Monday, October 7, 2024

Smart Ass Doesn't Count

Lorrie got her newest, latest and greatest Wedding Box completed this week and her use of fractures and streamers glass for the box sides is really astounding. If Lorrie keeps giving these away as wedding presents she may find that she'll be getting invited to weddings for people that she doesn't even know!

  

 

Cindy's got a GREAT Halloween themed Hoop here featuring Bats and Spider webs.  It certainly went together quickly enough and that extra wire work really brought it all to life.

 

MiMi got her Autumn Colored Anger Wing Suncatcher wrapped in copper foil and then soldered.   After attaching two hooks to hang this from we took this picture to share with you.   MiMi's work is always precise and her soldering is a dream come true. If you wanted Autumn colored angel wings then this is surely everything that you might have envisioned them to be.

 

Let made this cute Nativity Suncatcher in plenty of time for Christmas.   She says that she's all caught up with that holiday and will move away from Christmas items until next year but there's plenty of time left in the year for last minute Christmas projects.

 

Lisa had and extremely productive day as she soldered not one but three suncatchers.  Her Woven Heart is perfection as are all the others but it's her Cross that impressed me most because of how her sharp points that meet near the central of the Cross are perfectly ground with none of them coming up short )which is usually an issue with points like this).   Her Red Heart may look as though it's a collection of hinge points but Lisa thwarted all of those problem areas by filling the center of the cross with clear untextured glass which makes it appear as though the suncatcher is hollow even though it isn't.  The trick to this illusion is to use untextured (window pane) glass. 

 
 
Sheri began these two Flower Crosses a while back and they've been sitting around just needing some solder on them.  Now that she's soldered them I wonder if she isn't regretting doing them sooner because they certainly turned out to be quite beautiful!

  

Judy's Deer Window trotted out the door as a finished Window after Judy spent her class time soldering it.   About an hour and a half after beginning the soldering process Judy wrapped up the work on this and then spent the rest of her time washing and coloring it.  All in all, a job very well done. 

 
 
Sheri's Korok Hoop was essentially completed when she walked in the door with it.   She only needed to add solder it and the facial features consisting of a mouth, eyes and a Leaf stem.   The stem itself was made of a thick wire which was coated in lead before attaching it and the eyes and mouth were simply cut from foil and then soldered into the lead lines lines that they overlaid.
 
  
 
 
Susan D got her newest pair of Geometrical Suncatchers soldered and ready for hanging.  The orange and green one has a jewel in the center of it that has been 'hanging' around the shop for at least 10 years now which proves that everything goes eventually.  But these suncatchers will surely sell much faster than the solitary jewel that Susan used as an accent piece.


Melissa's wrapped up the work on her second and last red and green Beveled Cross and it's pretty much a perfect replication of her first one (though I assure you that they ARE different). She loves the fact that she was able to use brass channel for the edges rather than doing the tap-tap method which she isn't a fan of and it provides a nice clean edge.

 

Steve finished what could be his last circular Fleur De Lis Suncatcher although he does have another one started so who knows when that could be completed.   I think he may be a bit tired of making this since this was his third one but I think it's safe to say that he's very good at these now!

 
 
Ann began cutting glass for her large Nativity Window and got even farther along then she hoped to.  All of the colors that she knew she was using where cut out and placed onto her pattern and the missing pieces (of which colors she'll be using are currently unsure) will be filled in after she grinds all of this to get a better feel for what all of the colors look like.
 
  

 
Let did all of the work on her Daisies Window while at home save for the border which she added while in class.   I have to admit that the green perfectly compliments the flowers and frames it out nicely, especially since there are no leaves in the pattern.   Using green was a great was to add some color balance without resorting to leaves which would only be half shown in this piece.

 
 
Cindy is working on a Cross with a Cardinal smack dab in the center of it.  The pattern was originally drawn by Terry and when Cindy saw it she decided that she wanted to make one of her own. 

 
 
Melissa is making a large Kaleidoscope which she hoped to decorate by adding a tree along two of the side.  We have an idea in mind so we'll be checking that out soon but meanwhile we will look at the two rings whose images will bounce back and forth between the three mirrors that will provide  the delightful visual aspect of this project.

 
 
Susan R is filling in the blank spaces of her Peacock feathers and working at a nice steady pace.   It's looking like the end is near now because there isn't all that much more to go on this before she can foil her pieces and then begin soldering (which won't take long at all). And I even remembered to take a picture of Susan's Peacock this week.
 
 
 
 
June's Goat Window has been completely ground and she has begun wrapping almost all of its pieces.  All save for three green pieces because she agrees with both Russ and myself that they need to be changed to gray.  These shouldn't be background pieces but rather parts of the goat.  I've pointed them out with red arrows and once they're replaced with grays you'll see this goat look even better than it already does.

