Hot Dog, Hamburger, Sausage Egg and Cheese Biscuit

We had another of our quarterly Stained Glass Weekend Workshops last week and we're here now to show everyone what our newest batch of students accomplished in the short span of two days.  Two very FULL days I might add. 

We started Saturday morning with Angie, Cherie, Roxane and her daughter Erin.  Angie and Roxane are practically old pros at this since they've done weekend workshops before but Cherie and Erin were new at it.  The first thing we did was to have a cutting lesson where we covered the ins and outs of cutting glass.  Once everyone cut out their straight lines, curves, compound curves, circles and inside curves they moved on to their official 16 x 20 projects.  Below are the first actual pieces of glass cut by out students.

 

Since Angie had been in class with us before she wanted to know if she could make a Pelican Window instead of one of the stock patterns.  It didn't take long to draw this up and I felt that although it was a challenge Angie would be able to handle it since she'd done this workshop twice before.

 

 

Here you can see that Angie is well under way in cutting the glass for her project.  We always like to start with the easier cuts to help boost our confidence while getting our feet wet.  Not that this Pelican's feet are in the water...

 

Once everything was cut and ground we sat Angie down and had her wrap her pieces before she headed home for the night.  This is what was accomplished at the end of the first day.

 

Sunday started with everyone tacking their windows together with solder and then adding the final pieces of glass-- the border.   Once that was added we broke for lunch while I put brass channel around everyone's projects.  From there we moved on to the soldering process keeping in mind that slow and steady winds the race.  And here's Angie's completed window.  This pelican looks great and we already have regular weekly students looking at the pattern!

Next up we take a look at the work of one of our two new students, Cherie.  She decided that she wanted to make a Stylized Fleur De Lis so she could give it to her mother for Mother's Day.  The timing couldn't have been more perfect for that and by noon on Saturday Cherie had these pieces cut out and ready to grind.

 

 

By lunch time (which ran a little late) Cherie had everything but her border cut out.  the only reason that wasn't cut was because we don't do borders until the inside section tacked together.  She has her square in place and is ready to start grinding her pieces from the lower left on upward and out.

 

Next she wrapped all of her pieces with 7/32 copper foil after she had everything ground and fitting nicely.  It was a little after 6pm on Saturday when we called it a day. When Cherie came in the next morning she tacked her window together and began working on skimming and wrapping her final border pieces.

 

 

Cherie walked away with a beautiful Fleur De Lis Window and if you want my opinion I think she had fun making it (even though we punished her with long hours, and a nearly sleepless night).  She did a great job and I hope her Mother enjoys the fruit of Cherie's labors today on Mother's Day.

Roxane decided that she wanted to make the Pelican Window along with Angie and I saw no reason why she shouldn't  do it.   Here's her Pelican after she's worked out her first few cuts.  We took a shortcut by cutting the beak in one piece.  We split it into two very narrow pieces only after it was ground and fitting into place.  This made it much easier to cut and grind since she was dealing with a larger and more manageable piece.

 

 

Roxane is a natural at this Stained Glass thing and her cutting, grinding and wrapping went extremely well.  Not that it was a race, but she was the first person to get her window ground and there was nothing to adjust when she walked away from it at the end of the day.

 

After tacking her pieces together on Sunday morning Roxane then set to work on her border.  Borders are one of the easiest things to cut if you have the center of your window tacked together.  The strip cutter allows us to cut borders that are perfectly straight.  In the picture below all Roxane needs are four corner pieces and then this window will be ready to be soldered.

 

 

And here is Roxane's finished window.  The colors are slightly different from the version that Angie did, but not glaringly so.  Since I knew what I was looking for it was easy to sort out all of the pictures we took along the way respectively.  I think, or rather know, that Roxane did a wonderful job here.

 

Erin is Roxane's daughter and she decided to make the Stylized Fleur De Lis Window but she didn't want to make hers in the browns and tans that we normally see it done in so she went with a color scheme of her own.   I wasn't sure what colors were being used until she actually started cutting each color so I had no clue what to expect.  Sometimes I worry about things like that but it turned out that Erin has a wonderful eye for color.  Her window already looks great with just two colors cut.

 

 

 

With the remainder of her glass cut Erin was then ready to begin grinding all of her pieces.  It's a tedious process and Erin drew blood on more than one occasion, but she didn't let that slow her down at all as she quickly applied a band-aid and then grabbed for the next piece of glass.

 

Erin's border choice really makes this window stand out.  It's stunning, don't you think?  And it's not even soldered yet in this picture.

 

The end result is another gorgeous window whose border matches one of the accent pieces which changes the feel of the window entirely.  Erin was so sure she wasn't going to be able to solder her project but in the end she did a fantastic job and hopefully learned that there's more to her than she gives herself credit for. 

