Our Hearts and Prayers

Most of our students only know each other through the weekly Blog Posts.  Our individual classes are generally a close knit group but it's hard for students from different classes to meet one another.  That said, a lot of people will comment in class on what students in other classes are doing and sometimes get to know a little more about the people they read about each week.

Sadly I am passing along the news that Cindy's husband, Marty, passed away on Monday.  I myself only know him from all of the stories that Cindy has shared with me over the years but I certainly got to know a lot about him.

I know I speak for all of our students when I say that our hearts and prayers are with Cindy.  Many of our students knew Marty and have asked me to pass along information so I am posting the arrangements here.  Family and friends can pay respects at Ibert's Mortuary on Monday from 6:00 PM until 9:00 PM and again Tuesday from 8:30 AM until time of service.  More detail can be found at Iberts website.
 

The Dream Cruise

From Feb 1st thru the 8th Russ, Terry, Brenda, Cindy, Martha, Becky B and I set sail on the Carnival Dream. This was our third Stained Glass Cruise and although cutting glass was the last thing on our minds we did have a toast to Myrt and thought about what we'd be doing in class  had we been back home on Tuesday evening.   On this trip we hit Cozumel, Costa Maya, and Isla Roatan.


Our first stop was Cozumel and we got off the ship pretty quickly and got to the shopping area before it filled with people.  It looks quiet in this picture but that didn't last for long!

Here we are at our favorite stop in Cozumel, Woody's.  The food is great, the drinks are just right and the portions are GINORMOUS!  The ladies even got some bling from Nelly (the owner) before our meal was served.  You can't ask for a better time.

 

The door to our cabin was very recognizable.  I always remove the bottom dresser draw to look for any 'left-behinds'.  This time around we found a bikini top that we promptly used as a door decoration.  Our room was at the end of the corridor so many people saw it.  We had a few interesting comments, my favorite one occurring when a a somewhat tipsy older couple turned into the corridor and the man exclaimed, "There's the pink bra so I know we're in the right hallway!"

 

Here are Russ and Martha at the beach in Costa Maya.  Even though it was January the weather was beautiful there along the beach.

 

And you didn't have to lay out in the sun if you didn't want to.  There were plenty of trees and even a slew of canopy shades that resembled open front tents.  And drinks were plentiful.

Our last port was Mahogany Bay which had an incredibly nice (and large) shopping area that we spent most of the day wandering around.  Yes, there were a few dollars spent there as well but I found the prices to be more than reasonable (sometimes even cheap) for really nice artwork.

Here's our group at dinner on Elegant Night just before we ate our lobsters.  We all prefer the early dining (6:00-8:00) because it leaves the night open for us to enjoy shows, the casino, mini golf or any of the other countless activities available.  Also, dining earlier gives your belly a chance to settle down for any midnight buffets that may pop up!

 

(left to right: Brenda, Terry, Paul, Russ Martha, Cindy and Becky)

On Sea Days we liked to find a nice big table and sit ourselves down to play a few games of Chickenfoot (Spinner).  There's always something going on but sometimes you just want a nice quiet game amongst the group to stir up your adrenalin.  I can't recall who won overall but I believe it was either Brenda or Terry.

The last evening gave us a beautiful and very peaceful sunset.  I like to think of this as the calm before the storm of our normal, hectic lives that was about to set in the next day.

  

We all love the experience and we've already planned to do it again in 2016.  Information on where and when we're headed out can be found here.  Think about joining us-- it's not just about Stained Glass, it's about having fun.  And remember that even though we're traveling as a group we're not always together-- everyone is free to do their own thing while on the ship (and off).  But we do enjoy dining together at the end of the day in the Dining Room because our laughing never stops.  So shut up Martha!

Paul

Bayou Salé GlassWorks

Kiln Work

Russ has been spending a lot of time with his kilns lately so it's time to feature some of his work and let you see how he's coming along.  A lot of people are asking about classes and they'll be showing up sometime next year after he works up a schedule and determines what the class will cover.   This is going to have to be completely different from our standard stained glass classes and will operate more like a weekend workshop.  So while Russ is figuring out the details let's take a look at some of the glass he's been making.

One of my favorites is this Poppy Platter which has a lot of depth when you actually see it in person.  The glass is thick and the colors used throughout this piece are suspended in multiple layers inside  the glass.

 

 

Next we have another variation on the Poppy theme, this one being a small dish.  Trust me when I say that the picture doesn't do it justice.

 

This is another platter that Russ put together quickly on the fly while he was taking a class himself.  It almost has an American Indian feel to it.  Sadly, even though this was picture was taken in direct sunlight the camera didn't capture the colors correctly.   The chips of 'gold' along the top and bottom ends are iridised and change color depending on the angle which you view the platter.

