And Yes, It's More Complicated Than it Sounds

Sheri's Geometric Window was completed while she was at home and the workmanship that she's displayed is top notch.   She put a channel on it when she walked in the door and then washed and colored it.  There wasn't even any need for touching up her soldering because it was picture perfect. 

 

 

 

Paula's Cross may look like a truly three dimensional piece of stained glass, but it isn't.  Her excellent choice of colors really help to sell the 3D effect. Of course, the fact that Paula is fastidious and precise with her work is the key reason this came together so well.

 

 

Let's Teardrop in clear textures gained a Crystal hanging in its center this week which accented it perfectly. This is more than just simplicity and elegance-- it's a great way to use up scrap glass as well! 

 

 

Jan's Virgin Mary was completed this week and I think it's a wonderful unmistakably modern representation of Mary.   I'm betting that Jan doesn't chose to make a project that involves tap-tapping anytime soon because she'll be the first to admit that it's not currently a skill that resides in her wheelhouse!

Annette made a very unique frame for a clear glass inscription puzzle piece that her church asked her to frame. The design was all Nettie's idea and once it was completed we glued the puzzle piece to the front of the glass using stone glue which dries clear and is VERY permanent. I'm so impressed at how Nettie got those puzzle pieces to fit and frame the card all on her own.

MiMi's soldering has already nearly reached the bottom edge of her lamp. All lamps has a larger circumference around the bottom edge that the top of the lamp which means that the lower you go, the harder it is to balance.   There are many different solutions for this problem but my favorite one is the least expensive one-- balance the lamp in a box.   Using a 'Lamp Arm Assembly' requires mounting an adjustable arm to the work table while the box method allows you to freely move the lamp to a lower table.  You can see the box method in the picture of Mimi's lamp below.

Julie spent her night foiling the pieces that she's already cut and ground for her Heron and Irises Window. There are just so many tiny pieces in this that I feel it's best to begin tacking things together so they can't shift when cutting and grinding the remaining pieces. Her foiling is impressive and I think she's going to be tacking things with solder when she comes back in.

  

Martha's begun working on a large Butterfly which will be a window rather than a suncatcher.  She's only cut pattern pieces out for one side of the butterfly because the design is symmetrical. When she traces her pattern piece onto her glass she then flips the pattern over so that the bottom is now the top and traces it out again. This gives her a mirror image of the first piece which makes up the opposite side of her Butterfly.

 

  

 

 

Cheryl was a cutting demon this week as she managed to cut everything for her Football Helmet Window. Very impressive! She'll be spending time at the grinder when she returns but the good news is that this already looks like a helmet since her cutting was so 'on the mark'.  That means that she shouldn't have to spend much time at the grinder which is an added benefit that comes from taking your time while cutting your glass..

 

 

 

 

Cindy only has a few pieces (nine of them in fact) left to cut and grind before she begins foiling her version of the Flowering Butterfly. Once the pieces have foil around them the roses that make up the left wing will suddenly come to life due the the added detail.

 

 

 

 

Linda is grinding away at her Transom Window and it's really close to being completely ground now. There's more to this project than you might at first believe because the small picture of it doesn't reveal just how intricate this window really is.

 

 

 

 

Let also has two more of the Mini Diamond Bevel Crosses cut out and ground with one of them having been wrapped already. I wouldn't be surprised to see these completed when she comes back in. 

 

 

 

Mary traced out and cut most of the blue glass which makes up the background of her Sunflowers Window. The change from gray to blue was literally like night and day. This was by far the more perfect color fit for her window. The gray background made it look rather blah while the blue glass Mary has used instead makes the window come to life.

 

  

 

June's got the blue glass for the tail of her Seahorse all cut out so it won't surprise me if she begins grinding this myriad of pieces upon her return.

 

 

With her Geometric window finished Sheri immediately resumed working on her Scissor Tailed Flycatcher Window. She filled in the missing pieces of her leaves, added a border and is about to begin soldering this which means that this will be completed before you know it.

  

 

 

Tracey's Magnolia Window has its leaves all cut out now.  With the flower petals already ground she's truly making quick progress on this which is probably due to the fact that she's very familiar with this particular pattern.  It won't be long now.

