Accentuating The Positive

Our tip this week is to be gentle when using your glass cutter.   You should apply a firm amount of downward pressure but you should never see a white line  where the cutter has passed.  You should also hear a gentle 'zip' and not the harsh sound of grinding glass as your cutter passes over the  glass.   Too much pressure makes pour glass break erratically.  Remember that you are dealing with glass -- too  much pressure causes it to break!

So with that out of the way let's look at Barbara H's Tulip Window which is an amazing work of art.   With hardly any background at all, this colorful window  makes its statement through Barbara's truly impressive workmanship.  The number of pieces in this pattern make it a very difficult window to tackle but Barbara handled it with ease.   And as I always say, you get back out of a window what you put into it.  Busy but elegant, this is a beautiful piece.

Angie had purchased a pre-cut cross kit a while back and decided that with Easter right around the corner she would sit down and get these three crosses together.   The good news is that -- there is only one cross that can't be made without the kit and that's only because it has a filigree in the center of it.  I will say that they all look great and now we know how to make them without a kit.

Rowena finished her large Cross Window and, as always, managed to do yet another wonderful job.   That fact doesn't surprise me at all because Rowena can essentially make a window a week now and  needs no help what so ever. As a teacher I'm very proud of her accomplishments. 

 

Rowena also completed a Cross Suncatcher and a Modern Art Suncatcher as well.  I really want everyone to pay close attention to the center of her cross.  The solder forms a perfectly symmetrical bead which can only be done with precise cutting, grinding, and foiling (as well as some impressive soldering skills).   These are perfect.

 

Carol was busy as a bee working on two three dimensional Butterflies that she will be hanging on a wall.  She's used iridised glass in  both of them to provide a splash of color since these won't be back lit.  These were finished before Carol left but she hadn't been able to wash and color them.  That she can easily do at home so we're officially calling these completed!

 

Becky S is making great strides on her Seahorse window and although you may not see it, there are probably 30 pieces that are almost microscopic in size.  With only two colors of glass having been used so far, Becky has utilized the light and dark sections of her glass to their fullest potential.

Shelley's Master Chef is all tacked together and she was able to re-cut the piece that somehow broke while she was transporting this window.   We'll surely get a border on this when she returns and then we'll see where she gets to from there. 

 

Roy has started a new project this week and he's already got all of his glass cut out for it! He seems to really be enjoying this new hobby and he hopes to come back in next week with this Hummingbird Window all ground, wrapped and tacked together.

 

 

MiMi is flying through her Rose Window and was able to get all of the glass cut for it this week.   With each cut she's learning what can and can't, should and shouldn't be done when scoring glass.   As you can see, she's a quick learner because as I said earlier, this window is all cut out and ready to be ground.

 

Tracey's Cardinal Window is all completed save for the hooks and a bird bath!  This week she finished soldering the front side and then flipped it over to complete the back as well.  That means that she'll be coloring this and taking it home when she comes back in.

Linda F started out making a Texas Star Suncatcher and ended up turning it into a full fledged panel by adding a background and two borders. Once her final blue border is wrapped and tacked, Linda will begin soldering this very patriotic Texas Window.

  

Jan has started a new project this week and as you can see,  it's a religious icon.  Jesus has his background and robes cut out and when Jan returns she'll surely cut the cross and the body.   This is a small piece measuring only 6 x 9 so the amount of detail that can be incorporated into this design had to be kept to the bare minimum.  However, in this application I can see it working out really well.

 

Linda L has all but the legs attached to her five Ballerina  Suncatchers and they will surely be completed upon her return.   The amount of wire work on these is astounding and extremely intense so these ballerina's aren't nearly as easy to make as you might believe.   I can't wait to see these completed.

 

Well now, it looks like Susan R is just about ready to put her Pelican together.   She's got everything wrapped and tacked and is working on soldering each section as we speak.  I have a funny feeling that this will be completed upon her return..   This will be fun indeed.

 

This week Melissa ground and tacked together the thin border that runs between the eight Fleur De Lis' in her Geometric Window.   Once that was done she began grinding her background glass.   She had cut them as eight large continuous pieces and will then break them into smaller individual pieces which she'll mix up as she grinds them.   This results in a random color placement that Melissa is thrilled to see happening.

 

Tasha brought her Cat Window back in to be worked on and she now has her multi colored border attached and a channel applied to hold everything into place.  She's worried about her soldering on the front side but I honestly have to say that there's very little to worry about.   Her biggest concerns are the area's where multiple lead lines intersect and some thicker lead is always to be expected in areas like that.   It's just a limitation of the art of stained glass.

  

Terry's Plate Window has been completely assembled and she's already begun the soldering process.  With the front side finished Terry only has a few lines left to go over on the second side.   Since she works at home on her stained glass I'm thinking that this window is already a done deal.

  

Myrt's Fleur De Lis Window is all soldered save for the back side and even that is more than 75% completed.   That means that next week this will be among our completed projects at the top of the Blog.   Be sure to come back and check this one out when it gets its close up.

 

Martha's Deer Head Window is very close to being completely ground now.  With just the background glass above the antlers left to fit into place, Martha should begin wrapping her pieces when she returns.

 

Cindy continued working on her Birds On A Wire  project and they are coming together at a nice steady pace.   This is a great pattern for using up all of that scrap glass that students accumulate as they ply their stained glass skills.

 

Susan D worked on getting her Peacock wrapped and she's so close to finishing it that I don't see how she wouldn't get the background cut out for this upon her return.  This peacock is her own design and I think this has bolstered her artistic confidence immensely.   Sometimes it's just  getting that first drawing done that allows you to understand that you CAN make a pattern!

  

Lara got her Indian Headdress Window all tacked together this week and even got the channel attached as well.  That means that Lara will be soldering when she returns and that also means that she's nearing the finish line on a window that many of our other students are eagerly following week to week.

 

Brenda's second Transom Window is already very near completion.  With everything tacked together save for the final border, this will finished before you know it.

  

Rowena also worked on this second Cross Suncatcher and again you can clearly see how perfectly she  manages to get the lead in the center to pool evenly.  This is a skill that all stained glass artists should strive for.

  

Betty did a repair this week and also worked on this Cross Suncatcher.  It's been a very popular pattern and soon I hope to have the story behind this ornate design.

 

Patrice is about to start on  a 4H Window with a geometric background.  She's traced out her pattern and has her glass picked out so we'll see some major progress made on this upon her return.

Next week is Easter and we won't be having classes which means that we will be MIA online for the next 2 weeks.  Everyone have a GREAT Easter and we'll see you all soon.

Paul
Bayou Salé GlassWorks