Something that we see happening in class involves the incorrect
positioning of the marker while tracing around the edge of a piece of glass. People are angling the marker so that the point is actually away from the edge of the
glass (see the left example). You want the tip of the marker AGAINST
the glass that you are tracing. Even if you hold the marker in a
perfectly vertical position the tip won't touch the piece of glass that
you are supposed to be tracing. Look at the illustration on the right for the correct
angle of the marker. The point of the marker MUST be touching the glass you are tracing if you want an accurate line.
Also, NEVER trace along a piece of glass that hasn't first had its edges ground on the grinder. That will destroy the tip of your marker. Lastly, use very light pressure while marking your glass. You are using a felt tipped marker, not a ball point pen--exerting pressure onto the tip of the marker won't make the line any easier to see but it WILL ruin the delicate tip of the marker.
First up we have Linda F's Victorian Window which has now been completed. Linda's done another great job working on this fairly large window. She's used all muted, almost pastel, colors to set the tone for it, and then made sure that she only used cathedral glass throughout the window lending it even more character. The end result is nothing short of stunning.
Lisa is always making things that are just a little bit out of the ordinary. There are very few pieces that merely hang in a window in her stained glass portfolio. Her latest project is a Honeycomb and Bees which she's mounted into a plank cut from a tree with the bark still surrounding its perimeter. It's another head turner, that's for sure and if you don't believe me just look at the number of 'likes' it's gotten in the 'Stained Glass Patterns' page on Facebook. It's a certified hit for all of the right reasons!
Then there's Steve who finished the work on his Stained Glass Door Panel which was made to commemorate the front door of his Grandmother's house. The house may no longer be in the family but the distinctive door that always welcomed Steve into a house full of wonderful of memories will always be with him now that he's made this.
Our newest student, June, has created her first project with us and regular readers know that means that we're about to look at a Butterfly Suncatcher. June picked a pink glass with just a hint of blue running through it for her wings and then used a wispy blue for both the body and head of the Butterfly. I can't wait to see what future projects June has in store for us.
As the Beatles once famously said, "Number 9.... number 9". This is MiMi's 9th panel and she's already getting started on her next one which she is currently referring to as 'Deci'.
Shelley is our Mermaid Queen and this is her latest Mermaid. She worried about the shells blending into the flesh too much but I think that it's very obvious that this Mermaid isn't immodest at all. Another Mermaid well done.
Annette's still got that passion for Christmas and now that she's completed another Santa/Gnome and an pink Angel she only has (I think) one more Christmas Suncatcher to go before she begins another window.
Ann finished up the cross that she had begun working on last week and then even had time to pick out what window she'll begin when she next returns. Judging by her excellent work on this it's safe to say that these crosses pose no challenge for Ann (as you can clearly see).
Shawn is in the exact same boat as her mother. She has two more Christmas Ornaments under her belt this week leaving her with just one more Christmas suncatcher to complete before she moves along to something a little less seasonal.
First up in our projects still under construction part of this post we have a look at a Fleur De Lis Window that Cheryl began working on. With the center section all cut out she's begun grinding from the bottom left hand corner. Since the subject pokes out of the window and into the border Cheryl can't use a square to keep this straight along the outer perimeter so she'll just need to pin everything down as she moves along being careful not to allow any of the end pieces to extend past the lines on her pattern.
Sheri is hard at work and burning both ends of her stained glass candle! Here you can see the two windows that she is working on concurrently: her Sugar Skull and her Mardi Gras Masks. Both are looking good but I'm thinking that the Mardi Gras Window will be completed first since it's the far easier of the two projects.
We saw Let make her Butterfly last week and for her first project she's decided to make a Santa Panel. She managed to get it all cut out in just one class and has even begun grinding it at an incredibly quick yet precise pace. Because her cutting was so precise she's not having to grind much to get her pieces to fit together perfectly. I'm pretty sure that she'll be wrapping this and tacking it when she comes in again next week.
Linda L has begun cutting out glass for her Beach Windows but there's been a small change. All three of her Beach Scenes will now feature that little red blue/green crab. In the picture her water looks pitch black but that's only because all of the glass that you see has been cut out three times and laid down on top of one another. I'm afraid you'll just have to wait until this is finished to truly appreciate the clear blue glass that she's picked for her water.
Kerry's latest undertaking is a Mardi Gras Fleur De Lis Window. The background is a fairly complex grid work design but we are going to do it the easy way and we'll show you how that is achieved when we see this again next week with it's grid work all cut and fitting together perfectly.
Susan D's got all of her Cardinal On A Branch cut out and ground during class and she has now moved along to the foiling process. I have a sneaking suspicion that she may very well get this completed upon her return.
Mary Grace's Peacock is filling out now that she's got some flowers and branches behind her bird. It won't be long now until she's cutting out the background for this window. We still need to fill in that one missing piece which I forgot about so I guess that will happen when she next returns.
With her first border attached and the second one cut, ground and partially wrapped you can easily see how nice Martha's Franklin Street Lamp Window is going to look. It doesn't take her long to solder a window so she'll surely begin working on her second version of this (her 5th altogether) soon.
That about wraps things up here. Classes are still running a little sparse due to covid and the after holiday recuperation but they should begin filling up again soon. I will say that it IS nice to be able to finished these posts so quickly which explains why these last two Blog Posts have come to your inboxes so early these past two weeks.
Paul
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