 

 

Susan R cut out all of the branch pieces for her Birds On a Branch Suncatcher after she completed the last bird. The first two birds will have eyes painted on after they have been soldered, colored and waxed which will make them look a little more lively. It's amazing how much a few pupils add to stained glass birds.

 

 

 

Barbara's also grinding away at her pieces and her leaves are now beginning to take shape.  She isn't rushing on this and is enjoying the experience by not taxing herself about just how much she 'needs' to accomplish on any one day.   Stained glass should be enjoyable, not a job.

  

 

Kandise is grinding away on her Magnolia but grinding less aggressively this time around because things are fitting together beautifully without the need to push things inward to minimize gaps.   As you can clearly see she's using the pin method for spacing and it's working like magic for her.

 

 

 

Lorrie wanted to begin a Turtle Window but we couldn't find the pattern for the one she liked in our pattern drawers. knowing that it was going to be larger than what she really wanted I told her that I'd draw it up to a smaller size during the week which left her free to begin foiling her Hummingbird and Flowers window. Lorrie ALWAYS has another project in her truck in case something happens and she can't work on whatever she was hoping to. It never hurts to be prepared!

 

 

 

 

With the front side of her Mickey and Minnie Mouse Window just about soldered Linda has realized just how many lines it takes to make a window like this. Those hearts just go on and on but the effect is well worth it. Even without the wire work that will be applies to this it's total recognizable and very stunning.

 

 

 

 

Betty's Mardi Gras Mask Panel is all ready for solder. She picked a heavily textured clear glass for the border which is too thick to allow. channel to be put on it so Betty will simply 'tap tap' around the edge of this. The only drawback to that is that she has to be sure all of those border pieces line up around the edge since there won't be channel covering any minor flaws. As you can see, Betty won't be having a problem with alignment because she took her time and tacked everything together perfectly.

 

  

Susan D is hard at work repairing a Yard Ornament that she made a few years back.  Even though she made sure that it sturdier that the project called for in the book that  she got the pattern from, it still ended up having stability issues. It's those issues that Susan will be addressing with even more reinforcing when she starts tacking everything together again.

And lastly there's Judy's Dog Window which has been slightly redesigned.  It's almost finished and soon we'll be able to show you the next window that Judy will be making.

So there then!

Paul

Bayou Salé GlassWorks 

Teaching Old Dogs New Tricks

Martha made a Wedding Box that didn't feature any flowers that she could recreate in a side panel so she went with a single letter to represent the couples last name.  It matches the invitation in color and in text without over shadowing it which is perfect in this setting. 

 

 

Our next wedding box was made by Nettie who had a similar invitation which lacked flowers. Although this included some art, the idea of reproducing the house that was on the invitation out of glass was not practical so Nettie went with a beautiful double bordered box which matches the invitation wonderfully.

 

 

 

 

Tracey got the second wing for her Butterfly Lawn Ornament soldered quickly once all of the pieces made it into the shop. The two wings were then tacked together at an angle and the black body that was tacked on top hides the seam where the wings join as well as the solder where the antennae connect to the wings. The end result is a beautiful Butterfly!

 

Let put the finishing touches on her Virgin Mary Panel and her final choice for the border matched Mary's robes wonderfully.   I always prefer my border choice to align with another color in the window while not matching it perfectly and that's just what Let did here hence the exquisite result.

Bee has begun a window that she has designed herself featuring Roses and Hearts made of intertwining vines. It's fairly large but she's already muscled through most of the first of four flowers in this by having it all cut out with most of the pieces having been ground as well.

 

  

 

 

We haven't seen this done in a while but when Paula decided that she wanted to make a Cross and saw this pattern she just knew that it was the one she would be making. The angle of the cross and Paula's perfect choice of glass give this a wonderful 3D effect even though it truly is a flat suncatcher.

 

  

 

 

June began cutting the glass for her Seahorse Window and has decided to grind her pieces as she cuts them. Just a cursory glance easily reveals how precise June's cutting and grinding skills are.

 

  

 

 

Meanwhile Cheryl has begun cutting the glass for her Buffalo Bills Football Helmet Window. She started by cutting our her background using a white baroque that swirls and flows in every direction imaginable. 

 

 

Keri's large Skull Suncatcher was all cut out last week and this week it was ground in its entirety. She said that grinding it was difficult only because she realized that the skull wasn't perfectly symmetrical and it took a lot of effort on her part not to grind them to match. Still, she got the job done and it will actually look much better like this. The skull would look 'odd' if done perfectly symmetrical.

