Time For A Break

Terry's LSU Tiger Window is really something else. From the design to the colors and especially the workmanship, this window is hard to knock. The outer border is the same as the background glass and the only program she had making this was that 5 of the border pieces got cut out of an EXTREMELY dark section of the glass and looked completely out of place. Everything looked fine until we held it up. We all knew that something had to be done and Terry had no problem changing the 5 pieces within 15 minutes or so. All in all, a job well done.


Peewee has completed his latest Fleur De Lis Window and like the others this one is perfect. He still has either two or three left to go before he can retire this pattern. At this point in time I can't really recall how many he's done already but rest assured you'll see at least 2 more of these.


Susan's latest Hand Mirror has been completed. She's altering the design of the hand mirror and has come up with a new pattern which you'll see in the next Blog Update. It's not that she doesn't like this pattern, she just wants something that goes together a bit faster than this. Looking at this mirror I'd say that she's mastered the pattern for this one.


Next we get to take a look at Denise's latest Fleur De Lis. It's her own design commemorating the winning season that the Saints had in 2009-2010 right down to their Super Bowl victory. The XLIV is cut from mirror and really doesn't show well in the picture but you can clearly see Denise's attention to detail.Roxie has her hand mirror all cut out and it's ready to be ground. Everyone loves the color scheme of this mirror because it's a completely different take on a familiar theme. It's amazing how much colors can influence a pattern.

Whoa! Look here! The border is cut, ground and wrapped on Patty's Seafood window. This means that all the glass has been cut for this and there's only soldering left to do. Since Patty was dealing with such tiny pieces she wrapped this in 3/16ths foil which means that the soldering process should go nice and easy. This one has just 1 more week left in the shop because when patty returns this should be completed!

What a boar. Donkeys and Tigers and Boars, oh my. This place is starting to look like a glass menagerie! We've also done a Moose, and Elk, a Cow, and too many birds to even shake a glass cutter at. Cindy's got the 1st of her 2 latest Boar Head Windows almost completed now. She'll be making these in her sleep next!

And since Terry completed her Tiger Window she started on this VERY fancy Fleur De Lis window. This from the woman who says she doesn't like making Fleur De Lis'! in fact, for accents she plans on putting smaller FDL's in the 4 corners of this window! Just imagine what she'd be doing if she loved making Fleur De Lis! Honestly though, this is a very nice design with a lot of work involved in it. The tricky part is keeping the diamonds aligned after you start foiling them and things start shifting. But I have no doubt that Terry will prevail!


We're almost caught up now. I believe there are only 2 postings to go before we are caught up with things up to the first week of classes in February. And my New Years Resolution is to keep this Blog current! (Of course I just made the resolution now on the last day of January so does it really count??)

Paul
Bayou Salé GlassWorks

Them's The Breaks

Anita has been keeping her nights occupied by making sun catchers in her spare time. She's made a cross or 2 before and now she's made her own version of a stylized cross. I like how nicely she got her gold diamond points to fit in the "wooden" parts of the cross
And here's a Fleur De Lis that Anita also made one night while she was at home. She always has 2 or 3 projects going on at once so we never know what we'll see next when she comes in.

And speaking of not knowing what we'll see next, well Denise hasn't stopped making glass and she surprised me with a few pictures of items she's made lately. And this Angel Cross is one of the finished projects that appeared in my email. We'll be show casing a few more projects by Denise in the next few Blogs updates so you can see what she's been doing at home.


Denise also sent along this Teddy Bear sun catcher that she made. She's another one that doesn't stop for a break. :-)

Susan still has the Hand Mirror Fever and this is the latest one that she's been working on. The good news is that it's almost completed. I'd say it's got about a week left to go before someone gets to look into it and ask who's the fairest of them all...

All of the glass is cut and ground and only the last green border has to be wrapped before Fran can pretty much call this a completed project. There's still the soldering, of course, but Fran hasn't had much of a problem handling that on her own. A few touch ups in an area here or there and she'll be able to take this home and begin her next project.