 

  

The iridised pieces that you see in this dish are a little more apparent when compared to the platter above.  You can see how the color shifts within the accents themselves.  This dish also has the most depth of all the pieces shown here.  The gold bar that runs vertically in the center is far below anything else used in this piece.  In fact, people tend to touch it to see if the surface is even!

  

This Leaf Dish was made with an actual leaf and twig.  They've been enhanced with glass frit, and like the Poppy Dish it features depth that can't be seen in still pictures.  I'm really interested in taking a class on this myself!

  

 

This Swirl Dish was made using many different strips of glass which are then swirled while the glass was melted.  Everyone keeps seeing faces in this and I see two myself.

  

I have a few ideas in my mind of things I'd like to try but for now the kiln work will remain in Russ's hands while I work out all the glass cutting.  But who knows what next year will bring.

Paul
Bayou Salé GlassWorks

Sad News

Although we have students that have not met Myrt everyone knows stories about her, her work, her class and the cruise she went on with us.  Our five classes are like a family that shares it's proudest moments among each other.

It is with great regret that I pass on the news that Myrt's husband, Barry, has passed away.  Although I've only spoken to Barry on the phone I certainly feel that I know him from all that Myrt has shared over the years with us. 

Myrt, our prayers and thoughts are with you and your entire family.  Barry is surely in the midst of a Western adventure in Heaven.

Paul and Russ

Did the Lights Just Dim?

We haven't had a Weekend Workshop in a long time (due to family obligations) but when we received a number of serious inquiries about possibly having one we discovered that the timing worked out wonderfully so the gig was on.  In the end, three of our four interested students made it in but the loss of our fourth just made the atmosphere even more personable.  So without further ado let's look at what was accomplished by three people on a Saturday and Sunday in our shop.

The Cast:
Gerry is from Washington, DC and is a first time Stained glasser.  She's always been interested in the art but never had a way to satify her curiosity since she hasn't been able to turn up regular classes locally.

Becky is from Delcambre, LA and has always wanted to take classes with us but just hasn't been able to clear out time in her schedule to make that happen.  Like Gerry, Becky has never cut glass before but that was about to change...

Lastly we have Martha who is from Franklin, LA and who is actually a regular and ongoing student in our weekly classes.  When she found out we were doing a workshop she called Becky to tell her that this was her chance to 'sample the fun' by joining us for the weekend.  Of course she couldn't let Becky show up alone so Martha decided that she would come in to be with Becky and to possibly brush up on her skills with a refresher course on the basics.

Day 1:

10AM got here faster than expected but by 10:30 everyone had cutters in our hands and we began going over the basics of cutting glass.  Straight lines, curves, complex curves, circles and the dreaded inside curve kept everyone busy but by noon everyone was able to cut out all of the required cuts so we then  moved on to working with the patterns they had each picked out and made copies that they would then cut apart and cut their glass pieces from.

We have a series of 10 patterns to pick from for the Workshop and as luck would have it both Gerry and Martha picked the same Geometric design (although with slightly different color schemes).  Becky chose a Daffodil pattern which had about the same number of pieces in it that Gerry's and Martha's had (just under 50 pieces).

(Every time we see a set of three pictures they will always

be arranged in the same order:  Gerry's first, Becky's in the 

middle and then Martha's on the far right.)

By 1:30 we had eaten lunch and all three of our students were making progress cutting their first pieces of glass.  Confidence levels rose with each successful cut and correct use of the two pairs of pliers.   Also, cheers of happiness would accompany each piece as it was placed on their pattern bring it more and more to life!  Gerry was originally concerned that she wouldn't be able to cut the muster when it came time to cut the glass but she did so with aplomb and a stylish degree of gracefulness.  ;-)

By 4 o'clock everyone had accomplished the cutting phase of their windows.  There were still the borders to contend with but we don't pay borders any attention until the center of the window is cut, ground, wrapped and tacked together.   It took almost 2 hours to get all of the glass ground to fit within the lines of the patterns which was hard work for sure.   Becky, however, showed a stunning ability to effortlessly shape and sculpt all of her pieces on the grinder and by 6pm everyone had achieved our goal for the day at the time we hoped to complete the grinding process.  What you see below are Gerry's, Becky's, and Martha's windows ready to be foiled.

Day 2:

 After a  good night's sleep we resumed our classes at 10am.  There was still a lot to accomplish and the day would be long (but fun).  We went over the process of wrapping each of the glass pieces with Copper Foil making sure that it overlapped evenly on both sides.  It may sound easy but there's a certain amount of skill involved.  Luckily, it gets easier as you go along and no one had any trouble mastering the skill.  Before I knew it everyone was ready to tack their windows together and get to work cutting, grinding, wrapping, and tacking their borders into place.

Once the borders were tacked onto the windows we went around each of them with some brass channel (to protect the edges of the windows) and then began what I think is the hardest part of the stained glass making process--the soldering.  These are our three windows just before they're about to receive their final finishing solder application.  Of course, we don't simply squirt the lead on from a tube, we actually melt it onto the windows using a soldering iron.  It can be intimidating, but only at first.

