Friday, August 30, 2019

I'm Gonna Google you!

Something I see all the time are pieces of glass that students say that have ground that have slanted edges.  When a piece is properly ground the ends should be perfectly flat and smooth.   The edge of the piece will also have a white coloring due to the grinder wheel having ground it.   If your edges have flares on them as in the diagram below you MUST grind that flare off so it looks like the correct piece on top.   The white-ish coloring that the grinder wheel gives the edges needs to go COMPLETELY around the perimeter of the glass.


Cindy's Mermaid Window is completed and the background and border glass are spectacular (as is the rest of this piece).   You've also got to love that shell bikini top as well!  And to think that this window came to life because she found two 3D glass shells in her garage...



Jan's Jessie Window was completed and you have to admit that the end result was worth all that work.   I always say that you get out of a window what you're willing to put into it and this proves my point.



Tasha's Umbrella Lady turned out very elegant and refined.  Her soft colors work wonderfully with this design and her workmanship is top notch.  Interestingly enough, this pattern can be done in many different color combinations even with its minimalist design.

  


Susan D's Sailboat Suncatcher was completed this week and just look at the glass she used for the body of the boat itself.  Gorgeous.  Looking at this picture you might think this is window but it doesn't even measure 8 inches in diameter which makes this a Suncatcher for sure.

  


Martha got all four of her  Cross Panels completed and they all look great.   There's something about beveled crosses that just works.




Betty finished making a  Snowman and it's definitely the first one of the year.   She also put the finishing touches on a free form Jewel Frame that I like to call the 'Ice Tongs'.   She has three more of these 'Tongs' cut out so they may become a regular on here! 



Rowena Rainbow flag was constructed 100 percent at home and had no input from me at all.  Hooks, channel and the tinning of the channel are all done to perfection.   I'm just worried that she doesn't need us (me) anymore!



Tracey and Mary both completed Butterfly Lawn Ornaments this week and if I didn't make a mental note to mark who made which I'd never be able to tell because the work on both of these is flawless.  For the record, Tracey's is the Green/blue Butterfly and Mary's is the orange/yellow one on the right.


 
Linda  L was able to finish her Flower Panel after tacking it together and getting the border attached.  Soldering this didn't take very long for her at all but she wasn't able to get it washed and colored before the class was finished.   Also, I was correct in our last post when I said that I thought I had pictured this on its side.   This is the way it will actually hang.



Lara got her inner border cut for her large Peacock Window and even got it ground and tacked into place.   This border took a little longer than your average border because of the iridescent white pieces that split it to give the effect of a ribbon wrapping around the border.   Lara's going to cut two peacock feathers to fill the circular sections of her two curved which will really set things off.

  


Rowena wanted to make a small window with  a pair of pumpkins in it and we ran with the idea.  Instead of making it look cartoonish I found a few painting of pumpkins and we ended up with this design.   Rowena had to take her time with those small leaves but by the end of class she had it all ground and ready for foil.   This is going to be stunning. 



Sheri got the last of her puzzle pieces ground out and she's now ready to solder her Autism Suncatcher.  Interlocking pieces are difficult but well worth the effort. Her grinding is spot on.



Jeff's flower is coming together as his red petals(?) have been cut and ground.  These thin pieces could very easily be problematic but they sure weren't for Jeff.  He certainly understand the concept of taking your time and doing it right.



Well now, I'm one week late typing up Melissa's description but better late than never!  As you can see Melissa got all of her birds cut out and now she's working on grinding each of them.   She hasn't cut any eyes yet and won't do that until everything is ground and then we can grind the eye holes to fit the eyes that we cut.

 


Becky B has very nearly finished grinding on her Springfield Fish Window.   She'll surely begin wrapping this upon her return because the three eyes won't take long at all to finish.  Yep, I said THREE eyes.  To anyone who hadn't noticed it before well, I feel the need to point it out!

  


Belinda came in with all of her Hummingbird Window ground and most of it wrapped.   By the time class ended her remaining pieces were foiled and she then quickly tacked it all together.  That means that she's ready for her border.

