Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Welcome to our Special Edition: Happy Birthday, Suzie!

OMG, I've done it again--I think my brain is fried. Even though I included Suzie's completed window in the email I sent out to tell that the Blog was updated I managed to forget to include her in the actual Blog post.

So, this Special Edition Blog Post has been created to do 2 things:

1) Give a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY wish to Suzie. (Even if it IS late)
and

2) Let everyone see the WONDERFUL job that Suzie did making one of the most stunning, inspirational, amazing, mind-blowingly, beautiful windows that we've ever seen.

Actually I think it's worked out best that this window was skipped in the last post because this way no one can possibly overlook the terrific work that Suzie is capable of doing. Also I wouldn't want this window to overshadow any of the other work being done and that's why you can see it here, today in its own private Blog post. It's a Special Edition!



I sincerely hope I can keep count of how many student we have in class next week...

Paul
Bayou Salé GlassWorks

Monday, July 26, 2010

Roxie, Please Forgive Me!

One of my fears about doing this Blog each week has finally happened. As careful as I was I still somehow managed to skip Roxie's project 2 weeks ago. I have to say that it wasn't entirely my fault because, you see, my digital camera was out of film that night...

But I have film back in my camera and that's a good thing because this is the week that Roxie strikes with a vengence. She's managed to complete not one, not two, not three, not even five projects this week-- she's completed SIX (yep, that's 6) Fleur De Lis windows. This may well be a record and is certainly hard to forget about!


Next we have Janice's 13th window in her series of classic designs. She may not have completed them all on the same day but she's VERY close to finishing this project once and for all. Sadly, this wndow isn't backlit because it was just too dark outside by the time it was finished. But you can look at some of the earlier Blog posts to see this same pattern in the daylight with some sun behind it. Backlit or not it's hard not to appreciate all the work that Janice has put into this window.


Shira was back with us again and wrapped all of her Fleur De Lis. With that part finished I'd say that she will most likely have the background and border cut when she comes back next week. There is something about this FDL that really catches my eye and I can't wait to see it completed.
It's very hard to see a difference in this window from what you saw last week but Patty has cut all of the tan center lines and has begun grinding her window. Now that it's cut out it's just a matter of taking a little time at the grinder to make sure that it all lines up. I'm happy to say that the hard part is over with. Now it's just tweaking everything until it all fits together.

Last week Patty warned Grace not to do the Sports Fleur De Lis but Grace was determined. In an effort to alleviate some of the pain in doing this window she's made it about 3 inches bigger than Patty's which gives Graces pieces a little more substance. She has her pattern all traced out onto glass and will begin cutting them out when we see here again.

Monique is really racing through her project. She tacked it all together, added the clear, textured glass background to her pebble section and then got her border cut out. She took the border home to wrap which means that she'll be soldering this next week and there's even a good chance that she'll be taking it home with her. Wait until you see this piece hanging up with light behind it.

Bonnie has all of her flower wrapped now. She's add the 9 background pieces next week followed by the final border and she'll be ready to solder. Bonnie has 2 shades of white glass and a very, very light pink in in the bottoms of the petals that really set this off. Isn't this looking great?

After Janice finished working on her next to last window she began grinding her last centerpiece. She already had it cut out and now she's just about ready to wrap it and start tacking it together. I'd say that she's pretty much home free now.


I'm fairly certain that wraps things up this week. Unless I missed someone again!

Paul
Bayou Salé GlassWorks

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Don't Do It!

Rita has completed her Frog window. Four weeks in the making, this demure window is only 12 inches by 12 inches. That means that the pieces are rather tiny and very hard to work with but Rita pulled it all off and knocked out her first stained glass window. This one has a lot of character and I know Rita had fun making it because she's now got a grinder at home and plans to do things in her new home workshop.

Suzie got her inner border completed and then set upon cutting the final border for her latest Fleur De Lis Window. She wrapped it, tacked it and then even got the first side soldered which means that she'll be taking this one home next week without a doubt. Look here for a completed picture in our next update!

Bonnie REALLY made some progress this week. Not only did she finish cutting out all of her white glass but she also began grinding her window! She's probably got 30% of it ground already which is no easy task considering this is her first window. She took her time and cut off her marker lines on the glass and that means that the time she spends on the grinder will be minimal. It always pays to cut off your black lines!

And Monique not only finished cutting her glass but she also has it completely ground as well! Before she called it a day she had a quick wrapping lesson and took all her pieces home with her. All that's left to cut on this window are her border pieces and the background sections of the pebbles at the bottom of her window which will easily be handled next week.

Roxie got all of the brass channel attached to her 6 windows and got them all soldered during her last class. When she left all that she had to do to complete these was to put some solder on the outside edge of the brass channel and attach the hooks to hang these by. Then it's just a matter of washing them and coloring the lead. Expect to see this set completed next week!