  

 

Kandise is, as always, just whipping through her new Circular Magnolia project. The flower petals are almost completely cut out and she has them almost completely ground as well. She'll most likely begin working on cutting out the leaves when she next returns.

 

  

 

 

And speaking of Circular Magnolias we see that Tracey not only finished off her Lawn Ornament Butterfly but resumed work on her Magnolia as well. She's hard at work on the leaves and you can easily see just what she has left to complete because the pattern pieces really stand out when resting atop the pattern.  Because of her speediness on this you might suspect that Magnolias are easy to make but rest assured they are no easier than any other window.

 

 

 

Let also finished up the work on this large Teardrop Suncatcher made from assorted clear textures. She would have finished it off completely but she plans on hanging a crystal of some sort in the center. We'll see just what she picks when this comes back next week in its completed form.

 

  

After her Irises had their leaves redrawn Barbara sat down and not only cut the leaves out but the background as well. She's about to begin grinding all of these pieces but you can already clearly see what the finished window will be looking like. 

  

In all honesty I'm not sure what side of this Butterfly that Cindy is making is harder to work on. She's already got 95% of the left flower side cut out as well as ground which I initially thought would be the hardest part but after looking at the right side I believe that there IS no easier side! I'm still thinking that Cindy will make it all look easy though.

 

  

 

 

With the last of her four birds nearly completed Susan R will next be working on the branch and the birds feet. These are the smallest pieces in her project and the more I think about it I believe that the best thing for her to do is to tack the birds together to make grinding the remaining pieces so much easier.

 

  

 

 

Lorrie would have had her background completely cut AND ground but one of the longer pieces snapped in half and she didn't have any glue chip with her to replace it.  No matter, she simply began foiling and will replace the broken piece when she gets home. This is a window that just bursts into life with color.

 

 

 

With each passing week MiMi's perfect soldering travels further and further down her lamp. She's beyond the halfway point now but as she moves downward the lamp gets wider which means that she can't spin it as fast due to the fact that there are more lines to solder in each revolution. That said, she's impressively spinning away on this!

 

 

 

Lastly again, I though it would take Mary months upon months to make this window but she's so excited about it that she never stops working on it! And I have to commend her for deciding to replace all of the background glass that she cut out while she was at home last week. She asked everyone what they thought if it and almost everyone agreed that the gray she had used was not the best choice in a window this vibrant. She agreed and will be cutting new background pieces out of a gorgeous clear light blue.

 

  

 

 

So there you have it.  Remember, don't just dream it-- make it happen!

Paul

Bayou Salé GlassWorks 

Linda and Her Rats

Bee's Cross / Heart is stunning due to her workmanship and her use of bold rich colors.  The border is a deep purple that makes everyone oohh and aahh especially when seen in direct sunlight.  Bee did 99% of this window alone at home and her work is exquisite.

 

 

 

Cheryl's Mr. Bingle Christmas Window is completed and she loves it so much that she's hanging it in April rather than waiting until Christmas rolls around. In a unique twist, Cheryl has glued small gems onto Mr Bingle's face to form the mouth and nose.

 

 

 

This is Let's Flower Butterfly to which she applied some additional extra steps to fancy it up. First of all she added decorative solder drops throughout her solder lines and then she added wire pestles complete with solder dotted ends to give this Butterfly some stunning character. And she did of of this project completely on her own. 

 

 

 

 

Susan D's Woodpecker Panel was completed and all of those tiny, thin pieces of glass make this bird look more like a painting rather than a cartoon drawing of a woodpecker. At only 6 inches in diameter this is not as large as you might assume from the picture. Her tree is also impressive because of her wonderful use of brown reeded glass.

 

 

 

 

Betty finished the work on three small Beveled Crosses as well as a pair of large Virgin Mary Suncatchers. She says that larger items will be making up the bulk of her upcoming projects which probably translates into more windows, less suncatchers.

 

 

 

Sheri had to put her Scissor Tailed Flycatcher window on hold since she got an order for a Geometric Window that she's already flying through in just one class.   She only has the two sets of borders left to go on this and they could both very well be cut upon her return.

