What's In Your Wallet?

Susan D's Tree Of Life Glob Window was completed this week and let me tell you that this is one heavy window!  The globs themselves are heavy enough but then she's also got over a pound of lead in this 10 inch round colorful project.  The end result is so very alive with rich colors that light up gorgeously when it's hanging up, don't you think?

 

 

 

MiMi's Birds on a Branch were completed and they turned out to be absolutely stunning.   You see plenty of Birds On a Wire but you NEVER get to see this curved take on an old familiar theme.   MiMi did this one proud for sure.

 

 

 

Let finished the first of the two bird windows that she's been working on.  Her Heron looks great, alas we had to replace two pieces that had cracked due to heat.  Luckily they were both small and fortunately they touched each other making the repair process go even faster (about 15 minutes in total). 

 

 

 

Judy completed the soldering on her Scottish Thistle and then cut add added the thin wires that bring this window to life.   I love the diagonal weaving pattern that the wire makes in the center of the flower. Pay attention because this is another example of how a circular windows perimeter should look- perfect smooth and connecting without any sharp points or flat ends.

 

 

 

Cindy made her first 3D Crystal Hanging consisting of a round Glass Crystal that she surrounded with six 2" squares of baroque glass.   The crystal isn't entirely surrounded by glass however-- there's as many openings as there are square pieces of glass which give this its complex yet beautiful look.

 

 

Mary Grace completed her large Sunflower Teardrop and the finished piece is a winner. Teardrops are the rage and Mary Grace is helping to push their popularity by showing off this new beautiful pattern.

 

Lorrie began this large Sunburst Window for her daughter Megan who came along with her this week to pick out the glass that would be used.   Lorrie then put Megan to work and had her trace the pattern pieces onto glass while Lorrie cut them all out.  And that's how this window got so far along in just one three hour class!

   

Lara is working on a Sunburst Window as well but hers is multi colored.   She's also managed to make great inroads to her project.  In just one night she got the entire sunburst cut out and has balanced the colors beautifully.  As you know though, colors are one of Lara's 'things' so I doubt that anyone is surprised! 

 

 

 Steve made incredible progress on his Madonna and Child Panel.   Last week it was just a pattern waiting to be traced onto glass.  This week he got it completely cut out.  I guess next week will be the grinder for him.

  

Lisa is working on a pair of Seagulls which will reside on a piece of wood as her Duck did last week.  The birds may be the same (well, mirror images of each other) but the legs will also help to give each of them their own 'personality'.   Lisa managed to cut everything and even get a large portion of the grinding done as well.

  

Zoe got her Bee tacked together and then learned how to get a circular border to fit together in the best and easiest way possible.  After getting that cathedral red border attached she then selected 4 different shades of amber glass which she will cut the honeycomb background out of.

 

 

 

Mary Grace also found the time to began Breast Cancer Ribbon which she cut and ground before her class was over.   Wrapping these pieces and then soldering this ribbon shouldn't take long at all.

 

  

 

 

Susan R foiled all of the pieces that make up her BBQ Gnome and decided not to tack it together until next week so that it wouldn't sit for seven days with flux on it.   There's little doubt that this will be completed next week and waiting until then to tack this together will make the soldering process go easier.

 

  

 

 

Melissa finished wrapping the top section of her Curved Tulip Window and then got the straight parts of the border cut, ground and attached.   She's drawn pattern pieces for the top curved border and will surely get the border attached as well as the missing leaf cut when we see this again.

 

  

 

Cheryl got most of the glass cut out for the background of the word HARLEY-DAVIDSON and then called it a night.  There were a few pieces that broke as she was cutting but that's par for the course when dealing with this many thin pieces.   She'll begin to grind this next and once it's tacked together she'll fill in those pesky missing pieces.

 

 

 

Bee began cutting glass for her Cantina window and has more cut than you see here.  The glass for the checkerboard table has been cut and placed into a container so that they wouldn't slide off of her work board while she transports it back and forth between home and our classroom.

