It Was Stupid-- I'm Pretty Desperate

Mary put a lot of time and effort into this colorful Sunflower Window and did it ever pay off.   She's thrilled with it, other students are thrilled with it and I'm thrilled with Mary's work ethic.  She really came shining through on this!

 

 

Martha's Butterfly Window is another example of a student who comes in and gets the work done no matter how hard she might think it will be.   She's even gone the extra mile by re-cutting pieces just because she didn't like the way they looked.  From start to finish Martha has made this look easy.

Susan R was feeling Patriotic and was hoping to get this USA Lawn Ornament completed for the big 4th of July anniversary that's about to unfold around us here in America and lo and behold, she did did it!  The big question is, what was the piece that was colored incorrectly when we last saw this?   It was the cross bar of the letter 'A' which had been cut out of white glass because it initially looked like it should be the white stripe running all the way across.  Alas, it needed to be blue and now it is.  Once you saw it you couldn't unsee it but luckily it was a very simple fix since it hadn't been soldered into place.  Now it's perfect!

 

Cindy has completed her Teardrop Iris Suncatcher and is ready to move along to a new project. She's made this teardrop as symmetrical as possible which means that it hangs perfectly (as you can see). If it wasn't symmetrical it would hang cock-eyed.

 

 

 

And here's another teardrop with a different flower inside of it. Let made this Daisy Teardrop quickly and efficiently while also keeping things balanced. Teardrops look wonderful but only when they hang straight as Let's does here.

 

 

 

 

If you've glanced down at the next picture before reading this then you may well know that a Butterfly Suncatcher means that we have a new student.  Elaine is that new student and she appears to have a flair for this because she didn't break any glass at all during her cutting lesson or while cutting the five pieces of glass that make this butterfly.   I think we're going to see big things from her because this butterfly is beautiful!

This is the last of Nettie's 3D Butterflies (for a while at least).   Made with iridized glass this one really sparkles when the light hits it.  I like the way Nettie used all different patterns for her 5 small 3D Butterflies rather than making the same one over and over.  
 

 

 

Nettie resumed work on her three panel Nativity Scene by finishing the soldering on the front of the center panel.   Once that was completed she flipped it over and then worked on the back side.  When all three are soldered they will be joined together by a unique double sided slotted bar that will allow all of them to be joined together as one large window.

 

 

 

Mary dove right on into her next project and I have to admit that this is a pattern that always turns heads (as well as empties pocketbooks) when we bring it to shows!  This window never hangs around the shop for too long and I believe that it's largely due to the large number of greens that you use throughout the fish. Mary used the same multiple color technique in her Sunflower Window as well so she's getting really good at choosing colors altogether.

 

  

 

 

Check out Bee's Fleur Del Lis.  The border perfectly matches the glass that she used in the actual Fleur De Lis itself and the only other color in the window is a second earth tone that sets the feel for this minimal yet stunning design.  

 

 

 

Linda L's Bluebirds in a Hoop are so stinking cute! She's someone else who is going the extra mile by cutting the feet into individual 'toes' rather than just making a single blob of orange glass for a foot.  Although you can't see it here (yet) it really does make a big difference. The rays from the sun and the vines for the leaves will be formed from wire which is really going to make this stand out even more.

 

  

 

Let is working on an Art Nouveau Window and has gone with a pastel/soft color scheme that sets it off wonderfully. She'll be squaring (or 'rectangling') this off and I'm very interested to see what color she decides to use for the final border.

 

  

 

Well then, it would appear that June's Seahorse has really come to life this week! The last time we saw this it was mostly pattern under a few pieces of glass that she had cut and ground. This week it looks like a full fledged Seahorse cut from glass! I think this is going to look wonderful and if she doesn't have a background glass in mind I think I may know the perfect glass for the job!

 

 

 

Sheri's getting very triangular with her new window. What you see below is roughly two thirds of the whole pattern because it actually continues on past the right side of the picture. Since it doesn't fit on a board she's folded the pattern over and will make this in two different sections that will eventually be joined after the next smaller section has been cut, ground and foiled. Most times this is the best way to handle the creation of a large window especially of you are transporting it back and forth between the shop and your house.

 

  

 

 

Keri spent her night grinding away on her Flower Window and it's fitting together perfectly.   I love the colors in this and her use of iridised glass for the background because it picks up all of the colors of the flowers themselves.

 

 

 

Linda F is back and she's foiling away on her Transom Window. What you see below is the left side of the window which I chose to show you in close up so that you could marvel at her perfect foiling. Linda aims for perfection and I'm thrilled when she asks me if something miniscule needs to be re-done or not. THAT is attention to detail.

  

 

 

Julie came in and kicked some serious glass tonight! She had considered skipping the flowers at the top of this window when she first began working on this but over time she decided that if she was in it for a dime then she was in it for a dollar. The flower petal pieces are small and look confusingly similar but Julie was extremely well organized while cutting out the glass which then made everything come together much quicker than she ever would have imagined.

 

  

 

MiMi's soldering is getting closer and closer to the edge of her lamp with each passing week. I wonder if she'll know how to act when she moves along to a simple window when this is completed. We'll find out soon enough, that's for sure!