I want to thank Angie, Roxane, Cherie and Erin for a great time.  There was a lot of work involved but we all had fun making it through to Sunday evening.  Our next Workshop will be a Fusing Workshop and both Angie and Roxane will be joining us for it.  I'm learning a lot in those classes myself so I know I'm going to have a great time as well! 

Paul

Bayou Salé GlassWorks

She's Got a Tick In Her Eye (And She Don't Care)

We're late with this post yet again but this time I have a good excuse.  We had a Weekend Workshop which through Frisday, Saturday and Sunday out the window since we had some rather full days both prepping for and then actually holding the Weekend Workshop classes. 

Okay, let's just jump right into this and start with Rowena's variation of a Sunflower Lawn Ornament.  She took the butterfly from her Grapes and Butterfly window, shrunk it down, made it, and then attached it to her last Sunflower Lawn Ornament.  And the result is exactly what I expected--GREAT!

 

And here's a look at Carol's Sunflower Lawn Ornament.  Hers may not be swarming with butterflies but it's gorgeous just the same.  We've seen these done with leaves underneath them and they're nice as well, but you can't go wrong with your basic sunflower.

 

 

And Shelley did a GREAT job getting her Bird and Flower Window all ground. We did discover one unfortunate fact though.  It appears that one of her pieces lost a corner that is far too big to just fill in with lead.  I've highlighted it in red in the picture so you will be able to see what a wonderful job we do fixing it without re-cutting the large background piece (that we don't have any more of.)  The solution is really simple-- We're just going to add a new leaf.  Check it out next week to see how we alter patterns 'on the fly'.

Natalie's Crab Window is all ground and wrapped, ready to be tacked so she can get some background glass cut for it.  With the lions share of the work on this window completed I'm amazed at how quickly Natalie has pushed through it.  There's not much left to go before this will be completed.

Becky S's Octagon Irises are turning out beautiful.  The hardest parts are already cut out now and there's only one Iris left to grind.  After that the rest of the pieces just require simple, almost straight but flowing cuts to complete. And I know Becky is able to handle that without even breaking a sweat.

 

Betty's Geometric Window is moving along at a nice speed and her attention to detail is already paying off.  She's re-cut 2 pieces that most students would have considered to be acceptable but that I was on the line about.  Trust me when I say that Betty's willingness to re-cut a few pieces will make this a window of perfection.  It's always good to see someone put a few more minutes worth of work into something to make it correctly rather than always regretting small faults in the window.

 

Terry's Opposing Forces Window is tacked and ready for some background glass to be cut.  We've already laid out the two toned border pieces and have them cut to the proper width so again, Terry is ahead of schedule here.  

Carol's STNIAS Window is just about completed.  We've used a heavier Zinc Channel to ensure stability but Carol wanted to check out some more of her soldering and took it home to accomplish that.  Expect to see this window completed when she returns.  She also started working on a geometric window that I've made numerous times.  It's always been one of my favorite patterns and I have no doubt that Carol's will turn out just as nice as the others before hers.

 

Becky B's Bird Of Paradise Window involves a beautiful flowing secondary background which adds so much to the window (not that the Flowers aren't pretty by themselves mind you).  However, we may play with a border on this one.  I have idea's that I feel the need to share with Becky.

 

Mickey Mouse is all wrapped and fitted together.  That means that Jeannette will be tacking this and adding her border when she comes back in.  Mickey is going to have a lead tail and Jeannette will see how that's accomplished when she returns.  The tail is so thin that half of it will be covered in lead anyway, so why not go the distance and make it entirely out of lead.  Besides, it will be fun!

  

Brenda has one of her Fleur De Lis Windows completed (the one in gold) and another one started.  The completed window just needs to be washed and colored while the red one simply needs to be ground and then 'borderized'.  I wonder if anyone has noticed that Brenda can knock these out faster than most students can trace out the pattern onto poster board!

 

And Cindy resumed work on her Tri-De-Lis window and her colors are perfect.  I think that when this is completed Cindy will even impress herself with this one.  I love how perfect her grinding is which will make this window so impressive.  It's called flawless execution. 

This week also saw Linda L get a good portion of the clear water glass background glass cut for her Wild Things Window.  Looking at this picture shows me how far Linda has come since she first started classes with us.  Her attention to detail is wonderful and when she sees a problem with a piece she just sticks with it until the problem is gone.

 

Sue got the top and bottom borders cut for her Featherized Window and you can really see it taking shape now.  She decided to add little accent pieces within the border and once this is tacked together she'll move on to adding the border to her final section.

 

Martha ground and wrapped her Cardinal Suncatcher while she was in this week.  All he needs is a little tail and he'll be just fine!

