Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Sleeves- 2 for $5.00

Take a long hard look a Myrt's Rooster Window because this is the last time you're going to see it here now that it's finished. She did such a great job on this which includes her soldering it. I think I just nit picked and made 2 or three adjustments that could have truly been left alone and then she colored it and took it home. What's next for Myrt? We'll know soon enough...


Up next in our completed projects section is our latest Hand Mirror made by Ann. She's turning out excellent work and the mirror shown here certainly proves it. Wouldn't any woman like to see this sitting on her vanity?

Pam's Star Window also turned out nice but then again wasn't that to be expected? She simplified the pattern SLIGHLY and got this completed in record time. It's definitely one of the more patriotic windows we've seen done in a while!


And Cindy's Tiger Eye De Lis was also finished this week. I added some hooks to hang it and then Cindy washed it and tried to decide if she was going to color the lead either copper of black. At first I was going to suggest black but then everyone in class agreed that leaving the lead silver was the best way to go with this window. And although I rarely leave lead silver I will admit that in this case it was a great decision.


Cindy hasn't given up on Tiger Eyes just yet. This is her latest project and you can clearly see a Tiger Eye in it (as well as another Fleur De Lis!) It's looking great so far and I can't wait to see how much further it is towards completion next week.

Here's Terry's version of the same window idea. Terry simplified the Fleur De Lis section by removing 2 of the thin borders around the FDL but then she added a Red Pepper to spice things up in her pattern. :-) Terry already has this almost completely ground now.


And while Terry was working on her glass at home her grandson, Calieb, decided that he wanted to make a John Deere window. Terry drew up the emblem and let Calieb start cutting and grinding. When she came in to class with it this week all it needed was a border. Now that the border is cut she's bringing back to her grandson who will finish this off.


Fleur De Lis' are something we never get tired of doing around here. Bonnie's Saint's Fleur De Lis Window has really taken shape now that the center piece is all cut and ground. The rest should be fairly easy. Look how nice and symmetrical Bonnie has managed to keep this window. I think she'll be cutting her letters next week which will really make this look like it's about finished.


Dianne and Peewee have all of their glass cut for the latest Transom Window they are working on. With the center tacked together and only the border left to wrap they've decided to take their pieces home with them so they can get to work soldering this when they return next week. The colors are impeccable on this window.

That's about the latest that's fit to print here in the shop. We've completed on of the new Church windows and I hope to have a picture of that as soon as the sun co operates with us! Take care and come on my again soon to check out the progress on all of our students work.

Paul
Bayou Salé GlassWorks

Sunday, February 26, 2012

I Can't Believe It's Not Butter

Cindy's Sport's De Lis Window was completed this week and her attention to detail is wonderful. For some reason she enjoys working on windows with tiny little pieces so when she made this she decided to use the smaller of the two patterns that we had. What you see is a duck head on the left, a fish in the center and a deer head on the right. The bottom of the Fleur De Lis is formed with the tail of the fish in the center and two mirror imaged fishing hooks. We've seen this done before using just 2 colors but Cindy decided to give each animal(?) its own set of colors making this window stand out from the other times we've seen it done.

Cindy also worked on a Fleur De Lis type window which we'll see later on in this update.


Susan's variation of the Flower Hand Mirror is now officially known as the Leaf Hand Mirror. She's made a few of these now and when Bonnie asked if she could make one in a single class I said that I thought she could but that I didn't have the pattern. I figured that Susan wouldn't mind so I ended up drawing this one from memory. Bonnie was originally going to have a beveled diamond in the bottom but when she saw what the mirror looked like with the accent color in the place of the bevel she decided she liked that better. I thought it looked good both ways but the colored diamond looked best.

Pam worked on this window last week and then finished soldering it at home. When she brought it back this week she only needed to color the lead and then have me take a picture for the Blog. It's a really cute window with a great antique feel to it. The colors on this one really work beautifully together.


Pam also had the star part of this window cut, ground and tacked together when she walked in the door. By the time she left class she had it finished save for the soldering. I'd say we'll see this one completed in our next update.