It takes a while to solder a window-- you can't rush the process because the lead will only flow evenly at one speed.  If you move too quickly you end up with bumpy, ragged solder lines.  On the other hand, if you move too slowly your solder will flow through to the other side and the heat will most likely crack your glass.  Martha will be the first say that there is an art to the soldering process that you can't just learn over night.  But in the end it was surely Martha's moment to shine because her lead flowed like it never has before in a perfect bead of smoothness almost as if it were machine made. 

Gerry was the first one finished with her window and that was right around 6pm.  She gave it a quick bath in the sink and then went over it with Copper Patina to change the color of the lead from silver to copper.  After a second quick bath Gerry's window was dried and then waxed to make it really sparkle.  By 6:30 she was admiring her window as it hung in the quickly fading sunlight and as you can see Gerry did an amazing job. 

Beck completed her window right about the time that Gerry was washing hers.  Becky's Daffodil is flawless as was her work on it.  She came in with a positive attitude which is most certainly a prerequisite to making a great window.  Trust me when I say that if you leave your doubts at the door you will be able to make a stained glass window that looks just as wonderful as Becky's.

Martha has some previous skills when it comes to making windows since she's a regular student in our weekly classes but she said that she was able to pick up quite a few pointers throughout our weekend together.  But it's her soldering ability that that really came to fruition on Sunday.  I'm not sure what it was that she did differently but her window didn't need any touching up at all and her soldering looks like a professional did it.  I was VERY impressed with her work.

And In The End:

Everyone had a great time and the two days (although very full) went by quickly with more laughs than you could ever hope to imagine.  I can honestly say that our classes and workshops are filled with more laughter than broken glass and I think that's a key part of making great projects.  If you aren't having a good time you're doing something wrong.  That said, it's always the people that we manage to assemble that make our classes as fun as they are.  Gerry, Becky, and Martha each made the weekend more than memorable to Russ and myself and we hated to see them leave.

Our students often thank us when they leave but the fact is that without our wonderful students we wouldn't begin to consider doing this again.  And we are setting new dates even as I type this.  Thank you Gerry, Becky and Martha!  May your glass always follow your cuts and your solder flow smoothly!

Paul

Bayou Salé GlassWorks

Cheryl's Peacock Window Takes 1st Place!

A big Congratulations! goes out to Cheryl whose Peacock window that she completed in June won 1st Place at the "Shrimp And Petroleum Festival" in Morgan City Wednesday. I know she enjoyed making it and I'm sure that this just makes the entire experience even better.

Good job Cheryl! And again, Congratulations! You've done us proud...



http://www.shrimp-petrofest.org/

Paul and Russ
Bayou Salé GlassWorks

Port Allen House

Everyone has been wondering just how these windows looked when we installed them so this post will hopefully answer that question.

There’s an upstairs balcony with 3 walls that overlooks the back yard. There are two windows that we made trellis designs with some bright orange stained glass Golden Trumpet Flowers. This is the left side window:

The right side window was a mirror image of the other but the flowers, leaves and vines were drawn independently from the 1st window and positioned differently so that the two windows would match without being identical.

The master bathroom had one thin window sitting above the Jacuzzi-Bath that we filled with stained glass as well. I loved the fact that the bath has no faucet. If you look at the ceiling you’ll see the spigot that the water pours into the bath from. I thought it might splash water after falling from that height but it doesn’t.

Here’s a better view of the window itself. I regret to say that there were stickers on the outside of the windows that we couldn’t remove before taking the picture. You can see their shadow on the left side of the window. (The master bathroom is located on the second floor of the house and we had no way to reach it from the outside.)

The Office was built around 4 windows that were made for the house when it was first constructed. We matched the glass and the bevels of these original windows to create the other 9 pieces that would rest in the 2 new newly constructed walls that make the office. This is the entrance wall with 5 of the 9 windows that we made.

Here’s a closeup of the transom above the doorway to the office.

The right wall of the office already had 4 beveled windows on it so we matched the design and the glass and repeated it on the newly constructed left wall.

Here’s the left wall again as seen from outside the office from the living area of the house.

Which brings us to the biggest windows of the house located in the dining room. Although there are only 3 windows here they are by far the largest ones in the house. The center panel is 5 foot wide by 6 foot tall. Here’s a shot of them in the darkened dining room.

Here we are with some lights on so you can get an idea of the size of these windows.

And here they are from the right side of the dining room table. You can see some color variances though out the pictures here that are hard to correct. The path in the center window is actually more of an amber color than the pictures show.

I hope this helps give you a feel of the house and of the work that we did for it. Although it took a while I feel the end result was VERY much worth it. And the owners were thrilled with all of the windows.

Paul
Bayou Salé GlassWorks