Don't Call Us, We'll Call You

Those birds.  Those colors.  That design!  We've had more than a handful of students keeping their eye on Patty's bird project as it was being made and now that they're completed I'm going to miss having them around the shop.  The color choices are all perfect and the work itself is impeccable (get it?)   Patty did a great job on this and all I can say is, "Wow, they even photograph wonderfully!"

We had a new student this week so that means that it's Butterfly time!  Brenda is someone I've been hearing about for a while now so when Terry asked if she could bring her sister in to start classes I said, "No Way!"  Well, actually I told Terry to bring her on in.  I just want to see if anyone reads all this stuff I type out each week.  lol  Anyway, Brenda's butterfly worked out perfectly.  She didn't have a single problem during any of the steps that it took to make this so I can't wait to see what she decides to make for her first project.

Ann now has a good three quarters of her first Geometrical Window ground.  She'll most likely complete grinding this when she comes back in and then she can start grinding the second one that matched this and is already cut out.  We also worked on the pattern to her larger 3rd panel this week and it's going to look great.  I think we'll be seeing that one soon considering how quickly Ann is moving on these two windows.

Bonnie's Humming Birds and Flowers window has a very delicate and elegant look about it.  The lead lines actually form the stems that weave all throughout this pattern which does three things: 1) it gives us plenty of freedom to position the flowers and birds anywhere we want to make the pattern feel more 'balanced' , 2) it gives the pattern a graceful quality, and 3) they make cutting the background easier since the pieces aren't very large.   This is going to be one beautiful window.

Cindy's got 2 more Zebra mirrors in the works and this is a look at her first one.  She's made a few adjustments to her pattern to make sure the handle stays securely attached to the mirror.  There's nothing worse than stained glass that falls apart!  This is the second mirror that she's made in this design and all I can say is that sometimes you learn from experience.  That's why this mirror is going to turn out perfect right from the start.

Lynn has only 6 pieces of background left to cut and then she'll be working on her border.  And we all know that a border is an hour long project at best.  So I think she's going to be doing some soldering on this window real soon now!  It really sparkles and the beveled doves look great! Wait until we see this with some light behind it.

Martha has two of her three Fleur De Lis windows ready to be tacked together.  She also picked a background glass for her third window and has decided to make that one square rather than rectangular.  If you look closely at the picture below you can see that Martha didn't use the same background glass for these two panels.  The one on the left uses Glue Chip glass while the one on the right is cut out of Krackle.

 

Roxie is making headway with her 4 hummingbirds.  She's got all four of them ground and then she even got a fifth one cut and ground before she took them all home to wrap.  All she needs now is some foil and Bonnie is going to help get some to her before they come back to class on Thursday.  I only managed to snap 3 out of 5 of the humming birds because she's using the same pattern to grind them all.  That means that I only had a few seconds to take a picture before the pieces all went into a ziplock bag so Roxie could start on the next bird.  On a side note, sorry about not answering the phone Roxie-- it was nothing personal, just those &#%@ cell phones!

This here is Twister the Cat and now that there's only the background glass left to cut I figured I'd best get this little guy's name drawn out so Shelley wouldn't have to waist time waiting for me to do it during class.  Shelley modified her pattern slightly since we last saw it and I really like the 'cuts' she's made.  None of them take away from the detail of the cat yet they make the window easier to make.  We like that a lot.

Keeping with 'cats' we'll now take a look at Susan's LSU Tiger Window.  You can see that she's moving along nicely and she even has all of her background cut out now.  If you enlarge the picture (by clicking on it) you'll see that I traced out a large white section with a green trim to show that the glass is indeed cut and ground.  It's just lost sitting on the white pattern paper.  I can tell Susan is having fun making this and that is what these stained glass classes are all about.

 

And our last piece this week is a rather breath taking pattern that is almost completed already.  Terry got the idea for this window while looking at a box of soap!  She took the design, enlarged it, made a few modifications so it could be done in glass and this is what she brought in with her.  Everyone agrees that it looks stunning and I can't wait to see it completed.

I guess we're back up to date so we'll ba back with a new update either Sunday or Monday.

Paul
Bayou Salé GlassWorks

Snoopie's Stuff

Cindy's Pelican Window has now been officially completed and has flown out the door.  This is a nice pattern and Cindy did a great job on it.  I love the way the purple in the sky is reflected in the water.  And the contrast between the background glass and the bird is perfect so he isn't lost in the busy water and sky sections.   Since the water was cut up into so many pieces Cindy was able to use thin scraps of blue/purple that were just lying around.  Sometimes it pays to save all of those medium sized scraps...