 
 
Kandise blew through the foiling process of her Art Deco Woman by getting her entire window wrapped in just one class!  And her work is perfect as well.   Next week she'll tack this together and then get a border cut and even attached.  After that she'll begin soldering which she's nervous about, but that's only natural.  The best part about soldering is that you can always go over it again if you don't like how it looks.  If you simply relax and solder SLOWLY all is fine!

 
 
Barbara began grinding her Magnolia Window and managed to get the top flower almost completely ground.  There are still a few leaves left to grind but she made great progress this week getting her pieces to fit together so wonderfully. 

  
 
 
Annette has all of the glass cut and mostly ground in her scared Heart Window after getting all of her sword ground into place.  The clear pieces in the hilt of the sword will be covered in sheet foil and then foiled as any other piece of glass would.   When you next look at this window it will be tacked together.
 
  
 

Martha finished wrapping her Streetlight, tacked it together and then went to work on deciding what glass to use for her background.  She wanted something with a lot of swirling pattern in it because she wanted to cut it as one large continuous piece so that the grain would match perfectly  across lead lines.   The first sheet of glass she picked was absolutely stunning but when we tried to cut a right angle on the edge of the glass we discovered that it was very brittle and had trouble breaking along extended score lines.  Rather than push it Martha decided to use this piece of Oceanside glass which followed score lines perfectly.  

 
Jan was back this week and she's about to embark on a Sun Window complete with multi colored rays.   She selected the pattern, traced it, colored it to get a rough idea of what she plans to do with colors and then cut out the paper pattern.  Actual glass cutting will begin on her return. 

 
Wrapping things up here we  are happy to announce that Shelley has come back to join us after having three months off.  She worked on a few repairs to get her back into the stained glass routine and next week she'll begin a real glass project.  Welcome back Shelley!
 
And that's it.  We are officially up to date!
 
Paul

Friday, October 4, 2024

An Apocalypse Of Pink

Bee's Cantina Window has been officially completed and it is going to make Ed's Wife VERY happy.   This was made as a tribute to Ed and highlights not only the Ed's Cantina but Ed's life as well.  Bee designed this from start to finish making little changes here and there as she moved along on it but never in a way that would make things easier.  She always added detail, not subtracted it and that's why this is so stunning.

 

 

Lara wanted to know if she had enough time to comfortably get a Kaleidoscope made before Christmas.   I showed her all of the options available and she decided to make an Oil Wand Kaleidoscope.  Luckily we had a kit in the shop and since there are no complex wheels to cut out Lara was able to complete this beautiful Oil Kaleidoscope  as well as the stand that it rests on all in one class!  I only wish I took a video of the actual view through the scope to share with you because these are amazing when you see them in action.  The pink picture is a still shot of some of the view.

 

Angie put the finishing touches on her Pelican Window and I believe this is the first time that we've ever seen this Pelican design made into an actual window.   That said, I cant believe that this will be the last time that happens because it translated across perfectly.   Of course Angie had a lot to do with that because if the work was off in any way the window wouldn't look nearly as great as it does here.
 
 
 
Cindy's Holly Heart looks every but as wonderful as I suspected it would.   When you pack this many pieces into this small an area you can't help but to love the end result.  Cindy never shies away from small piece projects and this one took her attention to detail to new heights as the Holly and the berries were exceedingly difficult to work with.  But again, all of the little details are what make this look so magical.
 
 
 
Jeannette made this delicious Candy Cane with a Bow from start to finish in just one class.  She did come in with the design but that was all.  To walk out the door with a completed project made of 14 large pieces inside of 3 hours is an impressive feat.  She made it look easy as well as look great all at once.
 
 
 
Let wrapped up work on her Dove/Cross Suncatcher and it meets the high standards that Let's projects always exude.
 
 
 
Cindy also put the finishing touches on this Duck Suncatcher that Fran (a previous student) began and then abandoned.   It's  always nice to see something get completed especially when it was was pushed to the side for as long as this was (10 years).

 
 
Steve finished his black and gold circular Fleur De Lis with PLENTY of time to spare in the class.  This is very much like his first one with different colors but an equal amount of charm.
 

 
Zoe came in and got straight to work on cutting out the last three pieces of her Sunset and Seagull Window.   She then moved on over to a grinder and by the end of class she had her window all ground and fitting together nicely.  Zoe took her window home with her and when she returns she's hoping that it will all be foiled and ready to be tacked together so it can get 'borderized'.
 
  
 
 
Sheri is back and she's easing back into stained glass by making a Korok Hoop design.   A Korok is not a Pokémon but it IS part of the Nintendo world.  Players of The Zelda series of video games will instantly recognize these strange friendly creatures.

 
 
MiMi spent her night working on a pair of Autumn Colored Anger Wings.  She's got them all cut and ground which means that these will be flying along home in a completed state next week!