Susan took a break from hand mirrors this week and began working on this Fleur De Lis Window. She's got it all cut and ground and she's taken it home with her so she can come back with it all wrapped and ready for tacking. Then it will only need a quick 6 piece border and some solder so I have a feeling we'll see this project completed when Susan returns.

Roxie liked the mirror that she made last week so much that she's decided to make 6 more. She cut the brown glass for all of them this week and has a a slew of flower petals all traced out and ready to be cut. Although she loved the colors of her last mirror she's decided to make the flowers in these in different colors. We'll see those colors as she progresses with her cutting and grinding.


Dianne and Peewee have both begun working on a new transom window using the same design of the last 2 that Dianne made. The only difference is that this one is about 2 inches taller than the others so although the design is the same the it's been stretched accordingly to fit the new transom opening. I have to say that the colors are great and slightly reminiscent of Pam's window that we saw at the start of this post.


Patty has cut the backgrounds for two of her cabinet door inserts and has them ready for soldering. Since these are her first two I'm going to go out on a limb and say that once these are finished she'll be able to complete the next two in a single class. You just need to get the first 1 or 2 under your belt to get a handle on how everything goes together and then you can reall speed things. Mark my words.


Terry's latest window is a difficult one to name. It's got the state of Louisiana, a Tiger's eye, a Fleur De Lis and a Red Pepper all rolled up into one widow. It's hard to see what it will look like right now since none of it is ground yet, but you'll be seeing how this all fits together real soon. Terry isn't one to spend too much time on one project! (You can't miss that Tiger Eye in it though, can you?)

Myrt has most of her Rooster Window completed now. There's just a little soldering to do on the back side and I have no doubt that will be completed when we next see her. This is a nice light, almost pastel version of the Roosters that we're used to seeing. I love it when people put a new spin on a pattern by selecting different colors.

You may not be able to tell but this is the back side of Fran's Donkey Window (insert your own joke here). With the front all soldered she can now handle the back of this window at home and then bring it in next week so we can wash it outside (it's too big to fit in the large sink that we have in the shop) and then finish it all up. I can't wait to see this one lit up.

And here we have a look at the other window that Cindy is working on this week. Let's just call this the Tiger Eye De Lis Window. With just the last black border left to tack on and solder I'm guessing this will also be completed during Cindy's next class. She really does like to work with all of those small pieces, doesn't she? And she makes it look easy!


Lastly we take a look at Ann's Flower Hand Mirror. She really liked this one and decided to make one for herself. She's chosen an almost teal-like color for the leaves which sets this mirror off nicely. Since this is all ground and she's started wrapping it I'd say this will be finished next week along with all the others I mentioned.

We'll have another update coming shortly with 4 more completed windows on either Wednesday or Thursday. Our students are definately on a roll here!

Paul
Bayou Salé GlassWorks

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Lacking Class

It was a very short week for classes since we made a trip to Atlanta to pick up glass for the next set of church windows we'll be doing. We left on Wednesday morning and got back late Thursday which means that we only had time for one set of classes this week. With only 3 students in that class there isn't all that much to look at but that will change with our next update.

Terry completed her Caduceus Window as I had suspected she would. In the end she decided that it looked great just leaving the lead silver rather than coloring it black or copper. I tend to agree since the black would disappear and the copper wouldn't really match anything. The silver gave it some extra contrast against her black pieces.


Cindy got all of her Sports De Lis Window completed save for the soldering. She plans to finish this at home and bring it back so it can have its picture taken next week. I like the way she went with numerous colors throughout this design --it gives it a completely different look from the way we've seen this made before.

And winding things up this week is a look at Myrt's Rooster Window all ground and ready to be foiled. Do you see all those pins holding all her pieces in place? That means that this window will fit together perfectly after she wraps it because the pieces have space in between them that the foil will fit into without causing the window to stretch out of shape. Our Tuesday night students know full well the importance of pinning their projects while they are grinding them.

That's all there is to report this week but trust me when I tell you that there will be plenty more to see when we come back with our next update.

