I Used To Be Ripped

Patrice came in last week with a great idea for a Tool Transporter.  It's a Bucketeer tool 'belt' that installs over a 5 gallon bucket.   With this she's got a place for everything and everything in its place.

Amazon has this one available.
             (click the text)










It's no big surprise that Linda F's Tree Of Life is nothing short of spectacular!   Most impressive of all is the fact that most of this was made from scrap glass that had been building up in Linda's workshop.  The double border, as always, set it all off nicely and also prevented any green leaves from running into the green border that Linda is so fond of.  I love it!

 

Here's Angie's Mermaid that she started just one week ago.   Pink hair you say?   Yep, this was made especially for someone who I believe has had pink hair in the past.   I know it's definitely been purple at one point in time!   You've gotta love it!

 

 

Jeannette's Rose window is certainly beautiful and a definite inspiration as you will see later on along in this post.   Jeannette had not a single problem while making this project quickly and efficiently.  Even her soldering is top notch!

 

Susan D completed her Traditional Kaleidoscope and even made a stand for it.  Below you can see it both on and off of the stand.  As far as Kaleidoscopes go, these are fairly easy to make and they produce a wonderful image.

 

Roy's LSU Tiger Paw Window was completed in record time and every thing about it is top tier.  It's a good thing that Roy enjoyed making this because he now has an order for another of these which he will be working on when we see him again.

  

Last week Jan was able to complete her Mary and Child Panel before she called it a night.  Her soldering is getting better and better with each project that she does and I can't wait to see what she tackles next.

 

Next up we have another variation of a Kaleidoscope that Linda L made this week.  It's called an Oil Scope and it doesn't require you to twist or turn anything to create a never repeating, exploding image when you look through it.   Check out the video clip below of what this Oil Scope reveals when you look through it.

 

We also saw Betty complete another Mary and Child Suncatcher which is a very popular Suncatcher/Panel indeed.    Looking at her work on this I can see that she now knows what the tough spots are and how to make them look great because I can't find a single flaw in this.

 

Finally, I've decided to begin posting things that I make here in the weekly blog as well.  On Halloween day I made this between classes as a remembrance to our black cat Beaufy, who wasn't with us on his favorite day of the year-- Halloween.    He certainly turned out nice indeed.

Well now, onto projects that are still in the works.   First up we see Rowena's Louisiana Tiger which is almost completely ground and truly taking shape now.  It is Beautiful with a capital B for sure and I can't wait to see this completed.   I may very well have to make one of these myself because its surely catches your eye.

 

Terry's first half of her Spiraling Flower Window is all ground so she worked on wrapping pieces while she was in class.  When we see her again she'll most likely apply the border to three sides of her window and then get a channel cut.   The second section of this window is surely just about to be started.

 

With the center of her Egret Window just about ground, Becky S will be free to begin either wrapping and tacking what she has completed, or moving along to either the top or bottom section of the window.   We'll see what she decides next week!

 

Patrice learned how to cut out a background using her finished Humming Bird and Morning Glories as actual pattern pieces.   After some quick grinding Patrice spent the remainder of her class wrapping her background pieces.   She's up in the air about borders but I have a few photoshopped images ready for her to look at to help make the decision a little easier.

 

Regardless of what it looks like, Sheri is NOT cutting out a Butterfly Window-- she's cutting out two(!) Butterfly Windows.   What you see below are the colorful pieces that make up the butterfly doubled up.   Once these are tacked together she can then cut out her background glass AFTER cutting it into a perfect circle first.

 

Mary's Santa Window is coming together wonderfully as she was able to get all of her glass cut out this week.   Once that was finished she moved along to the grinder where she started from the bottom up on this traditional Santa Claus.  She's taken this home with her and hopes to get some serious grinding done while we're away for a week.

  

MiMi's Industrial Fleur De Lis is another window that has completely taken shape now.  With a good deal of her leaded pieces completely wrapped in copper foil she'll be able to  start taking this together if she wants.   Now that she's this far along and she sees how the lead sections work she's no longer dubious about working so far along on her own on this.

 

And here's another Santa, this one being done by Cindy.   With only a border (or borders) left to attach, I'd say that Cindy is getting close to beginning a new project.  I'm thinking that a green border would look perfect on this, how about you?

 

Brenda has her Staff of Hermes Window all squared off and ready for its border which I know she's already cut because she sent me a picture of it.  I've been incorrectly referring to this as a Caduceus but I stand corrected.  At any rate, I have a sneaking suspicion that this will be completed upon Brenda's return.