Terry's Lion Window looks incredible. This thing looks downright ferocious so I'd say that she managed to capture the fighting spirit of LSU , wouldn't you? Then again, all of Terry's projects come out pretty darned perfect. I guess you could say that "They're Grrrrreat!" (Oops, wrong tiger!)

And let's not forget about Myrt's Flower/Dragonfly Window. As you can see she's got this flipped to the back side now which means that she pretty much has this window in the bag, so to speak. I like the way she took the initiative to change parts of it on her own and I can't wait to see it lit up from behind. I'll bet you can't wait either.

Peewee's latest Fleur De Lis window is also close to completion. All this needs is some solder and it will be hanging above a door in Peewee and Dianne's house.

Pam worked on a Fleur De Lis of her own this week. She's always coming up with her own patterns and walking in the door with projects that she's started at home on her own. She's certainly a lot more confident now and no longer afraid to tackle anything. Like so many other windows this week, this one just needs some solder before it sees the light of the sun.

I remember when Cindy made this window as her first project. When it was finished she put the pattern in the drawer thinking she'd never see it again but here we see she's not only working on it yet again but she's almost got it halfway completed. And the funny thing is that she has another one to do after this is finished! Never say never...

Lastly we'll take a look at Ann's two cabinet windows. We assumed that they were the same size but it turned out that there was almost a half inch difference in the width between the 2 of them. Luckily we had room on the sides to take off a bit here and there to make one slightly smaller. I must say that luck was with us because if she had cut out 2 of the smaller versions we would have had to recut all the edge pieces on one window to make it larger. At any rate, they're both ground and sized perfectly now. She's got one almost completely wrapped and the other isn't far behind so working on soldering these will be the next thing to do...

Wow, I can't believe how many windows we looked at that are so close to completion. I think we're about to see a lot of projects headed out the door for the last time very soon now.

Paul
Bayou Salé GlassWorks

Saints Or Sinners

Wow, I have to say that Cindy scored a touch down with this window. She started this knowing that she would use purple and gold for the tiger eye and the LSU but she had no idea what to use for her background. In the end she decided to use green to make it look like the LSU Football field and boy does it ever work on this window! What a great job she did on this.


And Sonia's Fleur De Lis Box is a winner as well. These boxes seem to be the perfect size because they all turn out looking very classy. Sonia was under the gun when it came down to completing this in time for Christmas but she managed to do it without sacrificing any of the quality of her work.


Pam added another of her over-sized sun catchers to her list of accomplishments when she completed this Water Lily design. Her confidence is high and her projects are getting more and more complex with each accomplished project.


Susan's latest Hand Mirror has pink undertones throughout all the glass which tie it all together perfectly. These really are a great gift and we've seen many of them made for Christmas recently. And since 3 more students have mentioned making these I think we'll be seeing different variations of the flowered hand mirror for a while.


And since Susan has become a professional at making Hand Mirrors and Business Card Holders she decided to really break out this week and complete one of each. This is her 'spur-of-the-moment' Blue Baroque Business Card Holder.

And Susan wasn't ready to call it a day with 2 projects completed so before Susan left she also started grinding her next Hand Mirror. She had cut it out at home and when she headed back home it was more than half ground and fitted together.


Fran's Donkey is just about complete! And when I say 'just about' I mean that the hard part is most certainly over with with. It's all tacked together save for her double borders which she'll work on when she returns. This window reminds me of Donkey from the Shrek movies. He's really got character.


With her added oysters, Patty can almost officially call this Seafood Medley Window complete! There are possible a few background pieces left to cut (I say possibly only because some of them are so small that we may lose them under solder and if that's going to happen then why should she bother cutting and wrapping them in the first place?) so this window is going to get a border on it next! And to think that Patty thought that she would never finish this window.


Ann's Butterfly Cabinet Doors are looking to be quite beautiful. This is the first one all ground and fitted together perfectly. She'll be doing some wrapping at home and then she'll begin grinding the mirror image of this window for her second cabinet door.


Lastly we'll take a look at this detail mid-sized window that Anita is making. It's not exactly a small project but it's small enough to make working with the tiny pieces a bit of a problem. But problem or not Anita managed to grind it all, wrap it and then tack it together. She'll be finishing this one at home for sure.