When Grace was in class a few weeks ago she told me that she wanted to make a Sportsman's Fleur De Lis. Just three days later I got an email from Patty telling me that she wanted to make a Sportsman's Fleur De Lis as well. Talk about timing. Grace has been on vacation so Patty started cutting out hers first and all she has to say to Grace is: "Don't Do It!" lol Yes, the pieces are a bitch to cut because they're so thin but when this is completed it's really going to be something else to see. Patty has all of the trim cut and only has to cut out the inner lighter color before she starts grinding this.


And rounding things out this week we get to take a look at Cheryl's Turtle scene. It's all ground, wrapped and tacked together now. And I only broke one piece when I carried it out to her car for her. YIKES! Now she's worried about about carting it back and forth but I promised I'd fix it when it comes back to get it's border tacked on. She's not sure what color that will be she'll cross that bridge when she comes to it.

So that about brings us up to date here in our Blog. If this rain doesn't let up so I can get the grass cut no one is going to be able to make it into the shop for our next set of classes! See you all next week...

Paul
Bayou Salé GlassWorks

Monday, July 12, 2010

The Fleur De Lis' Yellow Nads

Patty made quick work of her last Fleur De Lis suncatcher this week and then I discovered that I screwed up and never got her pattern ready for her next project. :-( She and Grace will be working on the same designs and I had told myself that I wouldn't need the pattern until the following week since Grace is away on vacation and Patty is working on her Fleur De Lis. It never dawned on me that Patty's Fleur De Lis was going to be finished within the first hour of class. There goes the idea that I'm perfect. :-)

Suzie wasted no time in getting her background and inner border cut for her Fleur De Lis window. Once the background was cut she ground it, wrapped it and then tacked it together. Since her corners are cut are 45 degree angles she needs to be very careful with the placement of her border or the points won't line up at all. So far it's looking perfect to me...

Shira picked this fancy Fleur De Lis window pattern and I have to say that her work during her the class really impressed me. Not only did she cut out all of her Fleur De Lis but she managed to grind it all before leaving for the night! And it's perfect.

Rita is all set here! She tacked her frog together and then worked on the yellow border that surrounds her window. She even got the front side of her window soldered together which means that she'll be taking it home next week since there's only one side left to complete.

Monique picked an interesting fish window pattern for her first project. It's a pattern that really comes alive if the proper glasses are selected. And by 'proper' I mean the correct colors and textures. A simple blue background would make this look boring but her choices really draw your eye to this window. Next week she'll cut the fish and the remaining rocks on the bottom of her window.
Lisa spent the night at the grinder and got all of her center design ground. There was a lot of pieces to be ground but her cutting was very good so the job went quickly. She's taken the pieces home with her to wrap and next week she'll be cutting the background glass.

Lisa cut the background for her second window and tacked both of her windows together so she could add her inner border. She's got one cut out and wrapped and the other will be at the same point as this one very shortly.

Look at Bonnie go! She's only into her first week of cutting and she alreadt has all of the darker white and the green cut for her Magnolia window. She's doing great and even managed to cut off the lines while she's cutting. This means that her pieces are fitting together almost perfectly and she won't be spending a lot of time at the grinder later on.


Jane is out of her butterfly mode and back into making lamps. She misplaced a few pieces that will inevitably turn up after she recuts them. She's got 2 of the 7 sections together and here they are (1 on top of the other). I love the green/pink glass she's using.

That's a-a-all folks!

Paul
Bayou Salé GlassWorks

Cutting Colored Amorphous Solid Material (Glass)

Not one, not two, but THREE butterflies this week. The classes are pretty well filled up now so if we get any more students we'll have to add another night. This week we had a small break as a lot of our students were out on vacation which always works well when we have a new student starting.

First off we'll take a look at Monique's baby blue Butterfly with a deep blue body. She decided not to change the color of her solder so hers is a nice bright silver. Monique got the hang of all the steps very quickly so I'm expecting her to have no problem at all.

Bonnie came in with Monique (there's safety in numbers) and made this orange winged butterfly with a bright yellow body. And just like Monique, Bonnie showed complete confidence during every step of the way in making this Butterfly.


Our last butterfly (this week) was made by Shira. Rather than going with simple colors Shira chose a pink/tan/green mix for the wings and then complimented it with a multi-green body. Going with a copper coloring for the lead was a no-brainer and it came out perfectly. Shira came in with her first project picked so she's certainly excited about doing this. And I don't think she'll have a problem starting her Fluer De Lis window next week.

Patty finished up her 3 Fleur De Lis suncatchers and decided that a 4th was in order. After all, why settle for 3 when you can have 4??? So before she left she had a fourth cut out and ground. We'll see that one in our next post.