  

 

Ann spent the morning grinding away at the pieces of her Geometric Torus Suncatcher.   She's beyond the halfway point so she'll most likely be wrapping this the next time we see her. 

 

  

Betty has her flock of Humming Birds all ground and has begun foiling all of her pieces.  As each bird was completely foiled she would tack it together and then wash the flux off of it.  She's aiming to get all of them tacked after which she'll solder them one at a time and then wash and color them in groups of two.   This will ensure that the copper patina goes on evenly and shines up perfectly.   The longer you wait to patina a soldered piece the harder it is to get the patina to take hold and shine up

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And them's the breaks!

Paul

Bayou Salé GlassWorks
 

NEVER Open a Closed Bedroom Door

Lisa has completed Bubbles the Duck and also managed to get some Cat Tails with a Dragonfly made with the help of her husband Steve while they were in class together.  At the end of the day they took home this finished piece where the Duck and the Cat Tails were both mounted on a single beautiful piece of driftwood to create this lovely table piece.

 

 

 

 

 

Lara made this exquisite small Tulip Panel that measures on 6 inches wide.   There are a lot of pieces in this for something as small as it is but Lara handled it with aplomb.  The end result with its gorgeous border is nothing short of perfection.

 

 

 

Cindy's Cinderella Window pattern was derived from a simple silhouette of a castle with a princess in front of it.   She just added a little detail and some color to come up with this beautiful window that is going to make someone very happy.

 

 

 

Betty made another teardrop suncatcher this week.   This is her purple Tulip pattern and it looks sensational.

 

 

 

Let's Moon and Stars Heart Suncatcher is another first in class and most likely not the last.  While Betty is a fan of the teardrop background, Let is most assuredly a fan of the projects with a heart shaped background.

 

  

 

 

Betty also completed her large replacement LSU Suncatcher for a friend who has broken her original suncatcher one too many times for it to be repaired.   When you hang things outside you NEED to bring them in during rough weather because they are, after all, indeed made of glass.

 

Zoe finished grinding the central circle section of her Bee Window and had two pieces that she was unhappy with because of the way they didn't quite fit.   She's left those two pieces out and foiled the rest of the circle so that she can tack it together and then simply lay some glass underneath the circle so she can cut out perfect replacement pieces.   She'll easily be working on the circular border of the bee and then the hexagons that make up the background when she returns.

 

 

With her BBQ Gnome Lawn Ornament all cut and ground Susan R will begin soldering this cute little guy when she comes back in.  This is, I think, the most complex Gnome Ornament that Susan has ever made.  For a little guy he sure packs in a lot of pieces!

 

  

 

 

Judy's Scottish Thistle Window got tacked together and then she added a thin green circular border to make hanging this so much easier.  The border also frames it and makes it look much more complete than it did when it wasn't attached.  In Judy's opinion as well as mine, this is now a pattern with perfect composition.

  

 

Susan D has her Hoop Glob Tree all cut and tacked together leaving her with just a few touch-ups left to go on the front side and then a quick soldering on the back.   She's added hooks to the hoop near the 11 and 1 o'clock positions and since this window is very heavy she's wired the hooks to the hoop with some thin wire which has then been soldered over to insure that the hooks remain attached.  An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of secure (or something like that!)

  

 

 

Betty has four Hummingbird Suncatchers cut out in assorted color combinations.  Most of these have already been ground and Betty clearly knows the fastest way to make multiple suncatchers of the same design:  Cut all of them out at once, grind everything at once, wrap everything at once and then solder them all. Doing each step separately for each individual item can add hours to the time it takes to finish everything. 

  

 

 

And here we see that Let is hard at work on her Heron Window and now has the front side soldered.  Her channel has been attached and this will be ready to have its back side soldered shortly.

 

 

 

Mary Grace foiled and began soldering the Teardrop Sunflower that she was working on last week.  With the front side just about completed she will flip this over and then finish it up upon her return.