 

  

 

Lastly we look at a mystery project that one of our students is making.  I figure that I should show at least a little something of all of these 'hidden' projects that some of our students are working on or no one will believe they exist!

  

And there ya have it.  Have a Happy 4th everyone!

Paul

Bayou Salé GlassWorks 

Write It Down

Bee has put a lot of heart and soul into her Roses and Hearts Window and it certainly shows.  This window has taught her a lot about stained glass pattern making and I have to comment on her soldering because it was certainly top tier.   She was a little upset that after washing it she found a few lines that she'd skipped but even I didn't see them and that's just the way it goes when you're soldering a window with a lot of line.   This is a job that was VERY well done!

 

 

 

 

Tracey's Magnolia Window is one of my favorite windows due to the shape. Circular windows aren't seen often and that could be why this pattern always catches people's eyes. Of course the workmanship clearly has something to do with that as well but let's face it-- that's to be expected from Tracey.

 

 

 

 

Let finished her Tribute Dog Paw Suncatcher which has Amie Lyn's little ID charm hanging below it from the center of the paw. We understand all about the proper placement of hooks so the charm is actually attached to a wire that runs along the span of the paw and joins firmly into the lead lines on both ends. Stability is very important in our work here in the shop. 

 

 

 

Cheryl's Buffalo Bills Football Helmet had a deadline for its completion and she was able to finish her window with time to spare for her to leave slightly early and hopefully miss out on the tropical storm rains that were headed our way. What's next for Cheryl? I'll never tell because I always like the big reveal! 

 

 

 

Nettie got two more Butterflies completed leaving just one left to go. Instead of finishing off the last Butterfly she put the finishing touches on one other project this week.

 

This adorable Frog Lawn Ornament is the 'other' project that Nettie finished off before calling it a night. Check out the eyes on this Frog because Nettie not only drilled holes into the glass-- she also managed to get foil in those small holes so she could inlay black glass to make the pupils without having a distracting lead line mar the eyeballs. It may not appear to be all that much but rest assured that is some impressive work!

 

Kandise has begun a large free standing Peacock that she will be adding a hoop to. I was thrilled to hear her idea of placing this in a hoop because it solves the problem of how to hang this without having the neck pull off off the body. I figured we'd do the hidden wire technique but that's very laborious when compared to mounting the piece in a hoop. With almost all of this already cut out I won't be surprised if Kandise begins grinding next week.

 

 

  

Mary Grace was back in the shop and she's decided  to make a nice triple Flower Suncatcher that is a bit larger than normal.   She's made the smart decision to eliminate some of the cuts that make up the leaves because all of those tiny pieces look out of place next to the less detailed flowers.  It's all about balance!

 

  

 

Lara is embarking on a 3 window projects featuring three different flowers.   The first is this beautiful Lily which in its first week of work is already far enough along to be recognizable as a wonderful flowing design.

 

 

 

Linda L began her Bluebirds in a hoop and has made incredible headway on it. This isn't a pattern for the weak of heart (otherwise known as 'beginners') because there are some intensely tiny pieces that make up this design. Alas, Linda always steps up to the plate and takes her best swing and connects in the best possible way. 

 

 

 

Lorrie's Turtle is moving along quickly but she also spent a lot of time making multiple items that she will become Christmas Gifts this December. We aren't going to reveal those until after Christmas however because we don't want to ruin the surprise! 

 

 

 

Susan R's Star and USA Panel has been completely ground as well as foiled. She'll be tacking this together and soldering it upon her return. Susan seems to have made this one much quicker than her first one and that's because practice makes perfect.  I do see a possible small issue that will take seconds to fix.  Sometimes mistakes hide in plain sight!

 

 

 

Keri got all of her background cut out for her Flower Window and if you look closely you can see that it has been cut out of a clear iridized glass.  The amount of pink and green/blue in the iridization makes it absolutely perfect in this application!

  

 

Mary is about to have completed her Sunflower Window in record time. When she began this I expected her to be working on it for the next 9 months but she was excited to make this window and because of that she put in a lot of extra time and effort. Although it still needs touching up I can guarantee that this will be completed when she comes back in.

 

 

 

Cindy finished off a repair and then went to working on cutting and grinding the flower petals of her Iris Suncatcher. With just the background left to cut Cindy will be moving onto her main project before you know it.

  

 

 

What is there to say about MiMi's progress. It's tedious and essential and MiMi is tackling the process at full speed. When making lamps everyone comes to a point where they say to themself, "The end must be near" but then when they look they see that it isn't quite near yet. That's the way it goes with lamps but believe me when i say that But MiMi has been making a lot of progress here. 

 

 

 

Martha's got the front of her Butterfly Window soldered and has moved along to its back side. I'm expecting to see this among our completed works next week.

 

 

 

Lastly we see that MiMi has been grinding the first of her pair of Knotted Cross Windows. They're elaborate, elegant, colorful and yet restrained all at once.

 

 

Once again, here we are changing your life one post at a time!

Paul
Bayou Salé GlassWorks

And She Pushed 2 for Spanish

 Let completed her large circular Bird of Paradise  Suncatcher and her color choices and skills are perfectly visible in her latest work.

