A Sailenne boat portrait is cut glass, not a print. Hull, deck, rig and water are each cut from glossy coloured glass, placed on a crystal-clear acrylic panel and set in low relief, then sealed inside a clear acrylic float frame with polished edges and a steel standoff in each corner, at 30 or 50 cm square.
What is the boat itself made of?
The boat is coloured glass with a glossy face. Every part is cut to the shape the design gives it, a navy hull, cream sails, a teak deck in amber, a sea in cobalt and teal, and placed with tweezers on the clear panel, standing a little proud of it rather than lying flat.
The glass is sorted by colour before anything is placed: the bench holds small dishes of loose pieces, a glass cutter, fine tweezers and a plain tube of clear adhesive. A varnished runabout comes out in chestnut and amber with chrome in silver; a harbour tug in black, signal red and grey; and the glass will not fade. The waterline gets the most time of any part of the piece.
Because the pieces stand off the panel they throw their own small shadows, and the light moves along the sheer as you walk past. That is the difference between a boat in cut glass and a picture of one. There is more on why the studio works this way on the materials page.
What is the acrylic float frame?
Two sheets of crystal-clear acrylic with the boat sealed between them, the edges polished so they catch the light like the edge of a lens. Nothing is painted or printed on either sheet; the wall shows through around the boat, which is why it is called a float frame.
- Clear on every side, so the piece reads as glass hanging in the air
- Polished edges, cut square at 30 × 30 or 50 × 50 cm
- Sealed, so the glass inside needs no cleaning and cannot shift
- Hung on four brushed-steel standoffs, one in each corner, a finger's width off the wall
What are the standoffs?
Four short brushed-steel posts, one through each corner of the frame, that hold the panel clear of the wall. They come fitted, with the wall fixings in the box, and they are what makes the shadow the piece throws on the wall behind it. The hanging is set out in the hanging guide.
What is a boat portrait not?
It is not a print, not a photograph behind plastic and not paint on acrylic. Nothing about the surface is flat: what you see is glass, cut and placed, with the wall showing through around it.
| Part | Material | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Boat | Glossy coloured glass, cut to shape and placed by hand | Stands off the panel in low relief and catches the light |
| Panel | Crystal-clear acrylic | The invisible ground the glass is set on |
| Frame | A second clear acrylic sheet, polished edges | Seals the glass in; the wall shows through around the boat |
| Standoffs | Brushed steel, one per corner | Hold the piece a finger's width off the wall, ready to hang |
| Name | Dimensional script below the hull, only when you add it | The boat's name or a line of up to 20 characters |
A ready-made piece from the shop carries no name at all, not even the boat's. A piece made from your own photo carries one only if you type it, and it is set in script below the hull.
Why glass and acrylic together?
Because each does one job. The glass carries the colour and the light, the clear panel gives it something to stand off without showing, and the sealed frame keeps the relief safe on a wall, in a hallway or on a bulkhead.
The same build goes into every piece: the sloop and the tug in the shop, the gift designs with a name, and the one drawn from your own photograph on the create page. The whole specification, and the making in order, is set out on the materials and process page.
Questions this leaves
Is the glass real glass?
Yes. The boat is cut from real coloured glass, piece by piece, and set in low relief on the acrylic panel, which is why it stands off the wall and throws small shadows of its own. A print catches the light all at once; this catches it piece by piece as you move.
Does the colour fade?
The glass does not fade, and it is sealed inside the acrylic, so it is never touched. The acrylic itself is the part to look after: a soft dry microfibre cloth, no glass cleaner, and not hours of hard sun through a hatch every day.
Is the frame part of the piece?
Yes. Every boat leaves sealed in its acrylic float frame with the four standoffs fitted and the wall fixings in the box; the frame is part of the build, not an extra. The checkout works out the shipping and any duties for your address.
Can I see the glass first?
You see the design first: hand the create page a photo and Tedooo draws the boat in glass within a minute or so, free, and no glass is cut until you approve. For finished pieces on real walls in daylight, look at the buyers' own photographs on the reviews page.