 

  

 

Linda F is fast approaching the completion of her Carousel Horse Window.   The front side has been essentially soldered leaving just the back side to go before she can call this a done deal.  Not only as her cutting been amazing on this project but her soldering has been as well.   Yes, this is taking a little time to get finished but when you look at the scale of the project and see just how perfectly everything lines up, well it's work well worth the time and patience.

 

 

 

Melissa finished all of the foiling on her Tulip Window and picked out the border glass that will surround this curved top window.  The color she chose both brightens the window dramatically as well as complimenting the existing colors that she's used for the flowers.

 

 

 

Bee has put the finishing touches on her Cantina Window pattern and in the end she's decided not to put a lemon near the bread.   She did however add a checkerboard diamond pattern to the table top.   Before calling it a night Bee was able to trace this onto poser board which means that she'll be cutting glass when she returns.

 

  

 

 

Let also worked on this Pelican Window and has decided to change the height of the water line so that it better matches the Heron window that she already has tacked together.  The reason she wants these to match more closely is because they will bookend each other in two separate windows on opposite sides of the room that these will will hang in.  It's all about balance.

  

 

 

Darth Vader has been completely soldered and he is ready to be touched up and colored during June's next class.   In the end, although he's made almost entirely out of black glass he's easily recognizable. (Insert heavy breathing here.)

  

 

 And there ya have it!

Paul

Bayou Salé GlassWorks

I Need Some Professional Help

Betty's Lilies Window is downright stunning and demonstrates how mixing different glasses of the same color can really bring a window to life.  In this case Betty used two different greens as well as two different whites to provide subtle shading throughout the flowers and leaves.  The icing on this beautiful window is her use of wire work to make stamens for the flowers.

 

Lorrie has been very busy this week as you will see.   Her Sun and Moon Window looks fantastic and she's learning so much with each and every window that she finishes.  Looking at this it's hard to believe that she's actually one of our new students!

 

 

 

Lorrie also completed her Chicken Logo Window that was made for a friend of hers.   With all of those pieces her friend should be very impressed, especially since it matches the logo perfectly. Let us call this another job well done.

 

  

 

 

Betty finished her Poppies Teardrop Suncatcher which looks as wonderful as her previous teardrop designs. She really likes the teardrop designs and she spent some of her class time redesigning the sunflower teardrop pattern that she had completed last week.  There's almost always something that you wish you'd done differently after making a pattern for the first time and fixing it instead of remaking it the same way is the sign of someone who cares about their work.

 

 

I'll bet you thought we were done looking at Lorrie's completed projects but no, there's one more.  Her large Fairy Suncatcher was something that she wanted to do because she wanted to get some smaller items under her belt so that she could practice her tap-tap method around the edges.  I have to say that she did a wonderful job all around on this, no pun intended!

 

 

Last week I showed you Steve's Southern Belle Window but the individual panels had actually only been laid out on the table after which I Photoshopped them into a Window Frame to show you what it would look like.  This week Steve worked on mounting each piece into the actual Window and when it was finished I was able to take this picture of the actual completed piece with some light behind it.  As you can see, the back lighting makes a BIG difference which is why I'm posting this again.

 

 

 

 

I was fortunate enough to gain a Great Niece three months ago and since we were going to see her during the holiday week I made this three dimensional Rocking Horse as a gift to decorate her room.  These rocking horse patterns have been around since the 70's but I always thought they were a bit clunky looking and very simplistic.  I wanted more for Emma so I put my pencil to paper and came up with this pattern.  If I'm perfectly honest, I think it turned out much better than I expected even though the mane had me do a slight redesign after I had everything cut out.

 

 

 

MiMi wrapped up the foiling of her Birds On A Branch Suncatcher and will tack this together and solder it when she returns.  It already looks stunning and MiMi made the entire process look easy.  I'm surprised that we haven't seen more of these made but perhaps after this is completed someone else will want a go at it.

  

Ann is back and she cut out all of the pieces to make a Geometrical Torus Suncatcher. She also cut out all of one of the colors for a second Torus so that she will have a head start on a second one when she gets around to making it.   I have to say that she's flying through this pattern!

