Never Forget To Wipe Your Glass
It's come to my attention that no one seems to clean their glass before tracing pattern pieces onto it. Students worry about removing any marker that is used to price and identify the glass but the (supposedly) clean sections are never wiped down. Taking a damp (lightly moistened) paper towel to the surface of your glass will help ensure that your marker lines don't easily wipe off as you are handling the glass and even grinding it. You wash your walls before paint them, right? Well the same rule should apply to your glass as well. Try it and be amazed-- it could change your life!Well now, Mary Grace came in and was able to wash, color, wash and then wax her Welcome Window. As you can see she did a great job on this rather large piece that contains many tiny pieces. There was a crack in one section that we repaired by simply adding a lead line over it and unless you know where it was you'd never know that the pattern wasn't drawn that way to start with. Working around minor problems is one of the things that keeps you on your toes when you are making stained glass windows.
Jeannette completed her two Fish Window and the colors match the light, whimsical tone of the window perfectly. We painted the black dots onto the white eyes to give these fish some vision and now everything looks great. Jeannette did a wonderful job on this (as always).
Brenda made this beautiful Louisiana Window during the week that we didn't have classes. Started and completed at home, Brenda continues to show us just how wonderful her work is. And would you look at those cuts in the bottom right green piece of Louisiana as well as the clear piece of glass that fits into it! She did this work with a grinder and all I can say is, "That's amazing!"
Terry made these three beautiful Christmas Suncatchers but it's her Cross that really caught my eye. And Brenda Pointed out that there are even Jesus fishes 'hidden' in the design. Do you see them? There are four of them.
Rowena was as busy as a bee and managed to make these two beautiful Christmas Suncatchers. Although we've seen the Cross before, the Angel (made with 6 bevels) is new. And the pattern is so nice that you could actually make this without using bevels.
Carol finished this two colored bevel cross and did a masterful job with it. She was unsure of where to add the hook since there were no lead lines near the top of the cross but since it comes to a point this suncatcher can have its hook attached to an area where there isn't a joint.
And here's the second, taller version of the Nativity Scene that Betty likes to make. This one fulfills an order and I know the recipient will be happy when they see it. See, last week a dog somehow managed to get trapped in the fenced in section of Betty's back yard and was afraid to leave when she opened the gate. The animal was very upset, foaming at the mouth, and barking so loudly that the neighbors ended up calling the police. When three squad cars and two officers appeared at her door Betty explained the situation and the officers, after eying up the situation, ended up having to call Animal Control to handle the matter. As they were waiting for someone to arrive to tranquilize the beast, Betty invited the policemen in for Tea and Butter Croissants served with a side plate of Cucumber Sandwiches. While they were sitting down to eat, Officer Chauvin de la Frénière spied the Nativity Scene window that Betty had hanging in her Parlor window and inquired as to where she had purchased it (because the work was, as he said, exquisite). Well, you can imagine his surprise when he learned that Betty had made it herself. He immediately commissioned her to create one for his Great Aunt Juniper who lived just 2 blocks over and several blocks down. And that, dear reader, is how this window came to be! But the icing on the cake to this story is that Miss Juniper Chauvin de la Frénière was not only the recipient of this gorgeous window, but also the owner of the dog that had meandered its way into Betty's yard! It turns out that if that cute little pit bull named Jack Kerouac hadn't meandered into Betty's yard then this window wouldn't exist at all! Sometimes the truth IS stranger than fiction. (Just not in this case, however.)
Linda F Finished her latest Pumpkin Window and like the last one this is a work of art. We're seeing a lot of these and we will most likely ban their creation after a few dozen of these are made. ;-)
Becky S has the vase and flowers portion of her window all cut out and it's looking colorful, impressive, and elegant. No one realizes just how many pieces it takes to make this window until they begin cutting it all out (as Becky will attest to). As you can see though, it's well worth the effort.
Jeanne has her Tiger De Lis Face all tacked together and has picked out a beautiful dark (DARK!) purple glass to use as background for this window. hopefully it will be in next week in time for her to start cutting background. If not, then she'll begin something else for one week and then move back to this which I can't wait to see completed.
