Ok, so our tip this week is a VERY important one that occurs when something cuts in front of another object. This happens most often in flower windows when leaves are intersected by flower petals and vice versa. Don't get me wrong though-- it happens in plenty of other windows as well, but I see the problem rear its head in flower windows the most.
Just be sure that the subject that is being cut in half lines up with properly with its other sections. In the image below pay attention to the green leaves. Everything lines up nicely and even though the iris petals cut through the leaves, the flow of the leaves is preserved.
Here you can see that the leaves don't line up. The red arrows show a blatant disregard for flow while the blue arrow shows a misaligned leaf that could possibly go unnoticed until the window is looked at thoroughly. Always pay attention to pieces that are cut into sections because although you may think it's unnoticeable, it really IS noticeable.
With that out of the way let's look at Jeannette's second Compass Rose window which went together much quicker than her first one did, yet the work is just as wonderful on it (if not better!) When Jeannette wants a window done, Jeannette gets a window done! Anchors aweigh!
Lara is just two weeks into her Bird Of Paradise Window and by the time class was finished her window was finished as well. The bright, colorful glass that she used in this lights up magnificently with just a florescent light behind it so I can't even imagine how brilliant this will look in actual sunlight.
Betty tied up the loose ends on her two Easter Bonnet Windows and they take me back to the day when everyone would go to church on Easter Sunday to more or less show off their Easter clothing! Next up for Betty will be two cabinet door inserts (because Betty likes to work in pairs!)
Linda L got her three Baby Suncatchers finished this week and they are so perfectly made that I couldn't tell two of them apart in the pictures I took until I found a spot in the glass and couldn't find it in the other one. The third Baby was easy to discern between because she is facing the other direction.
Cindy completed this variation of the standard Flower Hand Mirror and wants to do one with a peacock motif next. The good news is that I think I know just how to do it.
Rowena's made a beautiful Easter Themed Window of her own this week. The original pattern didn't have the dove in it abut as you can see, it's a fitting addition to this beautiful window. This window is all about having things line up as we talked about in the tip above, and Rowena get's top honors for making sure that everything is perfect on this window.
This week we also got to see Susan R put the finishing touches on her Shamrock. The iridescent glass that she used for the background was a great choice because it really makes this window sparkle. Susan completed it in record tie and even went to work on something else before class was finished with (which we'll see a little further on down in this post).
Angie made this Beveled Panel in record time as we never saw any hint of its existence last week. With quick turn arounds like this, Angie will be finished with her Christmas to-do list early this year!
Carol can make these Butterfly Lawn Ornaments with her eyes closed now. This pair is what I like to call a 'mismatched shoe pair' and I made a mismatched sock pair of Cross Panels the other day. I'm sure the phrase is my own but I've use the technique a lot and I think it should become a standard phrase in the stained glass industry. It's when you cut a stained glass pattern twice but out of two different pieces of glass. Then you swap pieces back and forth so you have items made up with two different colors. If you take the yellow pieces out of the top butterfly and and swap them with the blue pieces in the bottom butterfly you'll find that you have two butterflies, one all blue and the second all yellow. I call that a 'mismatched shoe pair'.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MARY!!!! And even better yet, HAPPY RETIREMENT! Yep, our Mary is no longer a working woman and all we can say is CONGRATULATIONS! Melissa brought in some flowers for Mary but alas, Mary's last week was a busy one so she wasn't able to make it into class. Still, here are the flowers for everyone's enjoyment.
Belinda has started her first window with us and it's a variation of a painted window that she had made years ago. She's always liked the design and now within just a few weeks it will actually be done in stained glass rather than paint. As you can see she's moving along quickly.
Kerry worked at an astounding rate of speed during class as he got all of his new window cut out in just one class. His cutting is getting better and better and next week he will be spending his night working on the grinder yet again.
Sheri's first of three Butterfly circles is very near completion. Not only has her background been cut ground and attached, her border is cut out as well. (I had a picture of it with the border but it didn't look nearly as good as this picture.) Look to see this among our completed windows when we return next week.
Rowena also worked on a very stylized Peacock which she finished cutting out, grinding, and got about half way foiled. She's moving quickly on this but when doesn't she move quickly??
