Traditional Windows are timeless and MiMi's first of a pair that she is making is a perfect example of why these designs are always so popular. Everything is 'right' about this window and MiMi's attention to detail sells it all the way through. Nice straight lines, curves that flow effortlessly and a soldering job that almost looks as though this was made with lead came just add to the stateliness of this beauty.
Next we take a more modern approach to the art of stained glass by looking at Linda F's Abstract Curves Window which features a generous amount of color and flow. In order not to overuse color Linda has offset the design with various clear textured glasses to provide separation which prevents the window from becoming a mishmash of color. I think she's balanced it all out wonderfully!
Let made this stunning Red Rosebud Panel and decided to set it off with a thin red accent border. This just screams of Summertime and her work throughout it is as lovely as the bud itself.
Susan D is fast becoming a Suncatcher Queen. I love her new Pinwheel Silverware pieces! These two suncatchers are very geometrical which means that perfection is of the utmost importance since any variation form the pattern will result in a lopsided suncatcher. Repeating patterns are much more difficult than most people realize but Susan makes it look easy.
Let also completed her latest Modern Cross with the greatest of ease and decided to use more muted, demure colors in this one. There's a touch of dark blue in the very center but by and large Let went with colors that blended together evenly rather than going with colors that had high amounts of contrast. The end result is beautiful.
And here's the last of our completed projects of the week. It's (obviously) a Cat Window that I made as an order. The wire whiskers really set it off nicely, don't you think?
All good things take time and Kerry's Poinsettia Window is certainly no exception. He was hoping to have it ready in time for Christmas of 2022 but the glass manufacturer that makes the 'seasonal' glass that Kerry wanted for the background didn't begin shipping the glass until the week before Christmas! By the time we got it in the shop the holiday was over. Kerry isn't going to wait though and he's continuing on with this window which is going to be amazing. That background glass definitely worth the wait. Look out because this is going to turn every head that sees it. Stunning!
Sheri's Mardi Gras Masks Window was one that I'd completely forgotten about. She started it last year but when she missed the Mardi Gras deadline she put it aside and worked on other things. Now she's feeling the rush again for this year but it looks as though she's got this well under control. It's going to be a winner for sure!
After completing her Abstract Curves Window Linda F got right to work on this Dove and Cross Suncatcher. At the end of the class she had it all cut out and had only one piece left to grind while I was snapping its picture. I'm expecting this to be completed (along with it's decorative wire work) when Linda comes back in.
Jeannette is back and she's already got one of my favorite Angel Patterns all cut out of assorted clear textures. It's also ground as well which tells me that Jeannette hasn't lost her stained glass touch at all. She's a lean, mean cutting and grinding machine!
I'm happy to show you how this project has taken shape. You really couldn't appreciate the pattern for this when we last saw it but now that Ann's Joseph and Child Jesus is ground and wrapped in foil the entire scene has come to life. Next week she'll be tacking this together and then adding some background glass and a border to it so that it becomes a panel rather than a suncatcher.
Well, it would appear that Martha is burning her stained glass candle at both ends-- both in class and at home. The subject of her Mermaid Window has been all cut, ground, wrapped and tacked together already! That means that she'll be picking out a background glass for this when she comes back in and since she'll cut that out by tracing the mermaid around it, the process will go VERY quickly.
Edmee had an extremely productive night as she finished both grinding and then wrapping all of the pieces for her Yin and Yang Window. Then she even managed to get it all tacked together which means that borders are on her horizon. She's already picked out the colors and will begin on them upon her return.
Lara asked me for an outline of Africa a few weeks back and said that she wanted to fill it in with something on her own. This week she brought the pattern back in and it now has a beautiful landscape scene drawn in it complete with a sunrise. She's begun cutting the many layers of landscape and got about halfway finished with it on her first night of work. I can't wait to see this one lit up for sure!
This Seafood Window is really coming together. All of the pieces have been ground and Angie is now foiling everything so she can get her newsprint background glass behind everything. I have a sneaking suspicion that we'll be showing you the newsprint within a week or two.
With just four pieces left to foil I'm stating for the record that Shelley's Peeping Cat Suncatcher will be finished when she comes back in. I noticed that she's wrapped the green eyes but we're actually going to cut them and put black glass pupils in the center of them. They're big enough to be able to do this easily and pretty exactly. I always suggest doing pupils in eyes AFTER the entire piece has been ground because you never want you eyes to get twisted and distorted.
We also have Cindy's Dog which is almost completed as she's tacked the window together and gotten the border cut for it. There are only a few border pieces left for her to wrap and then this window will be pretty much wrapped up because it won't take Cindy any time at all to solder this.
With the first of her two borders tacked onto her Nativity Scene Window Roxane is getting ready to add the final border and then finish soldering this beast of a window. At nearly three feet wide you can see why I'm calling it a beast-- it's impressive! And the good news is that Roxane has most of the front soldered already so it won't take long for her to flip it over and finish up the back side.
We also have another Nativity Scene in the works using the same basic pattern but presented in a completely different fashion. Linda L's Nativity Window will be a series of three separate windows rather than one long one. The center section (seen below) will feature an angular top whereas the panels on the right and left will be rectangular. The glass for Linda's night sky arrived yesterday so we'll see that get cut into place when Linda comes back in.
Martha also worked on the background of her sewing machine but I see where I steered her wrong and will have to make a small cut to make her thread connect all throughout the window. It's an extremely simple fix and one that I doubt anyone would notice if it wasn't pointed out to them, but hey, we know about it so we will do something about it. Other than that though, this is looking wonderful.
This Angel Window is really coming together now! Last week there were unground pieces of glass scattered here and there (you can only work so fast) but this week there are only a handful of pieces left that need to be ground. Once that upper right corner is filled in Annette will begin foiling this inspirational window.
Mary Grace loves letters! (Did you catch my sarcasm there??) She's working on the WELLNESS section of her window and is slowly turning rough shapes into distinct letters. The problem with letters is that they are so small and detailed that you have to cut out the basic shape of them and then get them to REALLY resemble the letters at the grinder. It's time consuming and it's a real chore but in the end the work is always worth it.
And to finish things off here we take a look at the Filigree Dragonfly Wings that Let cut glass for. She used the actual brass wings as a pattern that she traced onto the glass, cut and ground each wing so that they fit perfectly and then foiled the filigree to the glass as if it were once piece. When she solders her window she'll solder the filigree the same way that she would any other lead line resulting in wings that appear to be made of hundreds of perfectly fitting miniscule pieces of glass!
And there you have it. Things are really picking up again in the shop and we're starting to produce a lot of projects again. There's always a lull right after the holidays but that lull has officially ended!
Paul
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