There are many methods for doing any of the steps in creation of stained glass. As your abilities grow you may find that there are times when you are more comfortable working in a way that I myself prefer not to. This is all about individuality and what feels 'right' to you. I freely accept that people may not want to do things the way I teach (and I'm fine with that) but there are often unseen reasons for why I want things done in a certain way.
Many of our students grind as they cut which is a practice that I always tell our students I don't recommend. Without everything cut you can't grind pieces while utilizing neighboring pieces which means that you spend more time at the grinder. It also means that your cutting has to be exact for those neighboring pieces since there's no more 'wiggle room' for fixing slight errors. Another problem is that only one person can grind a window at a time. Grinding is not something that two people can work on at the same time. This means that if you cut as you grind I can't be of any help to you.
If you prefer to grind as you cut and your work looks good then by all means go for it. Just please don't think that I'm ignoring you in class as I was told last week. I'm always here to help.
Okay, here's the large Spiral Window that Becky S completed this week! It's a beauty and you can see how those pieces of wire she added into the leaded sections help add character to the finished piece. This is another job very well done by Becky.
I fins that I like Susan's newest large Flowerpot Lawn Ornament even more than the one she made last week. The colors are perfect especially in the way that the flower picks up some of the color of the pot as well. Sue shows excellence in her work all around in this project as her soldering and cutting skills are top notch.
And here's Myrt's Cardinal Window all completed using waterglass purple for the flowers as well as the border. The purple can look dark without light behind it but the red just brightens things up wonderfully. Myrt has just one more of these to make but she's going to make a slight detour and make something in between Cardinals that you'll see further on down.
Linda L's Wine Bottle Window is almost together now and you can really see just how this is going to look at this point. She still needs to grind her background glass around the bottle on the left but after that it will only need a border (which she'll add this coming week) and then some solder.
Cindy's certainly going to town on her pair of large Suncatchers. She always manages to move through these quickly and efficiently. These should be under her belt and ready for her show in no time what so ever. Cindy is a fan of the Grind As You Go process of making stained glass and it always works well for her.
Ann has one section of her Acadian Flag completed and will move along to the other two sections when she returns. I can't imagine her taking very long to complete this as she only has a few pieces of background glass left to cut. There will also be some additional wire work on the tops of the castle that will add some extra detail before this is completed.
Barbara got all of the center section of her Heron Window all cut out, wrapped and tacked together. After the border strips were cut into individual pieces she got them skimmed on the grinder and has taken them home so she can start solder right away when she comes back into class next week. This is moving along quickly and her work is commendable to say the least. She's a little hesitant about the soldering process but slow and steady wins the race.
Jeannette's got both the center sections of her two Beveled Cabinet Doors all cut and tacked together and is in the process of adding the final borders. She has one set of borders all cut out and she'll surely have that as well as the second one attached when she returns.
Jeanne's done a little reappraising on her Tiger De Lis Window and has re-cut a few of the pieces to give the darker amber some subtle but effective shading. You can't see the difference while the glass is sitting on the pattern but you will surely notice it when this panel is hanging in a window.
Next we look at Lara's Poppies which are not only all tacked together but somewhat soldered as well. With the front side completed all she needs to do is the back side. Lara picked up on soldering rather quickly and has done an amazing job. There's a very good chance that this will be completed when she comes back into class.
Jan swished through the grinding process of her Basketball Net and has begun wrapping the pieces that form that net. The ball itself has also been ground so it's safe to say that she's got some wrapping ahead of her. Once that has been foiled she'll only have 5 more pieces to go before she adds a border. Yep, it's safe to say that the rest of this window will go easily for Jan.
And Martha has all of her Seafood cut out and she's working on grinding her last last two Crawfish for a perfect fit. All I can say is that those lemons make me thirsty for lemonade each time I look at them. Foiling will commence when Martha returns.
By the time Lynn left class her Beveled Fleur De Lis Window (her first window) was all tacked together and even had its channel attached. She's begun soldering and seems to have a firm grasp on the situation. When she returns she'll work on soldering some of the curved lines and we'll see where that leads us.
Rowena has another Butterfly Lawn Ornament under way and has begun working on one of my favorite Iris Windows as well. The 'Long Tall Iris' is always a head turner and the double border on it is what really sets it all off. I also suspect it's what drew Rowena to this pattern in the first place.
Tasha is moving along on the cutting of her newest window, a Fleur De Lis, which is actually far smaller than you might assume from looking at it in the picture below. This is only about 12 inches in diameter and even made Cindy say, "Wow, that's a lot of tiny pieces!"
Susan R's latest oversized Suncatcher is a gardening glove with flowers sprouting out the top. She's been on quite a roll with these Lawn Ornaments but next week we're going to see her start a Welcome sign of her own complete with a traditional Pineapple. Why does this remind me of Michael Jackson?
Susan D has a new 3D Humming Bird to add to her Flower Cornucopia and she may start soldering everything together when we see her next. People have been asking exactly what this will look like when it's all assembled and you can see the answer to that in out next picture.
This is the image that Susan saw in a catalog that inspired her to begin working on one of her own. When you get right down to it I guess you can call it a Super Sized Lawn Ornament. Maybe even a Super Over Sized one!
Shelley's Duck head Window is ready for solder and since she's taken it home we may never see it again! Shelley is certainly good for finishing things up while she's at home so when she comes back in we may see that she's started on something new. We'll learn if she was able to finish this up when we return next week.
Also among our completed pieces this week are this Butterfly Lawn Ornament and Business Card Holder that Bonnie made. Bonnie's Card Holder uses a distinctive style that she's perfected. She utilizes the rough edge of the glass and doesn't cover that section with solder. Enlarge the picture and you'll see exactly where those rough edges are and how they give this Business Card holder its entirely original look.
And we end this weeks post by taking a look at the Eagle and Flag Window that Becky S will be starting when she returns. She's got her poster board pattern all cut out and has already begun tracing out those pattern pieces onto her glass. I suspect this will go real quick for Becky!
Paul
Bayou Salé GlassWorks
Just look at this beautiful pinning by Martha. It's the stuff my dreams are made of!
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