Rowena's completed LSU/Tiger Face is nothing short of amazing! After it was all washed, colored and waxed Rowena cut some thin copper wire into 10 inch lengths and tinned them with lead to make whiskers for her cat. She then colored the wires with patina, waxed them, and attached them to the window by melting them into solder lines that they touched. The end result is a window that is something I would be proud to have made.
Jan completed her Outdoors Christmas Trees Window and as I said it would, it turned out to be a stunning piece. I personally think that the minimalist design has a lot to do with how attractive it is. Her color choices compliment the pattern perfectly and I'll be keeping this pattern on hand for students who want to make it next year.
Roy completed his Texas AM Window and his work is spot on. When you have this many straight lines making up the design perfection isn't something that you strive for-- it something you MUST accomplish. The reason this looks so great is because Roy made sure that his lines are perfectly straight. Close is never an option in stained glass and this window proves that if you follow the lines on the pattern you'll end up with a stunning piece of art.
Lara's first of two Cabinet Door Inserts looks great in her kitchen. You can see how the center of the design matches her backsplash perfectly! Her work is exquisite and it makes her kitchen look like a million dollars!
Carol got three Christmas Ornament Suncatchers completed which she only had cut out when she came in with them. That's a considerable amount of work accomplished in a very short time with results that look like they say, "Merry Christmas!"
Cindy made this beautiful Snowflake Suncatcher and did an incredible job on it even though she's recovering from a hip replacement that occurred just one week ago! I've always loved this pattern but I really dislike soldering all of the small edges (which could explain why I have had 5 of them ready to be soldered for close to a year now!) However, Cindy had no problem at all with all of those outside edges.
Angie put the finishing touches on her Stylized Fleur De Lis Window and walked out the door with yet another Christmas Gift. The double borders that she put on this are something new and they really put a new spin on an old window pattern.
Jeannette left class with a smile on her face as she was able to finish
two Dove Suncatchers in time for Christmas. When she walked into class
she had them both cut out by they still needed to be ground. Well,
she not only got them ground but she got them wrapped, tacked, soldered,
eyeballed, and hooked as well. Even though she was in a hurry to
get these done she never sacrificed the quality of her work because as
you can clearly see these are perfect.
Linda F got so very far along on her Flower Basket and Flowers Suncatcher. As you may recall, this is the project with all of those micro-pieces. Looking at the picture of what she accomplished this week reveals that she's used what many people would say are an extreme amount of pins. Me, I say that's perfect because once her pieces are wrapped and the pins are removed nothing will have grown and twisted out of position.
Betty almost completed her latest Angel Window while in class. All the glass has been cut, the channel has been added and a small amount of wire work has been attached to the wings. People always ask me what size wire I use for hooks or for decorative use and I always answer the same way-- any size that I have on hand with the exception being that you don't want the wire to be too malleable. The size of the wire isn't what supports a windows weight- it's the how sturdy the wire is attached to the window. That means that the size wire you use is based purely on the aesthetics of what looks good to you.
Patrice didn't like the look of the letters that spelled out 'Ragin' Cajuns' so she found another logo with a font that she liked better and then we simply squared them out and printed them to the size she needed for her window. She's got the letters all cut out and they only need to be ground now. She's sent me various pictures of this projects progress throughout the holidays and I have to say that it's very near completion already!
Terry was hoping to get her Christmas Lamp together before she left class but it just didn't happen. It was certainly a valiant effort though as she got all six panels soldered and then tacked together to form the lamp. Truth be told, the only thing left to do is to solder the six seams that hold the panels together and then attach a crown to hide the hanging assembly. Her design is flawless and yes, it IS her own design so you won't find this lamp anywhere else.
Sheri has all of her pieces ground for her poppy Window but everything isn't completely cut yet. To get a perfect fit with her flowing cuts that span across numerous pieces she will tack together everything that IS completely cut first. Once that's done she can make the final cuts knowing that nothing will shift and cause her lines to not match up. I'm fairy sure that she'll get those long, sweeping cuts made when she comes back in.
Brenda has most of her Salon Window cut out and has moved on over to the grinder. When doing a face you finish grinding the face before grinding the background. Once the face looks natural to grind the background to fit the face without ever grinding on the pieces that make up the face because if you do you'll change the look and most likely end up with unnatural, distorted look.
Susan R got so much done this week on her 1920's Woman's Face Window and she's just about ready to add the hardest part of this project-- the pearl necklace. We haven't talked about it yet but she'll be adding glass globs which will form a necklace. Getting each piece to fit correctly will certainly take some time but the end result will be wonderful indeed.
MiMi is back and she was so ready to begin tacking her Industrial Fleur De Lis together. Since she wanted to work on this while at home over the holidays we covered the art of 'distress soldering'. As I've said before, this window is about breaking all of the rules and because of that we don't want a nice smooth bead along the thick lead lines. Using a somewhat cool soldering iron Mimi began adding texture to the wide soldered sections giving it the unique look that makes this window 'work'. I've seen what she's accomplished over the holidays and she'll learn how to cut bevels for this when she returns.
Becky S has a window that already looks like it could be framed and finished. However, Becky is still going to add a bottom section that includes Irises, Cat Tails and leaves. It already looks spectacular so just imagine what this will look like in just a few more weeks with all of that extra detail on the bottom.
Linda L has the center section of her Houston Astros Window tacked together and all of the letters that border it cut out! She's already grinding and things are looking very good indeed! She's really making quick work of this intense pattern and I can't wait to see it completed with some light behind it.
Barbara H has finished cutting her glass and has begun grinding her Santa Claus Window. I have to say that she's moving along quicker than ever on this one--alas, just not quick enough to have it finished in time for Christmas of 2018. But there's no doubt that she'll be using this window as a decoration next year and every year after!
Martha is all wrapped and ready to tack together her Pair Of Cardinals Window. When all of these pieces are secured by lead she'll lay it on top of a piece of background glass that has been cut to the size of the window which will enable her to cut the background pieces quickly and efficiently.
And there you have it, a brief rundown on what happened during our last week of classes for 2018! I'm sorry this is so late but I was lazy and enjoyed my time in front of my computer during the past 2 weeks. Starting this week however, we'll be back to our weekly updates.
Paul
Bayou Salé GlassWorks
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