Angie loved Jeannette's Rose Window that she's making one herself.   I know you can't easily see the fact that Angie has all of her background glass cut out and it's all ground already as well.   This will surely be getting a border when we next see it again.

 

Although Betty has a completed project at the top of this post, she's also working on numbers two and three of her Mary and Child series of large suncatchers.   She's got number 2 almost completely ground already so number three won't be far behind.

 

Next up we take a look at Tracey's second Cardinal Window.   It's all ground now and only needs to be foiled and tacked before this gets a border attached.  Tracey has re-cut a few pieces along the way on this project because she didn't care for the fit of a few of the pieces.  In my opinion, that is the sign of a true artist.   Anyone who is willing to re-cut pieces of glass shows me that they care about how their project looks.   And Tracey's window already shows just how much she cares. 

  

With everything wrapped on her Once Upon A Time Window, Shelley is ready to tack this together and then get the fused face cut out and fitted into place.  Once that's done she'll add a border and then solder away on this delightful window.

 

Lastly we look at Susan R's latest window which is a Woman in a Hat (with a flower).  For some reason this reminds me of the Roaring Twenties although I'm not sure if it's supposed to or not.   Whether yea or nay, I know this is going to look wonderful when it's finished.

 

And this is why Susan's pattern reminds me of the 20's!

 

So that brings us up to date.  Look for us again in one week and each week after that because our vacation days have all been used up!  :-(

Paul
Bayou Salé GlassWorks

You Can't Make A Window Without Breaking Some Glass

When deciding where to put breaks in your borders you have to plan ahead.  We normally divide the borders on each side equally which means that the top would be split the same as the bottom, and the left the same as the right.  If your subject cuts into the border you have some choices to make.  In the picture below, breaking the top border evenly results in some small pieces near where the steam comes out from the window and into the border.  

 

I usually omit lines if they are close to where the border would normally be broken.   This would result in the border below. 

There is no official right or wrong in these cases.   It's solely dependent on what YOU think looks good.   While making your pattern mark it one way and then the other to help you make your decision.  Rest assured though-- the viewers eye will focus on the subject matter and NOT the breaks in the border.  Only you will notice that. 


Okay now, up first is a variation of the pattern that we just talked about above and you can see that Sheri did, in fact, omit two of the lead lines in her border.  The central breaks were left in so that the other two pieces didn't appear to be too long.   We played around with omitting those as well but in the end we decided it was best to break the longer border strips.   No matter, the work that Sheri did on this entire window is wonderful and you can almost smell the coffee.

 

Becky B finished her Frog Lawn Ornament and finished it off with a wire mouth and some painted pupils on the eyeballs.   This pattern started off as a night-lite but Becky decided to make it bigger and mount it on a stake for her yard.   As I always tell our students, anything can be a Lawn Ornament!

  

I don't think that we've seen many Oil Wand Kaleidoscopes in the past few years but Susan R saw one that I made for a show that we just did and just HAD to make one!   Of all the stained glass kaleidoscopes that you can make this is the one that provides the best image because it's ALWAYS different and it never stops moving.  I've included a picture of what you see when you look through this, but it doesn't do it any justice at all since it's a still image.

 

Cindy put the finishing touches on her second Kaleidoscope Airplane and it's another winner.  I think that this is the last of the Aeroscopes for a while now, but Oil Wand Scopes and Traditional Kaleidoscopes will still be featured here over the next few weeks.  They make wonderful Christmas presents.

 

Up next we have three projects that just needed a little work left to go on them before they were completed.   I won't be able to photograph the finished pieces but I've asked everyone to take pictures of them once they are completed.

First we have Lara's African Woman.  With the front side all soldered and only the back side left to go I'm going to miss not getting to see this with some light behind it.  Even pictured sitting here on the work table it's looking awfully fine!

 

Next we have Melissa's Autumn Window.   This one only needs to be washed and colored (adding some patina to the lead, that is) before Melissa can deliver this to her friend.  Like the tree of Life that Susan did a few weeks back, this has the perfect border color for a Tree Window.

 

Carol has been as busy as can be as she ALMOST completed 3 Butterfly Lawn Ornaments this week.   The only thing left to add to theses are the bodies that run along the length of the center.   Carol made quick work of these and they each look lovely.

Even with a huge majority of her window being un-ground, Rowena's Tiger Face/Louisiana Window shows a fierceness that can't be ignored.   The pieces are merciless to cut and grind but the finished piece will be an incredible jewel in Rowena's stained glass crown.

