Have you ever watched a fabulous musician or sports person and wished you could do what they are doing? Usain Bolt was absolutely awe inspiring setting new 100m and 200m records in the Berlin Games last week which set me thinking about what makes some people so good in their chosen field. After much research I can now reveal the secret! Natural ability plays a big part but the most important thing is practice and training. Even the most naturally gifted athletes and sportspeople train for hours every day. Snooker players practise for 6 to 8 hours each day to prepare for a tournament.
When we are looking for a new apprentice to learn the art of designing, making and repairing stained glass windows we look for person who has natural ability but then they embark on our training programme that takes their natural ability and puts it to a new use. The training involves many hours of practising the skills of glass cutting, leading, painting, soldering and cementing to make and restore traditional leaded lights and stained glass windows. This is why I started the Stained Glass Window making Courses and Classes to give tuition to people in this beautiful art.
The protection of Church stained glass windows is a real speciality of ours and also involves much practise and training to get just right.
