile structure, so we must know the limitations of the materials and use ingenuity to build something that is as robust as possible. For the most part, I use techniques based on the copper foil method of building windows, and obtain glass from many of the marvelous manufacturers operating today. In this article, I will try to show you how I use, adapt, and perhaps abuse these techniques to achieve what I want.