For those of you keeping track of the time frame on these posts, this update takes us up to Christmas of 2011. That means there are only 1 more set of classes before the New Year starts and things get a little less hectic around here.

Paul
Bayou Salé GlassWorks

Don't Learn Safety By Accident

I knew I was going to like this box when it was finished-- I could just feel it in my bones. True, it's not you would call a conventional item but it's the perfect Christmas gift for the guy who has everything. Sonia did a great job on this-- even though at first glance you might think, "There's no way that's a skull in a top hat" it only takes a second glance to realize that there's no mistaking that's exactly what it is.


Roxie finished her 2 frames in time for the Holidays and I've put some nice pictures in them to show them off. They looked sort of plain and boring with nothing in them. For the record, they're both the same size-- I just pictured them in both Landscape and Portrait orientations so you can see that they work in either direction.


Close you eyes and tap your heels together three times. And think to yourself, there's no place like home.

And while we're on a movie theme here, I can't help but call Anita's 1st project this week the 'Finding Nemo' sun catcher. I'm not sure if this is a clown fish or not but it's certainly the correct colors.

And here's a look at Anita's Bordered Glass Window. She just really liked the design in this clear textured glass and decided that it was pretty enough to hang as is. Well, she did add a double border to give it a little extra something...

Also, Anita made this small sunflower window as well. But her real project for this week is the next one...

This is Anita's Seagulls and Sunset window. Her Seagulls have a very contemporary look about them making this a classic stained glass window with a modern twist.


Next up is this week's featured Fleur De Lis. This one was made by Terry and if you haven't noticed, her black border and the actual FDL are made from the same glass used by Roxie in her 2 frames up above. This is always a popular glass and you can see why everyone likes it. Whether she likes making them or not Terry certainly has a knack for Fluer De Lis windows!


Dianne has completed her 1st Victorian Styled Window. Throughout the building process of this window she's learned a lot and seems to have lost most of the worries that plague students initially. She made this window with a good deal of confidence and very little help at all. This will end up above one of the doorways in her house.


And Dianne already has her second companion window just about ready to be soldered. As I always say-- if you're making more than one of the same window it's best to cut them all out at the same time. When you get on a roll you don't want to move onto another step and lose your momentum.


Wow, look at Terry's Tiger. It's yet another pattern that she drew up herself and I have to say that it is a VERY nice pattern at that. It's almost completely ground so she'll be working on a background and a border next. Talk about a window with personality! Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!


Susan got one of her hand mirrors together this week. This one is ready to be soldered but since the mirror was cut at the end of class we decided that it would be best of she tracked it into place next week so the mirror wouldn't sit with chemicals on it for any length of time. Mirrors are tricky to work with because the backing can get damaged fairly easily and once that happens you have a mirror with black rotting edges rather than a bright shiny mirror.

After Sonia completed her Skull box she immediately went to work on making a second box. She had some of this completed last week but this week her entire box top is completed. That means there are just 5 pieces of glass to cut and tack together before she attaches this top and calls this finished. Something tells me that she really liked the boxes Roxie made since this was cut from the same pattern and the same glass. Imitation is the highest form of flattery!


There are about 5 pieces left to go on this before Patty adds her border. There's a spot on the lower right where the pattern calls for the top part of an oyster but Patty was ready to just fill it in with background glass so she could get this done. Alas, I intervened and have insisted that since she's gone this far with her window I don't want to see her wimping out at the very end and having a big hole in it. Next week we'll fill in an oyster and finish the background.


And here's yet another original pattern. Cindy wanted to see if she could come up with something on her own and she's done a marvelous job! This is a big window at 30 inches long so she'll have to use some zinc channel to finish it off. The zinc channel is far heavier and makes a sturdier window but it also much wider than the lighter brass channel. A window this size needs the extra stability that the zinc channel will add.

Ann has begun grinding the first of her 2 mirror image cabinet windows that she's making. Wait a minute, how can she start grinding them is we didn't even see her start these???? Well, I missed out on taking pictures last week when she began cutting her butterflies. Then she did a lot of work at home and that means she's grinding these already. And when you next see these I think they'll be completed! Ann has been working very diligently on these windows and they are coming together quickly.