 
 
 
Cindy also spent time working on this delightful Halloween Hoop Hanging.  Consisting of bats, spider webs, dead branches and a full moon, this is really going to turn heads!
 
  
 
 
Kandise spent her night working at a grinder and by the end of class she had all of her window ground. Next week things calm down for her as she'll be able to sit down and take her time foiling all of the pieces. As it stands her window looks great but next week you'll be able to see more clearly where all he lead will be since it will be highlighted by the foil. 

  
 
 
Barbara's got all of the flowers in her Double Magnolia Window cut out already.  The background hasn't been cut because she hadn't traced out the pattern pieces for them so what she'll do is grind the flowers, foil them and then tack it all together so she can trace this onto whatever sheet of background glass she chooses. 

  
 
 
Lisa finished the grinding on her Celtic Heart Suncatcher and then foiled it along with her large Cross and red Heart.   I do believe that these will be completed when we next see them!
 
 

Linda F now has almost all of her Beach Themed Teardrop Suncatcher ground.  She's skipped a piece in the shell because the color and the grain of that particular piece doesn't quite match the rest of the shell even though it was all cut from the same sheet of glass.  Rather than leaving it be, Linda has done the right thing and decided to replace the offending piece of glass!


 
 
Betty now has all of the sky cut out and ground for her Heron Window and she really wants everything to be perfect on this because this is one of the few things that she plans to keep for herself.  I think the color between the sky and the water are perfect and Betty agrees. Everything has been foiled save for the sky so this will have a border attached to it when you see it again.

 
 
 
Susan D got her new pair of Geometric Suncatchers all foiled and tacked together and even began soldering the green and orange suncatcher.   In my mind there's no doubt that this pair of precision cut suncatchers will be finished when she returns.
 
 
 

Steve has a third circular Fleur De Lis cut out as well as ground and he has a forth one started as well!  He's on a Fleur De Lis roll for sure! 
 
  
 
 
Lorrie's got another Wedding Box under construction and the top is already just about completed.   It's all cut and ground and all of the pieces that form it have even been tacked together.  When she comes back she'll get this soldered and then work on the actual box itself (which shouldn't take long at all).
 
 
 

June's Goat Window is very close to being completely ground and now that things are fitting together beautifully I think that I will recommend changing out 3 pieces of glass.   If June agrees I will point them out next week when the change has been made.

 
 
Melissa has the second of her Beveled Cross Suncatchers all tacked together and she's just begun to solder it.   She wanted to put the brass channel around the edges of this herself because it involved four inside angles that are the exact opposite of a standard window and there for makes it tricky to get channel onto.   Of course, Melissa mastered that challenge and this will be completed before you know it.
 
  
 
 
Mary Grace has all of the feathers cut for her Mardi Gras Mask Window and is getting ready to begin foiling them.   Once this is all tacked together we will cut the smaller pieces that form the edge of the window.   Having everything tacked will make grinding those remaining pieces go much easier since they won't be shifting around on her.


  
 

Annette has most of her Sacred Heart Window wrapped in copper foil and she's cut out the pieces that make up the sword.  The hilt will be done in lead covered glass with decorative wires laid on top the lead to give it more detail. The sword hilt is a very small section of the window but it's about all of the little details that together add up to a magnificent piece of art. 

 
 
Judy picked a dark hued tan glass for the border of her deer window which pulls color from the antlers of the deer without going 'overboard' by matching it perfectly.  She also got the border tacked onto her window as well so she'll be soldering this upon her return. 

 
 
 
Martha's got another Franklin Street Light Window under construction and the light itself is now all cut out and ground.  As she did for her last Window, Martha will tack this together and then lay it on top of the sheet of glass that she'll use for its background so that the grain of the glass will match perfectly throughout the entire window.
 
  
 
Lastly, I have to say that Susan R is making excellent progress on her Peacock Hoop with the small feather details coming together piece by piece.   I've said it before and I'll say it again, Susan will be able to be very proud of this piece when it's finished because her attention to detail on this couldn't be surpassed.  Alas, I can't show you her progress on it because I do not have a picture of it!  Sometimes things just slip away on me.  It's tough getting old!

So this pretty much brings us up to date.  Expect another post on Monday when we resume our normal schedule here!

 
Paul

Monday, September 30, 2024

Shhhhhh! I Don't Even Want To Know!

This Fighting Leprechaun really comes to life in MiMi's stained glass recreation of the Notre Dame logo.  This was made for someone specifically who might very well be a member of the  Leprechaun Legion since he/she now owns two different Notre Dame windows made by MiMi!