Paul
Bayou Salé GlassWorks

Friday, February 17, 2012

Break a Mirror - Seven Years Bad Luck

Let's hope there's no truth to old superstitions because here in the shop we're been breaking an awful lot of mirror lately...

Speaking of mirrors, Roxie went a different direction with her Flower Hand Mirror. Instead of using traditional greens she went with browns and tans for her colors and the results are even better than I initially suspected they'd be. And I'm not the only one who feels this way because all of the students who saw this while it was under constrution commented very favorably about her use of colors. Roxie liked it so much she's decided to make 4 more rather than just 1 more!

Terry's latest Fleur De Lis window is another winner. Her attention to detail really makes this stand out because all of those diamonds in the center Fleur De Lis could have easily made the overall design become misshapen after it was wrapped. But since she paid close attention to her pieces as she wrapped them and reground sections to adjust for growth due to all of the foil it all lines up perfectly. Terry's at the point where I no longer need to touch up her soldering so I'm more than proud of all that she's achieved here in class with us. And then there's her work itself. See what I mean...

Peewee and Dianne both completed their Fleur De Lis Transom Windows this week. There's a SLIGHT variation in the two windows that you'll only see if you pay attention to how the borders have been cut. This was done to minimize the amount of glass wasted so we could stretch more usable pieces out of each strip of glass. Since both of these windows are going in different rooms they don't need to be perfect matches. The top one here is Peewee's window.

And this one is Dianne's. The glass used in the borders is the same on both of these windows but the difference you're seeing is due to the lack of light behind the darker one since that picture was taken indoors with fluorescent lighting and the other was taken with sunlight behind it.


I don't know if you've noticed but Hand Mirrors really are the rage here in class and Susan keeps on knocking them out every week. This is her latest Leaf Mirror which, as I mentioned before, is her own design. Kudos to Susan for taking the initiative and redesigning a pattern to make it suit her needs better. This is what I like to see students doing.


Denise has been more than busy at home. This week we take a look at an LSU window that she's made. I think this may be the first one we've seen completed with the tiger paws on it.


And Myrt has more than half of her window ground this week. Her Rooster is a combination of 2 other patterns that we had here in the shop. Add the big difference in the size of this window when compared to the other 2 and you have a window that has a very different look altogether from what we've seen before.

Sonia saw this pattern in a book and just had to make it. It didn't strike me one way or the other until I saw her glass choices. Now I believe that this window is going to really POP! Once the ladies are cut out the rest of this should go together easily.

Now that Patty has completed her Seafood window she's decided she wants to make something quick and simple. 5 piece cabinet door inserts fit the bill nicely but then she decided that she would be making 8 of them which means that she won't exactly be finishing these next week. But she should move VERY quickly on them nonetheless. This week she decided on the actual design and then she traced, cut, ground, and wrapped the center diamonds for each window. The glass you see underneath the diamonds will be the color of her background.


Cindy's Sports De Lis window is closely nearing completion now. She'd only got the background left to cut and then the border pieces. She's leaning towards a double border but hasn't quite decided for certain yet. It will be easier to see what it will look like during her next class when she can lay her border colors along side the finished center of this window.


And Bonnie's Saints De Lis now has its first trim border on it. She started with white and will finish the FDL off with another thin black trim. She's tacking this together as she moves along because with thin pieces like this we don't want the window shifting and causing the center piece to become unsymmetrical. All it takes is to be just an eighth of an inch off to make this look lopsided.



Lastly, we have a look at Terry's newest window. This is yet another pattern that she's drawn up herself. It's a Caduceus window with a flame on top of the staff. This is all ground and ready to be wrapped and tacked together which means we'll be seeing this window completed VERY soon now.

And that about wraps thing up for this post. We'll have a reduced set of classes for out next post so we won't have quite as much to look at but we will have one finished project and that always makes it a good week.

Paul
Bayou Salé GlassWorks

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Genius Begins Great Works; Labor Alone Finishes Them

May we have a drum roll please because Patty has completed her Seafood Medley Window! It's vibrant, it's fun and now Patty is moving on to windows with bigger pieces which can be even more fun (to make). :-) Looking at this window makes me look forward to a good pool party complete with crawfish, crabs, shrimp, oysters, potatoes and corn on the cob.