 

Janet got the first side of her Melon Window completely soldered and then started working on the back side.   There's still some wire work to do on this but I don't think that will take long at all.  This project is the perfect companion to her Peach Window that she finished a while back.  And since they'll both be hanging in her kitchen that's a very good thing.

  

Rowena's Baseball Window is ready for solder.  Play Ball! All the glass is cut and ground with only the border left to be wrapped.  We'll put a heavier Zinc Channel around this window and it will be finished before you know it.

  

Susan's feeling very patriotic again and is working on a new Flag Lawn Ornament.  It's cut, it's almost completely ground, and it's almost finished!  Expect to see her working on a scarecrow after she completes this project next week.

  

And speaking of Flag Lawn Ornaments, Mary Grace has one under construction as well.  She's got hers all wrapped and now it's tacked together as well.  Then she also managed to get the background cut and tacked into place on her Fruit Bowl Window.  She has her first red border cut and will be adding a final clear border when she returns to class.

Look out, it's Elsa!  Even though she has no face (female Disney characters nowadays have huge eyes, extremely tiny noses, and even tinier mouths which make doing them in glass impossible).  But there's no doubt who this is and I think she's going to make someone very happy. We're even talking about getting a snowflake in her hand.  How cool is THAT! Get it?  Cool?  Yikes!

So as I said in the beginning of this tome, we've had another Weekend Workshop this past Saturday and Sunday.  Things went great and you will be able to read all about it in our next update sometime during the weekend

Paul
Bayou Salé GlassWorks

Spread Them Out Closer Together

Applying flux is something that many stained glass makers don't think twice about but if you know how flux works you can make a few small changes that will make your soldering go easier.  Which brings us to this weeks tip.   Most people use a generic flux brush to apply their flux.  They tend to look like this:

 

Although they are the best brush out there for the job I have a problem with them: their bristles are far too long to do anything other than a lackluster job.  Yes, they carry a lot of flux from the bottle to your project but that's not what we want to accomplish.  Flux is a mild acid that is used to clean the copper foil so the solder will stick to it.  If you have puddles of flux on your window you're doing it wrong.  Since flux is a cleaner you can help it do it's job better by 'scrubbing' it onto the foil.  This is something that you can't easily do with bristles that are long and floppy so I trim my bristles down to about a quarter of an inch in total length so they are good and firm.  I do this by holding the bristles of a new brush tightly between my thumb and index finger as shown below.

 

Then just take a pair of sharp scissors and trim the bush along your thumb.  Holding the bristles ensures that you will have a straight even cut which is very important.

 

When you're finished you'll have a brush with short stubby bristles that won't flop about while you apply your flux.  This will allow you to use less flux and help the cleaner do its work by scrubbing as you go.  Use a back and forth motion with the brush pointing straight up and down rather than at an angle.  If your flux brush looks like the one pictures below then you're ahead of the game.  Remember to wipe off your flux brush each time you dip it in your flux bottle.  Too much flux will make your soldering go slower and cause sputtering, especially on the back side.

OK, so let's start by doing what we always do and look at the completed windows that our students made this week.  I have to give a tip of my hat to Carol whose Rose Window was finished quickly and precisely.  Carol thought that the rose pieces might have fit together a bit too tightly but I beg to differ because I can't find a single thing wrong with this window.

 

Bonnie's Victorian Angel turned out much better than I thought it would.  The black and white pattern was difficult to see just what was going on but now that we have some color I have to say I love it.  Bonnie was worried that the hair was too light and would blend in with the glass that she used for the flesh, but both she and I were both extremely happy with the finished results.   A little color and a little light make a BIG difference.

 

Becky S's Steer Window went quickly for her and I guess it's safe to say that she grabbed the Bull by the horns when making this window.  I was of no help at all in this project-- Becky did all the work herself.  And the word 'perfection' comes to mind yet again.

Jane's version of the Iris and Dragonfly Window is complete this week as well.  Three different greens were used making this and Jane went for just subtle differences between the three greens.  Stark, contrasting colors make for a harsh window and by using similar shades of green I feel that Jane hit the nail on the head for this project.  This is fast becoming a very popular pattern-- expect to see another one started next week.

 

Linda L completed her pair of Clear Textured Boxes and they are so clean and sparkly that I couldn't get a very good picture of them.  The textured sides reflect in the mirrored box bottoms so much that the text on the tops are barely viable.  This is NOT the case when you see the actual boxes. (The flash on the camera didn't help matters).  I have to give Linda a lot of praise for these boxes because she assembled them all on her own.