Roxie was working on the border this week as she tacked together all of her windows and then got all of the borders cut for each of them/ On of them is even wrapped already so next week she'll have them all assembled and then she'll begin soldering these.

Rita made full use of her class time and not only finished cutting her water and sky-- she also ground everything and didn't leave until she finished wrapping her last piece of glass. She'll tack it and add a border next week before she begins soldering this cute frog window.

This window looks like it's about finished but in reality Cheryl only cut all of the water-- she didn't get a chance to grind it to fit yet. But that's only because she's dealing with some large pieces here. And she took her time cutting these so (as you can see) it almost fits together perfectly as is. It won't take much to grind the last part of this window. Then she'll need to decide on a color for her border...

When it rains it pours and that's exactly what has been happening here. Once again inclement weather has fouled up my internet and stopped me from posting this in a timely manor. But it looks like the rain is behind us now so although I'm still behind one week, look for a second post to bring us up to date tomorrow.

Paul
Bayou Salé GlassWorks

Friday, July 2, 2010

If You Grind Your Points Down Too Much Your Project Becomes Pointless

Satellite Internet. Bah, humbug! It's our only choice here in the bayou unless we want to go back to dial up and live like we did back in the 90's. The problem with our current ISP is that if the wind blows or there's a cloud in the sky, or even perhaps a squirrel in a nearby tree we lose our connection. And with all the rain we've been having during the past week I've been lucky to even be able to check our mail. So, without further ado (it may cloud up again while I'm typing this) I bring you last weeks blog update.

You may remember Grace's Fleur De Lis window from last week but now that she's completed it we can get a good look at it with back lighting since we can lift it off the table. This puts another Fleur De Lis under her belt and she seems to be eying up yet another one for her next project.


Next up we get a look at Julies second Iris window which is now completed. She went with different color Iris' throughout both windows but she kept the colors similar so it all blends together nicely. Very nice work indeed along with an eye for color.


And I've taken the liberty of photoshopping the 2 pictures of her Iris windows together and setting them in a door frame so you can see something that approximates the effect that Julie will be having in her door at home. Sadly, I took this second picture with some back lighting behind it while the first picture was obviously taken while it was lying on the table so they don't quite match up as nicely as I'd hope they would but you still get the idea of what her door looks like anyway.

Suzie was so excited when she finished her first project last week that she decided to do another similar window. In just one class she's managed to cut out her new Fleur De Lis, grind it and then wrap it as well. You can't say that she's been sleeping though her past 5 classes, that's for sure! Take a look at her new FDL window.

Roxie is hard at work on her 6 Fleur De Lis windows (although I only have 5 pictured here this week). She has all her FDL centers soldered and has 5 of her backgrounds cut and ground. Heck, she even has two of them wrapped already! The rest are going home with her and she'll tack everything together and get borders cut during out during her next class.

Rita has decided to make a cute little frog window and has moved along quite far on it during her first week of work. All she has left to cut out is the sky and the water which totals 10 pieces. I highly suspect that she'll be working at the grinder next week. (Actually, I can't lie-- I know it for a fact since the class has already happened!)

When Patty arrived she wasn't sure what she was going to do since she'd finished her frames last week. After looking around at patterns we had in the shop she decided to cut out 3 Fleur De Lis suncatchers which will be very practical gifts in the near future (Think Christmas!) She has each of them cut, ground and bagged so she can take them home to wrap. Expect to see these completed next week.

Michele continued working away at the centerpiece of her traditional styled stained glass window. In fact, she has the cebter design all cut out now and is ready to begin grinding it when she returns in 2 weeks. I love the colors in this window and think it's really going to be an eye catcher.

Lisa came in and ground her second Fleur De Lis and then wrapped both of them in foil and tacked them together. By the time the night was over she got the background cut for one of her windows and even has it wrapped. She really moving along quickly here, and she'll certainly have the second background cut when she returns in two weeks.

Janice is soldering her 2nd to last window which means that the end is near! I'm going to have to get on the ball and draw up the jumping frog pattern that she wants to make next because she'll be needing it soon enough! She has only a few pieces left to cut on her last window and then there's just the background to go. I can't wait until she can put these behind her and work on new projects.

And here at the very end of the blog we have a look at Cheryl's undersea window. This week we saw her cut and grind her fish which means that all she needs to do is cut out the water and a border and she'll be basically done with this window. It's a big piece so it might take 2 weeks to solder but I suspect this will be hanging in her home soon enough.

Well, it looks like the weather has held out long enough for me to finish this. Now I can start working on the pictures from this weeks classes and hopefully get them uploaded tomorrow. But then again, with the weather the way it's been I'm not making any promises!

Paul
Bayou Salé GlassWorks