First up in this post we have Shelley's newest Kokopelli Window that was completed this week. For the record I think it's a very stunning window indeed. I really love her glass choices and how each of the three glasses that she's used tie into each other. This is truly a window that flows.
Now you may have noticed that we're changing things up by posting our tip AFTER a featured Window of the week. So then, you may be asking, why have we alteration our old look for this new format? Well, due to a change on Facebook the first image in our post becomes the featured picture for the link. This has made our Facebook posts less than stunning lately (since they haven't shown our student's work) and hopefully this will fix the problem.
So then, this week's tip is about curves. When working with stained glass curves
tend to get lost in the lead. Whenever I work on windows I exaggerate
my curves. Most times I do this by giving an extra push while at the
grinder to the center of my inside curves. When I'm actually drawing
out a pattern I always exaggerate my curves. Look at the drawing on
the left which I found on the internet. It's certainly a flower but it
just doesn't flow. The image on the right was adjusted by tracing
over the pattern and adding curves to each line. I'll admit that I'm
not thrilled with the end result and would like to take another shot at
it but I did this at 10:30 pm trying to get a tip ready for this post.
Still, I have to admit that it does look better than the original
design. So flesh out those curves by leaning into them while you're at
the grinder-- your windows will thank you!
Next among our completed projects is Bonnie's Thanksgiving Turkey Suncatcher which she finished well ahead of Thanksgiving. Her colors are flawless, the pattern is flawless and her work is meticulous. Should she decide to do the detailed Last Supper Window that she is thinking about making, well, I know all will be fine.
Sheri made this wonderful Crawfish Window based on a whimsical painting that she brought in. If you ask me, it's the wire work that really sets it off. She's got another almost completed and we'll see that later on down in this post.
Cindy completed these two Beveled Heart Suncatcher pieces and the beauty that you see in them comes from their simplicity. How can you not love these? As you may or may not be able to see, she's colored one of them in copper (on the right) and left the second one in silver (on the left).
Linda F completed her Noel Window and what can I say other than , "It's perfect." She's done a top notch job with this and her cutting skills are formidable to say the least.
Lara is working on a Starry Night Window which might seem a little intimidating but she's already got a lot of it cut out. Shades of blue will be predominant in this window and I know that Lara will be quite pleased with it when she's got this under her belt.
Beth has decided that the multi-piece Tree that she traced out last week might do better after she gets a little more familiar with the Stained Glass Making process. So the Tree pattern that you saw last week is now something for the future. In it's place she will be doing a wonderful Dragonfly Window which will show her how to assemble two separate sections of a window and then combine them into one. This is her background (which she cut out wonderfully but which doesn't 'pop'). Next week she'll cut out her Dragonfly and begin grinding.
Angie's Calla Lily Window got its double border attached as well as some brass channel to surround the window. The only thing left to do is the soldering which shouldn't take Angie long at all. Slow and steady wins the race and when it comes to soldering you just have to realize that if it doesn't look good while you are doing it, you're probably moving too fast.
Terry began this Poinsettia Window while she was at home during the week and I must say that she got a whole heck of a lot of work done on it! All the pieces that you see have already been cut and ground so Terry was able to spend a relaxing class just sitting down and foiling her pieces. There's going to be a bow in it's upper right but Terry doesn't like what she drew up will be changing it after this tacked together.
Roxane's Nautical Compass Rose Window is already all cut out. She won't finish cutting the final border pieces until the rest of this is ground so we can make sure that it's a perfect circle when it's completed. Any adjustments that need to be made will happen on the final border.
And speaking of nautical items, we next look at Cindy's Mermaid Window which will surely be completed when she returns. It's already wrapped save for the final border which we'll attach as soon as Cindy walks in the door next week.
Tasha's Smiling Mouth Window got ground while she was in class and the valuable lesson that Tasha learned was to not mix up your teeth when you move them around to grind your lower lip! All worked out fine though and Tasha's window already makes me want to smile.
Becky S has been busy grinding away at her Geometric Window and by the end of class she had it all ready for foil. This is another window that will incorporate solid lead pieces so some of the glass that you see below will be completely wrapped in foil. You'll see how that works out very shortly.
Barbara is also doing very well at the grinder. With her Tulip Window almost half way ground but she's wondering what happened to a number of pieces that are mysteriously missing. All I can say is that this is a common problem when dealing with so many tiny pieces. Sometimes things get tossed into the trash unknowingly. The best course of action when his happens is to simply continue grinding what you have and then the missing pieces can be filled in later (usually after the window has been tacked together).
Linda F has started working on this very modern Tulip window that is actually a flower window and a geometric window all in one. It's very modern and because the border is irregular she's had to cut that by hand rather than with a strip cutter. There's an air of Art Nouveaux in this window and I like it.
Susan R's newest Pumpkin Window (or Fall Harvest as the pattern calls it) is all ready for foil. Just look at that multi colored corn-- It's awesome! After this is tacked together we'll cut the background and then slap a border on it.
Brenda now has all of the glass cut for her second Transom Widow and only needs to wrap the outer border before she can start soldering it. That means she's just about finished with this beautiful pair of windows.
Mary is grinding away on her Iris Window and look how far she's come along in just one class! She's doing a spectacular job on this and moving at an incredible rate of speed as well. I think it's safe to say tat Mary has the art of grinding down to a science.
Mary Grace is another student who has made spectacular progress on her project in a short time. Her Tree of Life Window is all cut out now which means that she'll be grinding on this when she comes back. That shouldn't take long because her cutting has been amazing on this and it looks so great that Shelley is thinking of making one herself.
Rowena's latest Initial Window is a big one and it's just about ready to be soldered. With only the final border left to wrap and tack, this window is just about completed. I will say that the beveled C in the center will become much more obvious once this is off the table and back lit. That will allow all of the different textures of the glasses that Rowena's used to become apparent.
As promised, here's a look at the second Crawfish Window that Sheri is working on. The one under construction is on the far left while the painting that she based it on is on the far right. The one in the center is the completed Crawfish that you saw at the beginning of this post.
Martha has stopped working on her Day Lily so she can knock out two quick Beveled Cross Windows. She has her pair of crosses cut out and ground so each window just needs four pieces of glass and then some border pieces.
Tracey finished grinding her 3D Butterfly Lawn Ornament and then wrapped and tacked each wing together. Although it looks like this is one piece the wings have NOT been joined down the center. Once they have both been soldered separately they will join at an angle to form a realistic butterfly which will surely be done next week.
Lastly, Susan D is busy leading her leaves and I have no picture of them they pretty much look the same but the pile is much smaller now! Perhaps she'll have the 100+ of these completed when she returns.
That's it for this week. See you again soon!
Paul
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