 

Cindy also completed this football hanging ornament that's been LSUified.  The tiger eye itself is a football but the stripes that Cindy added make it look so much more complete.  Her eye for detail can't be beat.  :-)

  

Terry had an insanely busy class this time around.  She started things off by completing her 2nd large Victorian window design and as you can see below it's a stunning window.  Her choice of colors really give this pattern a more delicate look.

 

And Terry didn't stop there.  She also managed to finish this window that she made with the superfluous pieces that she cut while making her 2 Victorian windows.  Waste not want not! 

Susan finished this Lawn Ornament Pumpkin, which she now has down to a science.  For some reason I think this one came out looking particularly attractive.  Maybe it's just the shape of the pumpkin or the shade of the orange glass that she made it with.  All I know is that it really catches your eye. 

 

Susan couldn't decide what Holiday she wanted to celebrate so she finished her snowman this week also.  Again, this is a Lawn Ornament so it will be decorating a yard once the feeling of Christmas Cheer is in the air.

And as you may already know (if you read last weeks update), Susan couldn't wait to get started on her LSU/Louisiana/Tiger Window so she didn't let the 2 Lawn Ornaments she made stop her from also working on this window as well.  And I must say that Susan's made some serious progress on it.  It looks like there's only the Orange/Yellow left to cut and she'll be ready to put this all together.  Susan's doing a wonderful job especially when you see how many tiny, thin pieces of glass this window is made up of.  Just wait until you see this up in the air with some light behind it.

 

 I don't think this window needs any introduction at all.  Even though it's the back of his head and there isn't a face in sight I find it hard to believe that there's someone out there that couldn't recognize Charlie Brown and Snoopy.  Sonia's really excited about this one (she's a big Peanuts Fan) and the only thing left to cut is the setting sun that CB and Snoopy are looking at  That means that Sonia is going to be standing in front of the grinder when she makes it back into class.  It won't be next week though because she and Patty will be traveling to Texas for a wedding.  I hope they eat some cake for me!

  

Ann has most of the cutting done for her 2 windows.  I say 'most' only because there may be a piece or two that we overlooked while tracing things out.  Nonetheless, Ann has been busy at the grinder and she's managed to get the upper right corner of this window fitting together nicely along with a good portion of the lower right as well.  I think she'll be at the grinder for another 2 weeks but when she has this all soldered and you realize just how small this is, you'll be thoroughly impressed.  

  

Ann had a visitor this week so she ended up bringing her daughter Korie along to class with her.  Korie decided to make a butterfly rather than just sit back and watch her mother grind glass all night (which was a great idea considering how boring that can be).   Sadly, Korie won't be returning as this was just a one week deal.  I say sadly because Korie really made making this butterfly look easy.  It's just a shame that she can't be closer so she can continue with this new talent she developed.  Look at her butterfly and see for yourself.

 

Meanwhile, Lynn worked on the miscellaneous pieces of her large door insert.  The only thing left to do on this project is to cut out the background glass.  Since they're all fairly large pieces I don't think she'll have any problem finishing this off.  We're going to cut everything from the peices you see in the picture so grinding won't be an issue at all.  Everything should pretty much fit together after it just gets a quick skim at the grinder.

 

Bonnie made a quick trip into class this week and left early due to a Baby Shower that she was helping to organize.  She had a hummingbird left to grind and that's what she did.  All the pieces you see below are already ground so this is going to fly together since once it's all cut she'll be able to move directly to wrapping her pieces.  

Roxie, who is also working on Humming Birds managed to get 4 of hers cut out and a 5th one repaired.  She's had the 5th one for a few years now and it accidentally fell to the floor and damaged its largest tail feather.  But it's fixed now!  And Roxie will begin grinding these when she returns for her next class.

 

Meet Twister the cat.  Sadly, Twister isn't with us anymore so Shelley decided to make this window as a memorial to Twister.  She's got the colors all picked out to match and just to be sure there's no mistaking just who this cat is she's also going to spell out the name below it as well.  Shelley has done a wonderful job cutting out her glass and I think that she's really going to be pleased with this when it's completed.

 

Look!  More Humming Birds!  This is Myrt's window and she's certainly got this one completely under control now.  In fact I'm going to go out on a limb and  predict that she finishes this  when she comes in again.  But that won't be next week because she has a Garden Club meeting that we can't seem to convince her to skip.  I guess we're going to have to learn how to share her from time to time.  :-(

 

Now, for our last exhibit we're going to take a look at the work that Martha has accomplished.  As you can see her two red Fleur De Lis' are all ground and tacked together but what you might not be able to see is that she has the background glass all cut out for them as well.  Since the background is clear glass it's hard to get a picture so you'll just have to take my word for it.  Next week Martha will be wrapping and prepping her windows for double borders.

