OK, It's been a while since a student has made a lamp and I have to give Patty a BIG pat on the back and reassure her that she did a wonderful job on her first Magnolia Lamp. I mean, who can find fault with this? It's subtle but beautifully striking with it's clean, minimal colors. Patty handled this project like a pro and I'm proud to say that I taught her all she knows (about stained glass)!
Bonnie's Bumble Bee Lawn Ornament is the bomb! She's even added a stinger for extra effect. My only mistake in photographing this was not taking multiple pictures from multiple angles so you could see the curve of the body and the wings. The curve adds so much to the design. This turned out beautiful and will add a nice splash of color in any yard (particularly Bonnie's).
And Terry completed her Hibiscus Window this week . Again her use of color is spot on. The flowers are pink with some green thrown into the mix and her leaves are green with a hint of teal. Put them together and what have you got? A stunning window! (Note to self: Don't photograph windows with florescent lights behind them-- it's harsh and doesn't do the window any justice at all.)
Are we seeing double? Nope, this is just Brenda's version of the same window that Terry just completed. Brenda has everything together and the front side is 100% soldered but the back side still needs a bit of soldering before she can call this complete. She's taking it home with her so I'm unsure if it will come back into the shop or not since Brenda is more than capable enough to finish it on her own. Nonetheless, it's beautiful right now whether the back side is soldered or not.
Brenda decided to make another Ballerina Woman but this one has slightly darker skin (as well as an extra spotlight). She has most of the center ground and she's got the strips for her borders cut (which you can see on the left and right in the picture). I'm guessing that she'll have this fairly completed when we see it next.
Next we take a look at one of Ann's corners all ground, wrapped and ready to be tacked. She has the second corner almost completed (it's missing 2 pieces of blue glass that she forgot to cut out) and she also has a great deal of the center piece ground as well. Before you know it this will be another completed project. And wait until you see it all together. Can you say, "Lots of tiny pieces"?
And these are four crosses that Cindy also cut out and ground. She'll wrap these at home and then finish them off with some solder and some hooks. And speaking of hooks, Cindy learned the fine art of making hooks for suncatchers and was impressed with how easy they are to make.
Martha's Tree Frog is nothing short of stunning. The orange border that she picked stopped this window from being a 'Did you see the window I made over there?' piece and turned it into a, 'Wow, did you make that window over there?' piece. Had she gone with a brown border it would have disappeared into the room it was hanging in, but the orange makes it stand out. Why orange? Because there's a hint of it in the actual window itself. And that's how border colors are done best!
Now hold on to your horses because Martha has finally broken free of her classroom surroundings and has done all of the work that you see on this Flowered Cross while at home! That's right, she's fearlessly jumped into the deep end of the pool and guess what? She discovered that she's more than capable enough to swim by doing glass work on her own! This is gorgeous and we'll see the finished product in out next post.
One of the things that I ALWAYS need to repeat to our students is the need to use pins while grinding. It takes at least 3 pins to hold one piece in place and you must put 2 pins on any straight edge of glass while grinding. Susan is one person I don't have to keep reminding. I LOVE IT! Now she's only got the trim left of the Fleur De Lis left to grind before she starts wrapping it. Susan's work is some of the best that our students offer. Her attention to detail is amazing and she knows that although a piece may fit into the opening, it may not be shaped 100% correct. Susan always knows the difference between a a piece fitting and when a piece fits in place-- And on a window like this the difference can make or break your window. (In this case it makes it!)
Terry's newest work in progress is a this Tiger Eye window. And as you can see we almost missed out on seeing the work part since she got this all cut out at home. When she came in she planted herself in front of a grinder and finished fitting all of her pieces. Then she started wrapping it and that's what you're seeing here in the picture below. If you enlarge it you can see that the right side is already foiled.
OK, Shelley's Lady In A Tub window is just about ready to be soldered. As you can see she's decided to go with a double border and the results are spectacular. The amber inner border is cut and ground but she can't cut the final green border to the correct lengths until the inner border is attached. Let me state for the record that Shelley is going to love this window when it's completed (which will be real soon now).
Just look at Myrt's Hot Air Balloon Window! It's almost photo-realistic! I love the effect of the balloons on the water... but wait a minute-- this isn't Myrt's window! How did she manage to get out the door without me getting a picture again? I think it's a conspiracy against me but rest assured that I will get a picture when Myrt returns after Easter.
That's going to wrap things up here until after the Easter Holiday. I just want to remind all of our students that we won't be having classes on the 2nd, 3rd or 4th of April and that things will resume as normal the following week. Until then have a GREAT holiday!
Paul
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