And rounding things off here at the end we'll take a look at Peewee's latest Fleur De Lis Window. It's the same design that he made before just with slightly different measurements. He needs a few filler pieces in this one but I'd say he'll be adding a border when he comes in again.


There is only 1 week to go until Christmas 2011 gets here (yeah, I know I'm behind here with the updates but we're getting there!) so come back shortly to see just what gets finished before Santa needs to collect these windows to make his deliveries.

Paul
Bayou Salé GlassWorks

Band-Aids and Paper Towels

This update brings us into the month of December. I have plenty of pictures and I believe I have everything sorted by week now. My biggest problem is remembering who made what project when I look back at these month old pictures.

There's no need to fear--Blue Dog is here! I have to say that Cindy's window really came out nice. It's so vibrant that there's no way anyone can ignore it. In fact, it really reminds me of a comic book panel. Cindy knocked this out on record time but you can't tell that from the quality of the finished project.


Anita's Symmetrical Geometric Design has really caught a lot of the students eyes. Something like this isn't that difficult to make and it always manages to be an attention getter. These are the kind of projects that we love around here.

Wow, where do I start with Pam? Pam was as busy as she could possibly be hammering out 5 large suncatchers in between classes. This is her Purple Calla Lily.



This is her geometric design.
This is her fancy cross
This is her Fluer De Lis.
And this is Pam's Orchid. All of these were made at home by Pam and she finished them all off during class this week. I can really see an improvement in her work as she's finding it easier and easier to keep the glass within the lines on her patterns.


Terry completed her Saints Window and I would have been shocked if she hadn't completed it this week. It just wouldn't seem right if Terry didn't finish a project during class. :-)


And Susan has another Business Card Holder under her belt. I don't even think she needs the pattern to cut and grind these things anymore! One thing is sure, she has the process down pat.

And when Susan finished her Card Holder she began working on a new Hand Mirror. Here you can see her pieces have been traced out onto her glass where she will begin cutting them at home.


Sonia's Skull Box is really taking shape now. The top is complete-- all it needs is to be cleaned up and colored. That means that there are only 5 pieces left to cut and solder together so she can attach this top and have it featured in the Blog.

Who do you suppose is making this Fleur De Lis? None other than Terry. For someone who's burned out on making Fleur De Lis' she certain has enough people asking for them. Maybe if she makes them upside down it will appear to be something other than a Fleur De Lis and make it a little easier to work on...


Peewee started on 2 more Fleur De Lis Windows which are essentially the same as he made before only sized up differently. This is one of the FDL's that he cut and ground. The other was at the grinder with him while I was snapping pictures.

Myrt's been wrapping her glass and it looks as though this window is just about done. Once it's tacked together she'll fill in the sun and cut it into 5 pieces. Then it's just a border and some soldering!

Dianne has the front side of her Victorian styled window soldered and only has the back side left to go. It's amazing how fast people get things done during the month of December-- especially if what they're working on is a gift!

And when Cindy finished her Blue Dog Window she immediately started working on the first of 2 more Boar Windows that she has orders for. Don't get me wrong, I loved the window when she completed it but I never thought that she'd have to make 2 more!


And speaking of animal windows let's take a look at Fran's Donkey window. With only the mouth left to go she's about to wrap this project up shortly. I guess you can say she has her ass in gear!

Anita made this window at home and brought it in to solder it. This is another project that is soldered on the front side but not the back side. We'd finish things much quicker in here if we could find a way to do both sides at once. But for now she'll have to tackle the back side next week.


And as a quicky project Anita decided that she had to do something quick and simple with this piece of clear glass embossed with Bamboo leaves and stalks. She just squared it up and added 2 borders around it to frame it all out. These borders need to be wrapped and then they'll only be a little solder to do before she completes this window.

And that will wrap things up in a retrospective look at what happened during classes during the first week of December 2011. Expect a second week update VERY shortly.

Paul
Bayou Salé GlassWorks