 

 

Let began this Large Heart with Beveled Stars Suncatcher begun and it's already been ground.  All this needs is some foil and a good soldering to finish it off.

  

 

 

As I'd suspected, Melissa finished grinding the handful of pieces that she didn't get to last week and then began wrapping everything in copper foil.   She's got a border glass all picked out for this window and she's going to need to think about what she plans on making next because this will be finished soon.

 

 

 

Martha's Peacock Window has its background cut and attached and then she went to work on the double border.  Since the inner border is made of bevels she already had them wrapped and tacked together.  That left just the final blue/green border left to cut and as you can see she was able to cut the strips and then break them down into their individual pieces.

 

 

 

Lisa completed all of the cutting and grinding on Bubbles The Duck which means that this could be finished by the next time we see it.  I know that Bubbles still needs to be foiled but Lisa has already started that so there isn't all that much left to go.

 

 

 

Lara got her Three Tulip Panel cut, ground, wrapped and then tacked together.  Once that was done she picked out a perfect color for her border glass and then got that cut, ground and foiled.   There's only some soldering left to go on this and I'm thinking that may well happen when we see Lara again.

 

  

 

 

With her inner clear reeded border cut, ground, wrapped and attached to her Carousel Horse Window Linda F next picked out the glass for her final border.  The blue baroque that she chose is perfect-- it's bright enough to stand out against all of the other colors in this window without clashing or overpowering the horse or carousel itself. 

 

 

 

Susan D finished the arduous task of wrapping all of her glass globs and then she arranged them according to color to create a random appearance.  Look closely and you can see a blue bird which will have some wire work applied to it to give it a wing.   Susan is officially ready to cut her tree trunk and the green grass that surrounds it after she gets the glass globs attached to the hoop.  This will be completed before you know it. 

  

 

 

Susan R has almost all of her BBQ Gnome cut with only the shirt and pants left to go.  She also has all of the pieces that she's already cut out ground so there's a lot more completed on this then you might first believe.  I'll take a cheeseburger, please.

  

 

Let's Heron Window is nearing completion and I have no doubt that it WILL be complete6d when you see it again.  She got the border and the channel attached to it this week and since the front is already soldered that only leaves the back side left to go.

 

 

 

Barbara has most of her Multi Colored Owl ground and will soon cut up and separate the pieces that make up iris of the Owl's eyes.  This is the easiest way to handle small same-colored pieces-- cut and grind a larger piece so that fits into place and then cut it into its individual pieces so that all you have to do is lightly skim the fresh cuts and achieve a perfect fit.

 

  

 

 

Cheryl was hard at work on her Harley-Davidson Window and has her center letters cut and ready to be ground.  This week she worked out all of her background pieces and traced them onto black glass which she will begin cutting when she returns.  She'll be making this window in three distinct sections and tacking each one as she progresses to prevent things from growing and to prevent anything from sliding out of position.

 

  

 

 

June got her border attached to Mr. Vader and then set upon soldering him.  The front side is almost complete and that means that she'll flip this around to do the back side sometime during her next class.   The end is near for Darth Vader, that's for sure!

 

 

 

Judy has all of her Scottish Thistle ground and wrapped so she'll be ready to tack this together as soon as she comes back in.  Once that's done she'll pick a color for the thin border that surrounds it and which will make hanging this much easier.

 

 

 

Cindy's Cinderella Window got all of its sky cut and ground so she's ready to begin foiling all of those pieces and then concentrate on what she wants to do for a border to surround this.  One or two borders?  We'll learn the answer to that when she comes back in next week.

 

 

And to wrap things up here, Bee resumed work on designing the pattern for her Ed's Cantina Window and she's very close to being happy with it.   She also picked out a font for the lettering that with go in the banner that runs across the top of the window and all I can say is that computers sure help a lot in that aspect of the design process.

 

 

Well, the 4th of July threw off our schedule but now that this has been posted we'll be right on tome again late Monday.  See you then!

 

Paul

Bayou Salé GlassWorks