We'll start things off with Susan who's Abita Beer Window has officially seen the light of day. Two actual Abita Bottles have been soldered into the window which means that the front halves of the bottles extrude beyond the front of the window while the back halves do the same in reverse. In other words, this window won't lay flat on a table. This design decision brought along more than a few constructions problems that needed to be worked around. However, Susan persevered and surmounted the odds. Her window which is slightly wider than 3 feet is a testament to Susan's resolve. :-) It shows off her beautiful craftsmanship and I think it will be Susan's high water mark for quite some time.
Paula may be our newest student but she's already making windows that look like they've been made by a professional. Her Three Wise Men presented her with a problem or two along the way but Paula easily (and cleverly) overcame the obstacles in front of her. It's a night scene but her colors are bright and vivid which stops the window from disappearing. I say that Paula has got it down!
Becky S's impromptu Double Sunflower is yet another window that has turned out to be stunningly beautiful. Putting the two sunflowers into one window may have been a last minute decision but the end effect looks as though it was planned from the start. Note how each flower has 15 points (which theoretically needs a line coming from each point) but how there are only six lead lines cutting into the background. Careful positioning, expanding outward into border, and placing points on points have turned what could have been a lead line fiasco into an elegant and tastefully done window.
And speaking of Sunflowers, here's a look at Betty's version which also has sunflowers reaching out from the background glass and into the border. Betty's window only has 2 lead lines in the background glass, and they've been disguised as the Sunflower's stems. A lot can be learned when we study the positioning of the subject matter in windows. Too many superfluous lead lines steal the focus from the actual subject and should always be avoided
Now I do believe that Terry is just showing off here. :-) This is her completed Heron Window and, as always, it's a winner. I love the green border which helps add color to the window without overdoing it.
Did someone say green? Cindy's Calla Lily Window is finished and she's gone with a green color scheme. She smartly decided to use a very pale yellow for her two flower stamen since they are completely surrounded by stark white flower petals. Had she used a darker or brighter yellow they would have stood out far too much in a window that features a pastel green so prominently. In other words, her choices are all perfect.
And Carol has added this LSU Window to her portfolio of stained glass pieces. Everything from her straight cuts (done with a pistol grip cutter and a straight edge), to her foiling and soldering is perfect. We've seen this window before but it always turns out nicely. Carol is proving to be an excellent student and her work on this window proves it.
Next we take a look at the stained glass shade that Jane made to replace the old Mika Drum Shade on her antique floor lamp base. There wasn't a mold used to make this lamp-- instead we went with old fashioned geometry:
A = π * r²
Once we knew what the circumference should be we just laid out strips evenly, tacked the inside and then rolled it into a circle and joined the ends. And when it was soldered and it fit into the lamp it was a very rewarding moment indeed. Math rules!
Brenda completed her latest Cross Window using a blue and gold color scheme. A lot of people feel that stained glass requires you to go hog wild with colors but this window shows that elegance can be achieved with a very limited color pallet. Three simple colors, one gorgeous window.
And then we have Terry showing off yet again! She used a blue/green glass for the background and then rounded out the window by using a separate matching blue and a separate matching green. It would appear that neither Terry nor Brenda have any problems with the pointed cuts that the bevels in the cross force you to cut around in this design.
Crosses, crosses, crosses! Carol completed her LSU window while she was at home and then she managed to find the time to make these four Cross suncatchers as well. I have to admit that I'm partial to the 'knotted' Crosses with the empty center. And Carol certainly did a great job on those.
Bonnie was away during the weekend so she didn't get a chance to finish soldering the second side of her Magnolia Window but she accomplished a lot of that during class this week. I'm sure that she'll leave with it completed when she returns. Now, if you recall, Bonnie wanted to square this window off but I said that it would be a mistake since some of the leaves were cut to form a circle around the window. I insisted that she would love the window if she simply added a rounded bordered and left it circular. Although doubtful at first, I think she sees that this was the correct decision.
Next up is Betty's version of Bonnie's Magnolia. Betty heard me tell Bonnie that the leaves had been cut short to make the window a round finished piece and asked me if I could finish out the leaves so she could make the window as a square. In fact, if you look closely in the photo below you can see the ring of whiteout that we used to get rid of the circle and how we extended some of the leaves. Betty loved the design change but upon seeing Bonnie's round version she's pretty sure that she's going to make a second on but in the circular design! Circle windows are somewhat rare to see but they have a certain charm about them that everyone seems to like once they see one completed.
Rowena, never one to be left behind, is also moving quickly by finished all of the grinding on her Deer (Horse?) Window. With all the grinding completed she's taken it home with her to wrap throughout the week. That means that depending on how much is wrapped when she comes in, she may end up having this tacked together and possibly even get a border cut for it.
And Jeanne now has her background glass cut to size and positioned with the pattern drawn onto it. The first thing she did was cut and grind her 10 diamond accent pieces that run across the top and bottom of her window. They're all ground and wrapped so she'll be set to cut and grind her background when she comes back in. After that there will be just 12 pieces of glass left to go and then the border(s).
Mary Grace is making this Bird Of Paradise Window look simple. Last week she cut it all out and this week she has it all ground. She'll wrap this, add a border and then she'll be ready to solder! I'm thrilled with her progress on this as well as her confidence level. I think this will go a long way to proving to Mary Grace that she has nothing to worry about while she's in class.
Nope, you shouldn't get your eyes checked out. The reason this B looks backwards is because it IS backwards. That means that the front side of this is already completed and Ann is already soldering the back side. She'll take this one home next week and then pick up work on the three other initial windows that she's already started at home!
Cindy has a mission and that is to make a stained glass panel lamp for the lamp base that she brought it. She's come up with the design and has begun cutting the pieces for the 6 repeating panels that will surround her base. Here you see the stack of glass that she's got cut out already. Talk about working quickly!
And Brenda has begun work on another CC window and although all you can see is the red background glass you'll have to trust me when I tell you that the two white C's have also been cut and ground. That just leaves 4 pieces of background left to go.
Shelley now has a GREAT majority of her Mermaids ground. Things got very hectic in class and I never got to ask her about her bubbles but we will most CERTAINLY cover that in her next class. Something tells me that she's going to be needing those bubbles very, very soon.
Linda L has two boxtops all ready to go save for the hinge sections that run across the top length of lids. It's a safe bet to assume that she'll be cutting her box sides when she comes back in. Linda did all the work on these lids herself and her work is astoundingly wonderful.
Where are the finals? That was the question. Look as we might we were unable to turn them up, However, they did turn up in the third drawer under the grinder. Yes, the same drawer that just about everyone in class looked through without discovering them. I still say that we have Leprechauns in the shop who hide things until we stop looking for them. So, with a new found finial attached, this is Lynn's Terrarium top which we'll see completed next week. The only thing left to do is color it, clean it up and then place it on top of the bottom section.
Martha's repair is just about ready to be foiled and soldered. Having almost all of her glass pre-cut has made things a lot easier on this window than it has been for any of her other windows! The placement of the new glass works just fine with the design and when this is soldered you may just never know that anything was wrong with this window because it all looks perfectly planned out.
And in the end we take a look at the Fleur De Lis Suncatcher that Jeannette cut out and ground after she completed her Cabinet Door Insert. It wasn't that long ago that it took Jeannette a full class to make a butterfly and here she is getting this all ready for wrapping in under an hour. Impressive!
Paul
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