Connections

Perfectly Imperfect Stained-Glass Jewelry

Middle School
By Jessica Provow, posted on Aug 26, 2025

The focus of stained-glass artworks is typically on the flawlessness and beauty in the perfectly organized and constructed design. Perfectionism is a trait that can be overwhelming at times, and for visual artists, it can be damaging to an in-progress artwork. I teach artistically and academically gifted students, and the majority display traits of perfectionism as well as emotional sensitivity and heightened awareness of self, social connections, and global issues. For this reason, I decided to develop a project that focused on embracing the imperfections, finding beauty in the broken, and harmony between color and shape.

Left: Eunice Joy M., stained-glass necklace. Right: Jay P., stained-glass necklace and earrings.
Left: Eunice Joy M., stained-glass necklace. Right: Jay P., stained-glass necklace and earrings.
Left: Valentina Arciniegas G, stained-glass lapel pins, brooch, and ring. Right: Valentina Arciniegas G., stained-glass ring.
Left: Valentina Arciniegas G, stained-glass lapel pins, brooch, and ring. Right: Valentina Arciniegas G., stained-glass ring.
Left: Eunice Joy M., necklace planning page. Right: Jay P., earring planning page.
Left: Eunice Joy M., necklace planning page. Right: Jay P., earring planning page.
A student uses a glass grinder to shape the edges of their stained-glass piece.
A student uses a glass grinder to shape the edges of their stained-glass piece.
Students used various tools for handling and cutting glass.
Students used various tools for handling and cutting glass.

The focus of stained-glass artworks is typically on the flawlessness and beauty in the perfectly organized and constructed design. Perfectionism is a trait that can be overwhelming at times, and for visual artists, it can be damaging to an in-progress artwork. I teach artistically and academically gifted students, and the majority display traits of perfectionism as well as emotional sensitivity and heightened awareness of self, social connections, and global issues.

For this reason, I decided to develop a project that focused on embracing the imperfections, finding beauty in the broken, and harmony between color and shape.

Project Overview

I challenged students to create stained-glass jewelry designs that embraced these ideals and create perfectly imperfect pieces that demonstrate their understanding of harmony in art. Necklaces, rings, pins, earrings, and keychains were constructed from broken, cast-off pieces of stained glass. To ensure students understood the technique of traditional stained glass, I asked them to cut at least one piece of glass themselves.

Inspiration from Dale Chihuly

We started the lesson by exploring the work and artistic life of master glass artist Dale Chihuly through a fun “workout warm-up” that embraced the concept of harmony. Students struck unique body poses and stretches as we engaged in a whole-group conversation about our artist inspiration. Talking about art while balancing on one foot or holding a challenging stretch was difficult, but students embraced it. This was a departure from our normal schedule and gave students a chance to learn kinetically. We had a lot of fun and had a few laughs while we learned. These warm-up sessions created a sense of community and organically integrated physical education into the art room.

To further inspire students, we took a field trip to our local museum to see one of Chihuly’s impressive glass chandeliers firsthand.

Pre-Assessment and Planning

Embracing the imperfection was difficult for students at first, but we took it one step at a time. I began the project with an easy pre-assessment on jewelry design using cardstock, micron, and watercolor, inspired by earrings a friend had given me.

We then turned our focus to stained glass by creating planning pages that consisted of a concept mind map, color scheme, research on our artist inspiration, and three thumbnail sketches. Students also chose from broken pieces of glass at this time to give them a starting point for their sketches.

Stained-Glass Jewelry Making

Once the glass came out, students truly got excited about the art and began combining pieces of broken stained glass into beautiful and unique puzzle-like designs.

I explained and then demonstrated the process of stained-glass jewelry making from start to finish using cut and pre-broken pieces. I introduced the vocabulary and tools and explained cutting, grinding, foiling, soldering, and attaching hardware.

Creating a Calmness

To accomplish this stained-glass project successfully and safely, I developed stations. I set up two stations for stained glass and another that focused on an observational study of a still life so students could explore further the concept of harmony, specifically in the balance of objects and color. Students could work on the still life between taking turns at the stained-glass stations as they rotated back and forth every other day. Students at the still life stations were quietly focused on their drawings, while students at the stained-glass stations were busy cutting, grinding, and soldering. I was able to circle around the classroom and make sure students were working safely with this new advanced media.

Perfectly Imperfect

This project resulted in beautiful still-life drawings that allowed students to embrace their perfectionism while developing their observational drawing skills, and stunning stained-glass jewelry designs that celebrate the uniqueness of each piece of glass, however perfect or imperfect it may be.

Jessica Provow is a NBCT art teacher for the Gifted Visual Arts Program at Virginia Beach Middle School, in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Jessica.Provow@VBSchools.com

National Standard

Creating: Conceiving and developing new artistic ideas and work.

Resource

Dale Chihuly

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