 

 

 

Nettie completed another pair of butterflies with the larger of the two being a flower pot decoration. The smaller one was made to be suspended from three chains so it can hang from the ceiling to give it the illusion of flying!
 

 

 

Cindy forgot to bring in the pattern for her next project so she looked through suncatcher patterns and decided to make an Iris rather than just sitting around wasting time.   She actually picked something a little more complex than I thought she might but I know that she'll make quick work of this regardless.

  

 

 

Lorrie has resumed work on her Turtle Window and is currently working on the hardest part-- the turtle itself. It's the head and the flippers which are made up of tiny pieces that will slow things down on this window but not by much since Lorrie just plows on through any obstacles that get in her way!

 

  

 

 

Nettie also worked on soldering the first of her  three Nativity windows which when displayed side by side form one large Nativity Scene.  I'll have to talk about the border situation with Nettie when she comes back in because I honestly cant recall what was going on with that.

 

 

 

Susan R has almost the entirety or her Beveled Star USA Plaque cut and is working on grinding those pieces now. How very timely of her to be so patriotic!

 

 

 

Paula's back to work on her 3D Succulent and has all of the fancy soldering done on each of her pieces.  I can safely say that she certainly has the hang of attaching solder drops onto the edges of soldered glass pieces.  Her dots are uniform in size, firmly attached and most certainly rounded rather than misshapen lumps.  I have no doubt that this will come together quickly when she returns.

  

 

 

 

The actual Heron in Julie's Heron window has officially been foiled and ready to be tacked together. Cutting out her flowers will be up next and I'm not sure what color she might decide to use for them or if she'll be using multiple colors throughout the flowers. Time will tell.

 

 

 

 

As predicted, Tracey got her border attached and then began soldering. With so many projects being so close to being completed during Tracey's class it's hard to predict exactly what will be finished on any given class night. All I can say is that this is close now, her soldering is wonderful and her border color is perfect. 

 

Bee's tacked all of her large Roses and Hearts Window together and then picked out, cut, and ground the pieces that make up the final border. This window is her own design and all of the work that she's done on it is amazing. She plans on soldering a lot of this while she's at home so who knows how far along she'll be when she returns.

 

  

 

 

June was hard at work grinding the tail of her Seahorse Window.  Once she finished her grinding the tail scales she cut out more pattern pieces and picked the next color that will make up the upper section of the tail.

 

 

 

MiMi is working steadily on the inside of her lamp as we watch her come closer and closer to the outer edge. The top section around the cap goes quickly because it rotates quicker than the wider outer edge. That said, she can solder more area now without having to rotate her lamp as much so I suppose that in that respect things are possibly a little easier??? 

 

 

 

 

Cheryl's Buffalo Bills Football Helmet now has its front side completely soldered which means that she'll easily finish this when she comes back in.   Since she was able to wrap all of her border pieces and solder the front side in one class I know that she'll easily complete the soldering on the second side with plenty of time to spare.

  

 

 

Martha has all of her Butterfly Window cut, ground and foiled.   The lighter blue border is perfect and I'm going to give this two weeks to go before she completes it and begins something new.

 

 

 

 

Mary is now soldering the second side of her Sunflower Window after having completed the front side. I'm predicting two more weeks on this and then she'll be finished with this stylishly impressive window.

 

 

 

 

MiMi's also been working on another pair of windows while at home and I must say that they are already looking quite amazing!

 

 

 

Betty wasn't in this week but she sent me a picture of the work she completed on her Blue Rose Window while at home. It looks me as though she's nearly finished with this already!

 

Sheri is working on a new window but I realized that I didn't get a picture of the pattern that she had traced out until she had it outside.  I grabbed the camera, ran out to her and snapped two pictures but the sun was so bright I honestly couldn't see anything in the viewfinder.  Imagine my surprise when I discovered  that the lens had fogged up from hitting the humid heat of the outdoors after sitting in the air conditioned shop.  And that explains this picture of should have been Sheri's pattern.   

 

 

Barbara sifted through a lot of the patterns that we have in the shop and settled on a beautiful Art Nouveau design. She's traced it out onto poster board and will begin cutting glass after she looks to see what she might want to use from her glass stash at home.

 

 

Susan D has been here in class with us for the last few weeks but she's working on a major repair job.  Since there's not much to see I don't generally post pictures of repair work unless we haven't seen the piece before.

Then there is Kandise who is working on a repair of her own and who has hit a bit of a snag finding some glass to match what's broken.  She may have to just come close and then  knock out a piece or two in its companion window to keep them both symmetrical. Repairs-- you've gotta love them.

 

Lastly, Judy's Dog Window which is a gift that she doesn't want posted here.  It's moving along again now that Judy is back in class and it's actually nearly complete.  She's even going to add the letters LSU to it by firing them permanently onto the glass in our kiln so that will be exciting.  Perhaps I'll post that piece of glass when it's been fired so I can share something of this window to our constant readers.  

 

With all of that being said be sure to come back next week for even more fun!

 

Paul

Bayou Salé GlassWorks