 
 
Martha's Sunset window is calming and serene while eliciting rays of optimism and longing expectation. In the past I've found that Martha focused too intensely on only motility and tone. It made her art pedantic and perhaps even slightly generic. In this piece she's proceeded to plumb exactly what the populace expects to experience and, at the risk of  perhaps revealing too much, Martha has also tapped deeply into our imagination and frivolous self-deprecating yearnings.
 
  
 
 
Let finished her Beveled Heart Window which lights up in a beautiful shade of blue.   It really sparkles and the color is superb.  When Let finished her Beveled Heart Window she moved onto and then finished up her large Santa Face Suncatcher as well.   Two projects, one day.  Way to go!
 
 
 
In this piece Martha explores the relationship between new class identities and social surrealism. With influences as diverse as Kierkegaard and Andy Warhol, new synergies are sublimated from both orderly and random grains.  As intermittent replicas become transformed through diligent and critical practice, the viewer is left with a testament to the edges darkness and light . All of this, and more, ingeniously distilled securely within a Franklin Street Lamp.
 
 
 
Melissa's got one of her pair of Beveled Crosses soldered and ready for hanging.  Melissa decided not to do the tap-tap method of going around the edges of her Crosses and simply surround them with brass channel to give them  crisp clean edges, but the tap-tap method looks great as well so it's all about aesthetics and what the person making it likes best.  There is no right or wrong here.

 
 
Here's the Santa Face that I told you about earlier.   Let is starting Christmas early this year which means that she won't be pressed for time come December!


Zoe is really flying through her next window.  Her Sunset with Seagull window features a wonderful use of shading throughout the water (it's made of three different sheets of glass which blend together perfectly) and just wait until you see the glass that she's picked out for the Sun and the sky!

 

 
Kandise got all of her Art Deco Woman cut out this week and then moved on over to the grinding to make sure everything fits together in the best possible way.   She was a bit alarmed that it didn't just fit together without any grinding but that's a common misconception that people have when they start making stained glass.   Truth be told, her cutting looks great and the pieces that she ground only needed to be skimmed to fit.   
 
  
 
 
Barbara got her Pair of Magnolia's pattern traced out, colored and then cut out.   She even had time left over in class to be able to  pick out some green that she liked  and then managed to get the green leaves for the Magnolias cut out!  All in all, a productive day.

 
 
Lisa has three different irons in the fire as she worked on cutting out a large cross suncatcher and two different Heart suncatchers as well.   The Cross and the red Heart have been ground already and she's already well underway on grinding the Woven Celtic Heart so it was a VERY busy day for Lisa.
 
  

 
Betty spent her class working at a grinder and getting quite a lot done.   She knows all the tricks for getting everything to fit together perfectly and she moves through the process with both speed and accuracy. Her sky isn't cut yet because she still doesn't have the glass but that will be rectified next week!

 
 
June's Goat is coming together and looking more goat-like with each passing week.  I have to say that June knows how to work a grinder because this is fitting together beautifully.

  
 
 
Susan D's working her way through her book of geometric designs two at a time.  These may look simple due to the repeating patterns but if just one of the lines is off it sticks out like a red thumb.  And Susan has no red thumbs here.

  
 
 
Cindy's Holly Heart is all cut, all ground, and very well onto being wrapped in copper foil as well.   I can't wait to see this up in the light and knowing Cindy this will be completely foiled when she brigs it back in.

 
 
Susan R is tediously grinding out the feathers for her Peacock Hoop Hanging.  She said she wanted to do this one perfectly and that's what she is certainly doing.   I do believe that this will be THE peacock feather in her stained glass hat!
 
  
 
 
Judy's Donkey Window looks a little odd only because it's not a donkey but a Deer!   As a Deer I'd say that Judy has done quite well indeed.   She has everything ground and foiled which means that she'll tack this and then work on a border upon her return.

 
 
Annette continued wrapping glass for her Sacred Heart Window and she's now ready to cut the remaining glass pieces in her window which make up the sword.  She's getting close to the end on this now!
 
  
 
 
With most of her feathers ground there are only a few more left for Mary Grace to grind.  Once that's done she'll move along to the actual eye piece of the Mardi Gras Mask itself.  It's coming along nicely and Mary Grace is pulling no punches while making this.
 
 
 
And this is the second green and red beveled Cross that Melissa has worked on.   It's been completely ground which means that she'll be wrapping this with copper foil when she next returns.

 
 
Steve started and almost completely finished a new large circular Fleur De Lis Suncatcher.  He's got solder on the front which means that this will easily be completed upon his return.
 
 
 
Finally we have Ann who is getting into the Christmas spirit ahead of time so that the Nativity Scene that she's begun making will surely be completed in time for Christmas.   She picked out the pattern, traced it out, colored the patterns pieces and then cut it all out before calling it a night because she wants to see what colors she can use that she has at home.  Glass will surely be cut when Ann returns and I'll even get a picture then as well!

And there you have it.
 
Paul