Angie got the background cut out for an Address Window that she's started this week. With all of the background cut in random directions all that's left is to cut out the eleven pieces that will make up her numbers and then she'll be able to start grinding.
Shawn really does love to grind because she flew through the grinding process of her colorful Flower Window! Before she called it a night she had a quick re-fresher course on wrapping glass and she's taken it along home with her to work on throughout the week. Or at least that was the plan. Then, just one day later, she texted me a picture of this window all foiled and ready to be tacked! You can see the glass that she's picked out for her border sitting to the left of the window and next week you'll get to see it attached.
Now that her Four Leafed Clover has been completed Susan R went back to work on her Owl Suncatcher. After finishing the wrapping Susan tacked the owl together and is now soldering it. There's no doubt in my mind that she'll be finishing this when she returns.
Shelley, like Susan R, resumed work on a window that she had started a few weeks ago. You can see the stars outlined on the pattern through the blue glass that she's using on her Peace Sign/American Flag Window. She's still not sure whether she'll cut the stars or paint them on but she's getting close to having to decide now that she's begun grinding.
Carol has begun working on her Trio of Owls suncatcher which is bigger than you might think-- I'll have an actual measurement when we see it again next week.. She's breaking it down into three sections and working one at a time of them as you can see in the picture below.
Becky B tacked together her African Violet Window (which I've been calling a Magnolia!) and then began working on the triple border that will surround it. We work one border at a time so she got the first thin border cut, ground, and attached before she cut the second clear middle border which needs to be wrapped and tacked. Once that's done another thin border that matches the first one will get cut and this window will be ready for solder..
Jan has been wrapping her Jessie Tree at home so this week she decided to start working on a circular Dove Suncatcher. With everything cut and ground in just one class she's another person who will finish her project next week.
Jeff has been as busy as can be as you can clearly see. He's got three panels in the works here with one of them only needing to be washed and colored. I think it's safe to say that he's got the hang of this now.
Linda F is back! I was shocked to see her walk in the door so quickly after her operation and if you didn't know she went under the knife you'd never suspect it. This week she started grinding her Miscellaneous Rectangles Window and it's already looking great. Straight lines are tougher than anyone thinks so let's give Linda a big hand to go along with that new knee!
Susan D has her Leprechaun Window all ground as of this week and she even has the border cut out. It won't be long before this window is under her belt and in it's in a stand stand decorating a yard. All he needs is a pot of gold near him!
Roy's Cane Field Scene is all ground and he's now wrapping all of his pieces. He's removing pins as he wraps because the pins are there to allow room for the foil. A (small) problem that we see fairly often involves students leaving all of the pins in place as they are foiling and that just doesn't work and causes the window to shift all out of place. That won't be a problem here.
Mary Grace is making excellant time on her Flower Window. She's un-decided on what to do with this-- add more glass to make it truly fit the window that she wants it to fit in, or just finish it as is and make another window drawn to the correct size. If you think life is full of decisions, then you haven't made stained glass!
MiMi's Dog is moving along swimmingly as she only needs to solder it and add some channel to finish it all off. I saw her post a picture on Facebook this morning and it looks to me as though channel is all that's needed now. I'm already considering this window to be a done deal. Give this dog a towel!
Jeanne's Hummingbird Panel is all tacked together and awaiting it's final solder. She's taken it home with the intent of soldering it there if she can find the time. I know she's anxious to get this finished, not because she wants to move on to another project, but because she can't wait to see this hanging up with some light behind it. And I can't blame her!
Martha's Magnolia has it's borders cut and that means that Martha will be soldering this upon her return. This is wonderful work here.
Melissa is grinding her way through the complex background of her Le Pieta Window and when we see this again next week, Mary will finally have her face in place. The fired glass has become somewhat brittle and we're going to use a saw to cut out the deep scoop where the nose goes.
Barbara H got both of the wings to her Butterfly Lawn Ornament ground and wrapped which means that there's a good chance she'll finish this upon her return in two weeks. Even if she doesn't get this tacked together before she comes in there's only little left to go on this and I'm sure she'll be able to finish it.
And before I wrap thing up here I'll tell you that Becky S has begun her next Egret Window by tracing out the pattern and adding grain and color lines to it. There isn't anything to see at this point but next week she'll begin cutting glass and we'll surely have a picture.
Paul
Bayou Salé GlassWorks
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