  


MiMi's Seafood Window is almost completely wrapped now with just one single crab left to foil.   I can't wait to see the background get cut for this because you'll never see another piece of glass like it and I can't wait to see how it works out.

  


Susan R's Swan just needs a channel around it to finish it off.   She was able to get a border that matches both the sky and the water cut and attached.   You may be wondering how we are going to finish this with channel since it's an oval.   Well, the answer is that we're actually going to use lead came to surround it.  You'll see that end result in our next post.

  

 
Jeanne L's Rose Window is so very close to being finished as she only has the straight lines of the border on the back side left to solder.  Like Tasha's Umbrella Lady, Jeanne used soft colors in this window which makes a definite statement indeed.   Look to see this completed upon Jeanne's return.

 


Mary Grace wrapped her last background piece and then tacked it into place.   Once that was done she wrapped the bevels that she used for her inner border and then tacked them into position as well.   When working with borders it's best to cut and attach them one at a time.   Finally she cut her red border and almost had it wrapped before class was through.  Next week she'll begin soldering this.


 
Jeannette's Guitar Window also got its border attached and once the neck was ground she was able to cut it up into individual pieces to make up the frets.   Rather than grinding eight separate pieces she cut and ground one long piece into place and then broke it into 12 pieces.   Recognizing when you can utilize this trick can save you a ton of time when making windows.



Linda F is all finished grinding her Sunflower Window and has moved on to the wrapping phase of this project.  Since the borders on this are curved they will be cut without the use of strip cutter.  Yep, it's that rare breed- a border cut by hand.

 


Angie worked on a new LSU Window during the week and came in just needing to get it bordered and channeled.  As you can see she succeeded which means that this window is all ready for solder.

 

And that brings us up to date about a month after I fell behind by one week.  It's good to be back on our normal time schedule again. We'll be back bright and early Tuesday Morning!

Paul
Bayou Salé GlassWorks






Monday, August 26, 2019

I Bleed For My Art

Our tip of the week involves grinder maintenance.   People clean their grinders all the time and they make sure that their water level is just right but something that almost always gets neglected is the sponge that rest behind the grinding wheel.   This should be removed and thoroughly washed out  every time that you clean out the grinder bed (if not more often).  Glass particles get trapped in the sponge which can prevent water from reaching the grinding head which leads to chipped glass and dull wheels.   Remember to clean that sponge out!  Just hold it under running water and keep squeezing it and releasing it until it's soft again.  

So Jeannette has completed her Dive Shark Window and it certainly gets the point across that those beatific waters aren't safe.   Not being a diver I had no clue what this stood for but numerous students have asked about this window by name which shows me just how little I know abut things!



Tasha finished her Poppies Window and the Red on White color scheme certainly makes this stand out in a very vibrant way.  Next week she'll likely finish her Umbrella Lady Window.



Rowena finished two multicolored suncatchers this week, a rainbow Heart and a rainbow Spiral design.   Drawing up the spiral design taught me a lot about circular patterns and how to get them even all around so this project was a learning experience for both Rowena and myself.

  


Betty finished two Bevel/Heart Suncatchers which I've always loved but that no one has ever made before.  Technically it's only made with one piece of glass that has to be cut (the heart) but the hard part is getting the solder to look good along all of those edges-- especially where the circular globs join the bevels.

  


Angie finished three suncatchers herself.   Her pair of Toucans turned out exceptionally well-- bright and colorful.   And, of course, her Dragonfly turned out great as well.

 


The last of our completed projects this week is Betty's latest Sunflower Window.  What more can I say about this that hasn't been said already. When it comes to Betty's Sunflowers, they're GREAT!



Annette's Fido The Poodle is almost all cut out now.   She's balancing her color scheme nicely and this is already turning heads throughout our classes before it's even been ground and fitted together!



Becky B's worked some more on her Springfield Fish Window.   It's very close to being completely ground now and once that's done we'll make new background pattern pieces and then cut them out.