Rowena came in and added all of the accent pieces to the long, left side, blue border of her Peacock Window. Since this side was designed 'on the fly', the second side should go much quicker (now that we know what we are doing). It won't be long now before this window is hanging in Rowena's house!
Terry is always as busy as can be and this week we see that she's got not just one but two 'S' Windows almost completed. They both have their borders cut so these are windows are all ready for soldering.
Well, it's official-- Linda L has begun soldering her Industrial Fleur De Lis Window and has the front side completely tacked together and the zinc channel already attached. I'm fairly certain that she was pleasantly surprised that the soldering part of the lead trim was exactly as easy as I said it would be. This window is almost completed but we'll be seeing it yet again because Betty plans on making it next.
Roxane hunkered down and got the rest of her feathery Duck Window all ground. There was a lot of grinding but Roxane learned the benefits of placing the piece that you're grinding UNDER any adjacent pieces that are already ground. Never guess where you should grind to when you can draw a line and accomplish it perfectly with just two trips to the grinder.
Myrt now has all of her glass tacked together on her Mermaid Window and will begin soldering it when she comes back in. She was originally going to go with a bright color for the border but Terry had the same idea that I had-- match the border glass to the shell color. Once Myrt saw the glass she loved it and now it's a done deal.
Susan R has her Christmas Tree Panel just about completed. She's decided to add a fancy irregular top to the panel which accentuates the pointed tree top perfectly and she's done all of this by herself. This will surely be finished when we see it again.
Ann Started cutting out the glass for her newest Cross Window but since she accidentally left the pattern at home all of the glass she cut ended up in a pile on her work board. We'll be able to see exactly how much Ann accomplished once these pieces are all laid out on top of the pattern in their proper places. Just trust me when I tell you that a lot was accomplished in just one night.
Jeannette not only completed her Fish Window but also found the time to work on a hand mirror as well. She's made some great headway on this project already so I expect to see her move on to an even newer project in a very short while.
Bonnie is really making quick work of her Candy Skull Window. With the border now attached she has begun the soldering process. I've talked to her since class ended and she's now working on soldering the back side of this so I'm thinking that this will be completed when we see it again.
Cindy resumed work on her large Parrot Suncatcher and was grinding like a fool right up to the end of class. I'm not 100% sure but I think she may have gotten the final pieces completed for it AFTER I had taken this picture. With her show only 1 weekend away I know for a fact that this will be completed when she comes back in.
Brenda has the border all cut and skimmed for her Transom Window now. Once these are foiled she will start soldering this project and then get a zinc channel added for stability. All it takes is a simple little flex and this window will crack due to its length-- The zinc channel will make a big difference in how sturdy this window will be once it's attached.
Mary Grace has started working on her own version of the double pumpkin window and is moving right along on it. She'll be using some art glass for her background and we'll see what that looks like when she comes back in next week.
Carol also worked on this Cross Panel Window this week. She as worried about how much the lead would pool where all of the lead lines meet and converge near the center so she ended up re-wrapping some of the pieces with the thinner 3/16's foil. She'll most likely solder this one at home so I think it will be finished quickly.
Betty worked on her shorter Manger Scene Window and she flew through it quickly and efficiently. The back side still needs to be soldered but the hard part of this is behind her now. She also worked on her own pumpkin window and just needs to get some hook on this before she can wash it to finish it off.
Susan D came in with the background of her Tiger all cut out, ground and even tacked together. Susan no longer fears working with glass because she not only accomplished all that while keeping her window square but she altered the tiger tail even more to space out the stripes more evenly. I think she's got this stained glass making thing down now.
Linda F Ironed out all of the details for her newest window which will be an autumn leaves scene. She has her art glass all picked out and her pattern ready to be cut so we'll start seeing some glass cut soon on this.
That's it for this week but be sure to come back next week for more progress and gossip! We've got it all!
Paul
Bayou Salé GlassWorks
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