And that wraps things up with the completed projects this week.  But there's plenty more!  Carol's Saints Window is just about finished.  Her lettering is perfect and only the final border needs to be tacked on before she can begin soldering this piece.  Carol seems to have the art of  symmetry completely mastered.

 

Look out world because Mary Grace has not one but two projects under way.  She cut out a Flag Lawn Ornament while she was at home and did a great job.  She brought it in hoping that it would get my A-OK before she wrapped it and I told her to take it home and wrap it because it's gorgeous.   Then she resumed work on foiling the pieces for her Fruit Bowl.  I think that by this time next week she'll get some background cut for it.

  

Linda L's Logo Suncatcher is ready for it's border.  I suggested that she tack the inner section together before grinding the final border because things tend to grow when you wrap them in foil, but since Linda kept pins between everything nothing grew at all.  That means that with just three pieces left to grind and a moderate amount of soldering to do I'll say that this gets completed when Linda comes back.

Cindy completed repairing the Stained Glass Lamp that she began last week and once that was done it was taken out to the car before I remembered to get a picture of it.  Next Cindy began work on her Tri-De-Lis Window.  Although there are only 8 pieces cut and ground I think it's safe to say that it's going to look spectacular when it's finished.  This is one of those windows where you'll get a good feel for its final look AS it's being worked on.  I can't wait to see this window completed because I think its going to be phenomenal!

 

Gale's Memorial Window is...Wow!  She's been working at home on this and she already has it ground now.  There's a small section of red missing in the upper right that she may have left at home but even if we need to re-cut it that next week it will take only two minutes at the most.  I have to say that the rifle and that helmet look so real.  And it's not often you see stars in the blue section of a stained glass flag, but has has them in hers!

Which brings us to Mickey Mouse who I think is looking great.  I love cartoon windows because you can go all out with color and because the subject matter lends itself perfectly to the stained glass medium.  Jeannette's Mickey Window has some real depth because his foot is coming out of the bottom border. It's a simple effect that really gives him some life.  I can't believe how quickly Jeannette is flying through this project since she has less than a weeks worth of work on it.

Brenda's been busy with this black and gold Fleur De Lis Window.  She's another student who always seems to have a Fleur De Lis in the works.  Some students have signature windows and I think that Brenda's is the FDL.  But she certainly doesn't limit herself to them, and that's a good thing-- Brenda's diverse.

Linda L worked on her Wild Things Letters which she'll attach to the bottom portion of her Wild Woman Window.  I'm a little concerned about ending up with a lot of lead lines between the text to get everything to fit into the background but I'm sure Linda will make out just fine.  And I must say that the letters themselves look great.

Martha worked on both her Magnolia Window and this Cardinal And Flowers Suncatcher.  All of her background has been ground to fit in her Magnolia and her Cardinal is almost completely cut out.  You might think that the Cardinal has some grinding done on it already but that's just proof that Martha's cutting has come a long way.

And Winnie The Pooh has his border attached.  Jeanne looked high and low at colors and color combinations but red was really the only one that suited this window perfectly.  Jeanne was originally hoping for a yellow border and I thought it would be a good choice as well, until we saw different yellows next to the window-- then we changed out minds pretty quickly. She tried greens, blues, ambers, and browns in all sizes and combinations before finally settling on the only fitting color-- red.  And as you can see it was the best decision.

 

Then Shelly finished cutting out her latest Bird and Flower window and spent some quality time at the grinder.  With more than half of this project ground I suspect Shelly will be wrapping before you know it!

 

Ann's Flower window is really filling in now.  She's added two more flowers on the right and left side to fill out a large empty area and will be adding some leaves to make them look like they always belonged there.  Cutting the background for this is getting closer and closer.

 

Terry's got two projects in the works, a Dueling Football Logo Window and a geometric design.  The latter got it's final border applied and now just needs to be wrapped and soldered.  The Football Logo's Window is already looking magnificent.  Balance is important in a window like this because if one side is a very simplistic and the second side is complex the window will look uneven.  But these work wonderfully together and Terry hasn't shied away from any of the tough cuts in it.

Sue has her two Featherized Windows almost completely assembled now.  There are just a few pieces left to go and then she'll be attaching her border pieces.  These are turning out very nice and I can't wait to see what she decides to use for her border glass.

 

We've had a lot of rain here lately but Myrt still managed to cut her grass.  And doesn't it look spectacular!  I need to make a mental note that this green makes the best grass possible (maybe I should actually write it down because my mental notes don't last very long).  I guess this means that sky and clouds will be up for cutting next and that's when this window will really look like a backyard scene.

And that's it.  We're late with this post, it's been a bust week and the rain has made our internet connection more than a little spotty.  But nothing stops our updates completely-- we just run a little late here and there.

Paul

Bayou Salé GlassWorks