And that is going to do it for this update,  We still have one more to go this week so expect a new post Monday night which will bring us back up to date.  Until then take care and don't spit on your glass cutter no matter what you might have read elsewhere!

Paul
Bayou Salé GlassWorks

Crackin' The Whip

Well, we're back after a brief (3 day) evacuation due to Hurricane Isaac.  After returning it then took me a week to get everything (pictures and text) in order for this particular post.  So although this is a week late I actually have all the pictures ready for our next post which will happen VERY shortly.  If you think your completed project may has been skipped this go around don't worry-- it will most likely make its appearance in the next post in a day or so. 

Let's get this post started off by looking at the first of a pair of windows made my Terry.  What you see here is the completed version which is far prettier than its sister window which is still a work in process.  The off-white background (or Darryl Glass as we like to refer to it) really makes the center work stand out.  I've always been a fan of the symmetrical design windows and this one by Terry just makes me like the design even more.

 

Now we'll take a look at the second matching window that Terry is currently making.  It's amazing what a difference there is when all that's really changed (besides having all the chemicals washed off of it) is a little light behind the window.

 

And Terry didn't stop there.  She had replaced a number of pieces from the pair of windows you saw above because she didn't like the color.  Rather than waste the glass she designed this window around all the pieces of glass that she already had already cut and ground.  And it's a wonderful window in its own right and it only needs solder on the second side before she can call this completed.

Bonnie is making some serious progress on her Hummingbird Window even though we didn't have all the glass for it when she came into class.  The glass for her flowers and the remaining leaves was still on a UPS truck so Bonnie simply cut out both of her hummingbirds which she DID have the glass for.  Then she even ground one of them before calling it a night!  Of course the missing glass arrived the very next day but that didn't slow down Bonnie's progress  at all.

Next up we take a look at Cindy's Pelican Panel which is almost completed.  All the glass cutting is finished and all she really needs to do now is attach the border pieces and then solder the back side of it.  I love the wooden post that the Pelican is standing on -- the fact that it cuts straight through the border really gives it a nice 3D effect.

 

Lynn has completed the "G" section of her window and all of the beveled pieces are wrapped, tacked and in place for this picture.  It's moving along nicely and Lynn has decided to add a few accent pieces along the lead lines in the background that will make the windows design flow even more.  Outside of the border we really don't want to see any straight, harsh lines because they would distract from the gracefulness of the design.   

 

Martha now has all of her Fleur De Lis cut and ground.  One of them is already tacked together and the other two are just waiting to be wrapped/foiled.  Once she has the remaining 2 tacked together she'll start cutting and assembling the backgrounds.  We've seen a lot of FDL's here in the Blog over the years but these are one of the fancier, difficult ones to cut out.  There are plenty of deep, inside curves that can only be accomplished with the help of a grinder (with a good wheel on it!)  That said, Martha is moving along like a champ.

 

Patty's birds are flocked and ready for solder.  All of their eyes are cut and in place along with the wooden perch that they are all standing (sitting?) on.  With everything all in order here and the soldering process having been started on the front side of this project I'd say that Patty is well on her way to taking this piece home with her shortly.

 

Roxie has decided to make a few birds of her own but she's making the same one over and over.  What you're looking at is Roxie's 2012 Christmas gifts and once again she's really ahead of the game.  She plans on making these in assorted colors and as you can tell by the beaks that you see cut out Roxie plans on making at least 4 of these gift birds.  That means she may only have 33 pieces left to go (unless she decides to make even more of them).

 

Susan has always working ahead of time when it comes to seasonal items.  This Snowman lawn ornament that she started last week is all ready to be soldered together.  But Susan is also ready to start on her next project and she's pretty excited about getting to it.  Check out the next picture for more details.

 

Here's a look at the window that Susan can't wait to start.  It's an LSU tiger with a few hidden treats.  The state of Louisiana has been incorporated into the pattern as well as the words 'Geaux LSU'.  The words may be difficult to spot in the drawing but once you see them it's hard to not see the hidden letters and the state outline.  It's sort of like the hidden arrow in the FedEx logo.  I can't wait to see this window come together over the weeks.

Lastly, we had Fran come in and work on repairing the Fish window that she made a few years back.  Try as I might I can't find the original picture even though I know it's on a disc somewhere.  I guess I need to get a little more organized!

Paul
Bayou Salé GlassWorks