 

 

 

Kandise is making a Circular Magnolia but this one will omit a border and it will also not be 'truly' circular as the magnolia will be slightly larger than the rounded background. This makes the window appear to be more free flowing while still having the (required) extra strength of some background glass. As you can see, Kandise is already into the cutting phase of this window.

  

  

 

 

Keri cut out her large 'Skull' suncatcher after tracing out the pattern and already has everything cut out. There's going to be some grinding in her future but that's always the case. Nothing is ever made without having to grind.

 

  

 

 

Cindy is making a Butterfly / Flower of her own but hers is larger than Lets and features Cindy's Stained Glass Trademark: Tiny Pieces! As you can clearly see she's well under way on this so it shouldn't take her very long to muscle through it.

 

  

 

 

MiMi's soldering is most impressive.   With each revolution of her lamp as she winds downward towards the bottom her soldering just gets better and better as you can easily see in the photo below.

 

 

 

Let has a Virgin Mary of her own well under way. Interestingly enough she assumed that this would be a borderless panel for two reasons: 1) the pattern didn't show a border and 2) the top is arched rather than straight. When I asked if she would be adding a border she was a bit surprised but instantly gave me an emphatic YES! And that's why you now see a border surrounding Mary! 

  

 

 

Linda F has all of the background cut out for her Transom Window and has begun grinding those pieces to fit in between her flowers and vines. There are far more background pieces than you might initially assume so it won't be an overnight job but Linda is already making serious progress due to her wonderful cutting.  

 

  

 

 

Susan R has another Bird cut and ground for her Birds On A Branch and she even picked out the color for the next (final) bird. The branches and feet will come after that and then this project will really come to life. 

  

 

 

Barbara tacked her Irises together and then the two of us sat down to drawn a new background for her window since she didn't care for the way the leaves looked in her original drawing. 15 minutes later she had a new pattern that lined up with the flowers of the last one that she liked much better.

 

  

 

Lorrie's Humming Birds and Flowers Window is taking shape more and more with each piece of the background that she cuts out. She's using glue chip glass which gives her the benefit of not having to worry about the placement of her pieces because glue chip has no grain. That means that she can fit more pieces in a tighter space while wasting far less glass than she would if she had to arrange pieces in certain positions.

 

 

 

Julie has most impressively caught onto the entire process of this whole stained glass making thing in very little time because she's already ground the thin and small flower petals for the Irises in her Heron Window. I don't think this window that she believed would be a challenge is challenging her at all.

 

  

 

 

Well, it's official. Linda L has cut every last piece of glass for her Mickey and Minnie Mouse Window and also has them all tacked together as well. Allow me to tell you that the last piece that she filled in was one heck of a piece measuring under 1/8th of an inch! I wrapped it for her in 5/32 foil that I trimmed down even smaller to allow the glass to show! When you put all of your heart (or in the case HEARTS) into a window you don't skimp on the details. Soldering will begin when Linda returns from Disney World.  How appropriate!

 

 

 

Martha's got the lid to her Wedding Box Completed and it will be joined to its box bottom next week. It hasn't been assembled yet or even cut out but it only consists of five pieces of glass so it will surely be completed upon Martha's return. 

  

Then Nettie got the top lid portion of her second Wedding Box together and even soldered it. All that remains on this is the box bottom. As I said earlier, since that only consists of five pieces of glass that part of the build will come together quickly.

  

 

 

Tracey has a Butterfly Lawn Ornament that just won't allow itself to be assembled! She brought in the pieces for the wing that she had left at home last week but apparently two of her pieces had fallen out of the bag she had them in and we didn't have any of that glass in the shop so it's next week for sure! Therefore, rather than working on her butterfly Tracey began cutting out her newest Circular Magnolia Window. She actually got a great deal of it cut out but I forgot to take a picture of it which seems to becoming a habit for me. At least I have a picture of the pattern.

 

 

Lara's working on touching up the soldering on a window that was started long ago by our former student Jane. There were only a few rough spots left to go on the back side and although it wasn't finished this week it certainly will be when Lara returns.

 

 

June is about to embark on a Seahorse Window. She's traced out and numbered her pattern and will have some glass cut out and placed onto it when we next see this.

 

 

 

Lastly, just as she was last week, Judy was hard at work grinding on her Doggie Window.  Good things take time!

 

You certainly can't say that our students are slackers! 

 

Paul

Bayou Salé GlassWorks