Once Jeannette waxed her Dive Shark Window she started working on a Guitar Window with Musical Notes. She's cut the neck of the guitar out of one piece of glass and once that's been ground and fitted into place she'll cut it into multiple sections to make the frets.  

  


Belinda is already halfway through grinding her Humming Bird window because she's been very busy grinding away while at home between classes.   This is going to be one colorful yet elegant window.

  


Melissa started her own version of the Birds On A Wire Panel which, for her, consists of five birds.  The best thing about this window is the complete freedom you have with colors.  Anything goes! 



Cindy's Mermaid is just about ready for soldering but before she does that she'll have to wrap a few more of her border pieces.   Her glass choices make this a special window as you can easily spot art glass from far away or close up.   It makes a world of difference when it lights up and I can't wait to see this with some light behind it.


Jeff is making steady progress on the second section of his 3 section Window featuring birds and flowers.  Now that the humming bird is complete Jeff has this center section pretty much in the bag.

  


Linda L started a cute Flower Panel and got it all cut and ground in one class.   She only needs to wrap it, tack it and then add a border with bevels in the corners.  Looking at this I think I have it pictured sideways but I'll know for sure when she gets hooks on it.



Shawn's Autumn Leaves Window is already reminding me of a fall day in Pennsylvania.   With just a few leaves cut out you already get a thorough feel for what this window will look like when it's completed.  And Shawn's glass cutting abilities have really improved as you can tell by how well things already fit together.



Sheri started working on an Autism Suncatcher which consists of four interlocking puzzle pieces.  Anything that interlocks is especially difficult when done in glass and this is no exception.    Sheri has three of her pieces fitting together beautifully with just one inside curve and three outside curves left to grind out.



Susan R's Swan has been re-designed and tacked together which means that all she has to do is add her two colored border to this and then solder it.



Mary Grace is just about ready to add a beveled border to her Air Force Window once she wraps that last right bottom corner piece and tacks her background to the logo.   It won't be long until we see the red, white and blue color scheme come together.



Susan D has her sailboat ground and has begun wrapping it now.   The glass she used for her boat is perfect as it is reeded and looks just like wood when it's lit up.  I'm a sucker for blue so this is really appealing to me.



MiMi is wrapping her Seafood Window and her lemon looks delicious!  Of course the crabs look great as well as everything else as well.  I won't even mention the rose gold trim...



Martha came in and went right to work getting her borders tacked in place and then adding the brass channel around the edges of all her Cross Panels.   By the time the night was over she had the front of her four crosses soldered as well.



Mary's newest Butterfly Lawn Ornament was wrapped and tacked together and it just needs some solder and a little bit of assembling to finish it off.



And Tracey has her latest Butterfly all wrapped and ready to be tacked.  I suspect that we'll see two completed Butterflies in our next post!



And that wraps things up for this post!

Paul

Sunday, August 18, 2019

A Pain In The Butt-erfly

I just can't seem to get caught up here.   I'm still one week behind so let's just jump right on into things.

Angie completed her LSU Tiger Eyes Window and she's brought this pattern back to life as two other students mentioned that they'd like to make it as well.   I guess you can say that Angie's window is inspirational as well as supportive!



Melissa's Heron Window is lovely indeed as she spared no expense when it came down to detail and exactness.  There's not a line out of place nor a feather out of alignment in this stunning window.



Mary Grace wrapped up the work on her colorful Flowing Flowers Window and she's already moved along to a new project.  What I like most is that Mary Grace keeps examining her work to see what she can improve on in her next project.   That's a big part of the learning process and she's doing better than ever because of this.



Rowena's Flowing Pattern is a free form design at its very finest.   Using a mostly soft color scheme with some saturated green accents, this is a window that puts you into a Zen like state of mind and being!

  


Tracey put the finishing touches on her latest Cardinal Window and the end result is perfection.   A lot of people saw this during the past week since it was hanging up rather than hiding under the table and what I heard most was, "I never would have thought to border it in the same pink that was used in the flowers but it REALLY works!"   And indeed it does.