Susan finished 2 of her newly designed hand mirrors-- one in blue and the other with 2 shades of teal. She's moving right along on these mirrors largely due to the fact that she made a difficult project much easier while maintaining its beauty. She was going to go with single colors for her mirrors bu she mixed some of the pieces up and discovered that a 2 tone mirror looks great.

Anita has a few things to look at this time around and we'll start with her small LSU window. It's the smallest one I've seen made yet (at about 18" wide) but all the work is still there which is why it doesn't look small in the picture.



Anita also completed her Star window. Have you noticed the small Fleur De Lis' in the corner pieces? You won't see much of them in the future because it's a discontinued glass (everything we like gets discontinued) and with this window Anita has used the last of it.


Cindy has put the final touches on this, her 3rd Boar Window. I'm thinking that she can put these windows together in her sleep since she knocked this one out so quickly. But I also have a feeling that we won't be seeing this pattern done again for at least a little while. Cindy is looking for more challenging projects and I do believe she has found them.


And this just happens to be one of those challenging windows that Cindy has decided to make. This pattern was drawn up in 2 different sizes (medium and small) and she decided to do the smaller of the two even though there was a message on it saying to do the larger of the 2 instead. lol. Her Sportsman's Fleur De Lis will be done differently then the previous 2 we've seen made in the past because Cindy is making her FDL in numerous colors rather than just 2 colors.


Terry's Fleur De Lis Window may contain the most pieces in a single FDL. That said, it's just about finished. It's all tacked together and the only thing left for her to do is to solder it. And since she solders at home I suspect we'll see this completed when she comes back into class in a week.
Meanwhile, Myrt is flying through her Rooster Window. It's already all cut out and in her next class she'll begin grinding it. Although she's moving quickly she's still taking her time cutting out her pieces because she knows that the extra time spend on cutting will be gained back two-fold when she grinds this. She's cutting off the line as she cuts her pieces which makes this window fit so well together that she won't be grinding so much as skimming her pieces. You can see that this rooster pretty much fits together already and she hasn't even ground a single piece yet.


Bonnie's Saints Fleur De Lis Window has it's first of 2 inner borders cut. She started the class grinding, wrapping and tacking the gold center part of the FDL and then cut the white to thinly trace around the gold. And like Myrt's window the white pieces almost look like they've already been ground-- but it hasn't (yet). She'll grind and tack the white pieces during her next class and then set out working on her final trim border in black glass.

Ann's Hand Mirror is all cut out and she'll be grinding this when she returns. Once it's tacked together she'll drop a piece of mirror under it, trace out the opening, cut it, wrap it and solder it all together. The beauty of this hand mirror is that once it's ground the rest of the process for completing it is quick and easy.


Peewee and Dianne both had the Fleur De Lis' cut out already for their windows so when they came in they cut their background pieces, wrapped them and then tacked them all together. Then the strip cutter made quick work of cutting their borders. By the time they left for home they were both at the same point in their windows. Here's a look at Peewee's window with the border ready to be wrapped.


And here's a look at Dianne's window. It's sort of hard to tell them apart but I recall that Peewee was working on top of a white piece of paper which makes his clear glass background looks white while Dianne's looks more like a ceiling tile since that is what her's is lying on . :-) They've both moved really quickly on getting these windows this far along and they may very well be finishing these when they return for their next class.


I must confess that we're still not completely caught up here in regards to what's happening in our classes but at least I'm not falling behind. The next post looks to be an easy one so we should have it up before classes for this week are over with (on Thursday night).

Paul
Bayou Salé GlassWorks

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Sets of Two

Two's. I think that's the theme for this week and you'll see what I mean by the time you finish reading this post.

Ann made quick work of these 2 cabinet windows. I wish I had the wooden frames to show you what these look like installed but I think it's safe to say that these pictures show off Ann's work perfectly. The mirror image design looks so much better than 2 of the same window. Ann worked on this while she was home which explains how she accomplished completing the pair so quickly.