 

Mary's working quickly through the cutting process of her Santa Window.   Last week we had decided on some green glass for some of the background but we were clearly not thinking this through.  Luckily Mary did while she was home last week.   With snow on the ground there wouldn't be any green-- so Mary will take the white snow right up to the horizon on this window.  Looking good indeed!

 

 
Speaking of Santa's,  Cindy's Santa Face Window is fast approaching completion.   When she left last week she only had the hat cut out.  This week it's all cut out and she's got probably 95% of it ground already. Talk about moving along!   Santa will be hopping down a chimney before you know it.

 

 

With the front side of her Rose Window completely soldered, Jeannette has taken this home to work on the back side and then she'll bring it back in for some patina and hooks.  Look to see this window completed real soon now!

 

 

Linda F has a lot of her Tree Of Life Window soldered now and hopes to get the majority of it done while she's at home.   With the leaves made up entirely of scrap glass Linda has discovered a GREAT way to clear space in her stained glass workshop AND end up with a wonderful window!

 

Susan D got the body of her Traditional Kaleidoscope put together and she was able to get the mirrors installed as well.   After that she worked on the first of the pattern wheels and even has the glass cut for the second, clear wheel.  It won't be long now until this is spinning in circles.

 

Roy is moving along nicely with his LSU and Tiger Paws Window.  With the majority of the subject matter all cut out and almost ground, Roy only needs to tack these pieces together before he starts adding the multiple borders that will be cut using the strip cutter.

  

 

Linda L's Mickey Window looks like something that was printed out!   Her grinding is perfection and her colors are nothing short of vibrant.  This is going to be spectacular and I know that because it already is.  Happy Halloween indeed!

 

Mary Grace made adjustments throughout her Birds and a Birdhouse Panel and everything is rock solid now.   I have no doubt that this will be completely tacked together and have a border attached when you see it again.

  

Angie's Mermaid Panel is just about finished even though we've never seen it before.  She came in with all but three pieces ground and fitting together wonderfully and only stopped three pieces short because she wasn't sure how to fit the 'bubble' that the mermaid is looking at.   We covered that small issue and the next thing you know Angie added a border and soldered the front side!

 

Martha ground the flowers and the branches for her Pair of Cardinals Window and she's doing a bang up job on it.   She's using one piece to mark the other as she grinds and is flying through her work while making perfect fits as well.

 

Shelley is wrapping up the grinding on her Once Upon A Time Window.  She'll need to wrap this and tack everything together before she can cut the face out (which you can see atop the window) but that won't take long at all! I can't wait to see this all come together!

 

With MiMi working on all of the thin clear trim pieces of her Industrial Fleur De Lis it's hard to tell what she's achieved this week.  Trust me though,  there's been a lot accomplished.  Look closely and you'll see a thick line of copper running diagonally through the center of the Fleur De Lis.   Believe it or not, it was a clear piece of scrap glass that MiMi wrapped completely in copper foil after fitting it into place.  Now that it's foiled MiMi saw how things are going to go together on this interesting window.

 

Betty is back and I was so happy to see her that I was eating the wrappers off of candies from foreign lands!  She was so happy to be back that she started working on another Mary and Child.  Will it be a suncatcher or a panel?   Even I don't know that but I'm leaning towards thinking that it will be a suncatcher.  I'll answer that question when we next return.

 

Wow, Beth cut out her background, ground all of her pieces, and then wrapped them all in one class!  And everything fits together wonderfully!  Color this iris purple and me impressed!

 

Well, it's official.  Tracey's latest Humming Bird has been completely cut out.  This week she was even able to start grinding a few pieces.   I do have a funny feeling that as beautiful a window this is, she's going to be over Cardinals by the time this one is finished.

 

This week Barbara started work on her version of the Santa Window that Mary is also making.   She's pretty much at the same point that Mary was at after a day of cutting glass so I'm expecting this to take shape quickly.   And, of course, seeing Mary's window will certainly inspire Barbara.

 

We're going to end this post looking at the patterns that two of our students are about to start cutting glass for next week.   First we look at the round Magnolia Window that Becky B will be working on upon her return.  It's always been stunning and I have no doubt that Becky's will be as well.

 

And lastly we take a look at the circular Butterfly Panel that Sheri traced out this week.   She's already thinking about colors and we will surely see some cut glass placed on this pattern when she returns.

 

Well, it will be a while before you hear from us again as we are shutting down for two weeks.   Don't fret though as we'll have a post up when we return to classes and fall back into the swing of things!

Paul

Bayou Salé GlassWorks