Shawn's Stylized Fleur De Lis Window went home with her once she was able to color the lead copper and since this post is a week behind I can tell you that it was already been installed and that it works wonderfully in the spot it was designed for.  This pattern utilizes a three colored Fleur De Lis and the beauty of it is that you can arrange those three colors in many different ways.  That means that this pattern has a different look whenever we see it!



Using a lot of scrap glass, Linda L was able to complete this large Owl Lawn Ornament without having to acquire much new glass at all.   This is about twice the size that it's normally made and that meant that we couldn't simply mount it on a piece of zinc channel the way we normally do since it would bend due to the added weight.   Linda brought in a piece of copper pipe which was more than up to the task and which soldered easily to the back side of the owl.

This is Betty's latest Sunflower Panel that she just finished and she has a second one that's not far behind!
 


Then there's Mary who completed her blue Butterfly Lawn Ornament which means that it's ready to be staked into her yard!  She did a great job on this and, like Betty, Mary has another on the way!



Lawn Ornaments are back in fashion as Carol's 3D Bee Lawn Ornament is ready to be put into her yard as well.

 


Annette's Fido The Poodle Window is shaping up to be a stunning design.  Inspired by a poodle with a heavy nod to the psychedelic 70's, this is one window that refuses to be ignored! Woof!



In our last post I said that we'd be able to see Susan D's Boat Panel better with its next appearance since all she had cut out was the white and the clear glass.   This week she's got it all cut out and you can clearly make out the design now.   She's even begun grinding it already!

  


Barbara H has all of the petals, leaves, and branches for her Wisteria Window cut out and she's already begun grinding them.   She's working from the bottom up and you can see that she's got the bottom blossom almost completely whipped into shape.



Angie not only completed her Tiger Eyes LSU Window, but she also made major headway on her pair of Toucans.   These have been cut, ground, and almost completely wrapped already!  That's fast work for sure.

  


Next we take a look at the redesigned version of Susan R's Swan Panel.   As printed, the pieces were far too small to work with unless Susan wanted to use 5/32" foil to wrap her pieces.  I discovered that the pattern she used was supposed to be enlarged when printed so when she came in we just grouped feathers together to make it 'make-able' in its current size.  

  


Belinda came in with all of the glass for her Humming Bird and Morning Glories Window cut out!  She's begun busy grinding and things are really shaping up as her pieces fit together.  This is going to be a nice bright window.



Mary Grace started an Air Force Window last week and in this post we see that she's got the logo all cut out and ground.   She's only one piece away from having it all foiled which means that she'll be cutting background when she comes back in.

 


Cindy's Mermaid Window has been ground and the 3D shells that she stumbled upon in her garage have come together to form the Mermaids top.   Cindy has already picked out her border glass and it's going to make one exquisite window!
 


Lara now has all of the background glass for her Peacock Window cut ground and tacked into place!   That just leaves her borders to go and the small circular sections in the two opposing corners.  She's certainly on the home stretch now.



Jeanne has begun the soldering process on her Circular Rose Window and it's looking like this will surely turn heads.  Everyone who sees this is surprised at just how well the muted colors work in this design but sometimes less is more and that's certainly the case with this window.



There are just 4 lines left to solder before Jeannette can add some hooks to this and then wash and color it.   That means that this will be a completed Dive Shark Window when you read our next post.



Martha is back to work on  her four Cross Windows as she got all of the borders cut ground and wrapped.   It won't be long now before we see these completed and Martha gets started working on something new.

  


With one Sunflower under her belt (which we saw at the top of this post) Betty is wrapping the second in this pair of Panels.   Once this is tacked together she'll cut her border pieces and finish it all off.



Meanwhile, Linda F is making two Sunflowers of her own but both are in a single window.   With everything now ground and fitting together nicely, Linda is ready to begin foiling her pieces.



And that's it for this post.   Now I'm off to edit pictures for what happened in class last week.

Paul
Bayou Salé GlassWorks