And speaking of pairs, this next project is the sister window to Dianne's first one that she finished just a few weeks back. I was going to say that since they are being installed in 2 different rooms she didn't make mirror images but I just realized that maybe they are... After all, it's a symmetrical design which means that making a mirror image wouldn't have any effect in the final look of the window. But no matter how you look at it, this is another beautiful project made by Dianne.


It's funny to see how many repeats we have this week. Here's a look at Cindy's latest Boar Window. It's the second time she's made this pattern. Actually, this design was the first window she ever made. And don't forget it because you're about to see it again real soon...


What do two Irises, two Cat Tails, and a Dragonfly do in their spare time? Aside from hanging out in Myrt's window I'm not really sure. But they make a really fine window, don't they? As I've said before, I like the way Myrt took the pattern and made changes throughout to make it her own. Myrt's next window will be a Rooster design.


Anita made this cute Teddy Bear Frame because she simply wanted to make a frame. Until you see how the back is put together most students think it's a mystery that ranks up there with how the Pyramids were built. Well, it turns out it's only about as mystifying as crop circles-- once you know the secret it's no big deal at all. This Frame features painted eyes, a wire mouth and a picture of cute tree drawn by a child that I found on the internet (the tree, not the child!)


Here's the first completed Hand Mirror of Susan's new design. The Flowered Mirror is very nice but until you make one you don't realize how time consuming they can be. Susan's design was not only drawn up by her, it's also quick, efficient, and beautiful in its own right with only 10 pieces in it. Expect to see more of these soon.


Well look at that! I told you that Susan's new Leaf design was quicker to put together than the Flower Hand Mirrors and now here are 2 more of them already ground and ready to be wrapped. Susan's turning into a hand mirror machine!


And just for comparison we'll take a look at the Flower Hand Mirror that Roxie's been working on. She's all ready for solder so I'm going to say that this will be completed when Roxie returns in 2 weeks. While we're looking at her mirror we can see that it consists of 24 pieces altogether. And since they're small they take a while to fit together but the end result is well worth the time.

Are you seeing double yet? If not, take a look at Cindy's latest Boar window. This is the third time she's made this one and most likely her last time but we aren't going to retire the pattern just yet because we never say never here in the shop. This one has slightly different colors but I couldn't possibly chose which one I prefer more. I still can't believe how fast she got this one together!


Terry's latest Fleur De Lis Window has almost completely taken shape this week. The actual FDL is wrapped and ready to be tacked together and that's truly the lions share of the work. She's cutting and grinding the small FDL's which will go in the four corners and then she'll cut her background and complete this window thereby putting another Fleur De Lis under her belt.

Here's a second Fleur De Lis design being worked on by Bonnie for her husband. She just started this one tonight and got the pattern traced out and all the gold glass (gold is so tricky to find in glass) cut for the center of the FDL. She'll be working on this in layers so she'll grind, wrap and tack what she has completed here before she moves on to the first of her thin FDL borders which will be white.

Anita worked on this Star window when she completed her Frame. Actually the red star in the center was completed at her home and she did the background and thin blue inner border during class. Her outside border has also been cut but most of it was with her at the grinder when I took this picture (you can see one of the outer border glass pieces along the bottom of the window)

Now you don't think that was all Anita did this week do you? She also worked on getting this small LSU window cut and ground. Now that it's wrapped she just needs to add a border before she can call this one completed.

And bringing up the rear this week (last but certainly not least) is Pam's Geometric design. If it looks familiar it's because it's the second time this pattern has been used also. If you recall, Anita was working on the same window in different colors a few weeks ago. Now that I think about it we never saw hers completed so I'll bet that Anita finished it at home and then hung it up. But we'll surely see this one finished when Pam returns to class.


And that ends things this time around. It's amazing how many repeat windows we saw this week but that only goes to show you that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Besides, color changes alone can make a window practically unrecognizable from it's first appearance.

Paul
Bayou Salé GlassWorks