I Only Teach For The Prestige and Glamour

Keri's Round Dragonfly is everything I thought it would be.  This is the first time that she's done a considerable amount of tap-tapping on a project but she handled it like a complete professional.  Matching the round border to the small round eyes was a perfect move color wise.

 

 

 

  

Let's Christmas bird is downright adorable!  Look closely for the cute little wire feet that wrap around the Holly Berries and marvel at how much beauty is added to this piece by just attaching a few small pieces of wire.  Of course, those small pieces of wire are a complete pain in the @ss to attach but in the end they are well worth it by adding to the 'ohhh, ahhh' factor. 

  

 

Betty completed her latest Christmas Frog and rather than dealing with a three piece eyeball which has a lead line running across the center she's opted to simply put a drop of glass paint on the center of a yellow eye thus eliminating an unsightly lead line. Since the yellow that the paint was applied to is transparent, the pupil is visible from both sides of the suncatcher. Nice!

 

 

 

Sheri completed not one but two Grinch hands. I'm being lazy by only showing one of them because 1) they are identical and 2) because it saves me time during a time restricted week for me. Both of these Grinch hands will certainly find a new home almost as soon a Sheri hangs them and puts them up for sale.

 

 

 

It's official! Bust out the champaign because Judy has completed her last Cross (of the year)! She's excited to be moving on to something else although what that might be is currently unknown. She's got a little time to think about that though. 

 

  

Lorrie made this Dragonfly Suncatcher while at home and brought it in for hooks and a picture. Alas, the night was so busy that she never got to wash it so I could get a good picture of it but I think this shows it off well enough.

 

 

Julie had begun making this Hamsa Hand on her own before she even began taking classes with us. When she came into class she had all of the glass cut and about half of it ground. Best of all she'd done an incredible job all on her own and by the time she left class she had this completely ground and foiled as well. What started off as a suncatcher is going to end up becoming a window because Julie will be adding some background glass to this as well as a border.

  

 

  

Cindy has shifted to another project so that she could get this Cardinal on a Cross completed quickly. Since this is her first class working on it and she's already got the Cardinal itself all cut and ground I'd say that she's plowing ahead on this with fantastic speed and grace!

 

  

 

 

Mary Grace has begun a Beveled Manger Scene which was VERY problematic as the two pattern sheets that came with the bevels were from two different Manger scenes! Once we realized the mistake we were able to back up a bit, re-group and make adjustments but all of that DID cost time. Alas, this should be completed when Mary Grace returns. 

 

  

 

Bee is cutting background pieces for her Dragonfly Window and she's picked out a blue glass which will join and compliment the green as part of the background. Once this gets colored in more I suspect that many people's eyes will widen in shock at just how beautiful this design actually is. 

 

 

 

Lorrie got all twelve of her mirrors cut and assembled. Cutting these delicate mirrors into perfectly even 7/8" x 8" strips was a delicate maneuver so I used the strip cutter to cut them for her. It took three mirrors arranged in a unique pattern to form the reflecting tube so it took most of the night to get them together. Once that was done she got all of her pieces cut for the stand of her oil scope. I showed her how to assemble one of them and she's taken them home to grind, wrap and possibly assemble.

 

With the lid of her latest Wedding Box completed I'll make an educated guess that Cheryl will complete this project when she returns. She has a lot of traveling coming up but one more class should allow her to get the bottom built and then get the top hinged into position. 

 

 

 

Tracey is back and she's beginning her second coming with a Magnolia Window. She's done it before and figures that it will be a great way to get her feet wet again.

 

 

 

Susan R is so closed to finishing cutting her multi-pieces Autumn Leaf that she's already thinking about all of the 'fun' she'll have foiling all of these little pieces! I guess you can call that planning ahead?

 

 

Shelley resumed work on her Ballerina Hoop by cutting out the remainder of the glass that makes this. That means that Shelley will next be working at the grinder. She does have the legs cut but we're going to cut them to size after everything else has been tacked together so we can guarantee that everything will touch the hoop.

 

  

 

 

Martha has her Art Deco Lady all ground which means that it's ready to be foiled.  Her grinding has made her pieces fit as perfectly as the gloves that this glamorous woman is wearing.  I'm watching you! 

 

  

 

 

Mary's Tiger Eye Window got some of its pieces ground as Mary prepares to take this window over the goal post. She had taken it home with her but was unable to work on it because of an illness that even prevented her from showing up in class last week. Now that she's back on her feet again she going to be moving right along on this.

 

 

Linda L, as expected, got the background cut and ground which squared or 'rectangled' this oval design into a more standard window shape.   Getting the off-white colored border attached was a serious plus in getting this window completed quickly because this window is just about ready for solder!

 

 

 

Barbara has her second Mini Tulip Panel all cut, ground, tacked together and awaiting solder. She's got two more of these cut out so she will really be cranking these things out now! 

 

 

 

And MiMi got two more egg cartons worth of lamp pieces ground and is down to just three more cartons in the shop and another pair at home. She sees the lamp at the end of the tunnel and it's provided her with a boost of adrenalin to finish this show stopper. 

 

 

And that's what we have to show this week. We'll miss a post next week but we will return on the 24th with our regularly scheduled programming. It seems like a long time but this post was done VERY early this week.

 

Paul
Bayou Salé GlassWorks

You Can Lick This, Earl

Paula repaired her pair of Cardinals easily enough while she was at home during the week and brought it back in so I could get a finished picture of it.  It's certainly stunning and I as well as other students like the simple but effective way that we added the perfectly round glass eyes for the birds.

  

  

Let's Large Moth (or possibly Butterfly) is stunning and she only used 4 colors in it! She's used crepe green for the wings which is a VERY old glass that hasn't been made since the 90's. She balanced those wings with two tiny iridised flowers and a deep solid green border. Great colors all around.

 

  

 

 

Barbara put the finishing touches on her Tulip Suncatcher and decided that instead of bordering it with glass she would border it with the heavier zinc channel.  This is small enough that she doesn't need a border to hang it from and the thicker channel serves double duty as a border of sorts as well as giving Barbara a place to attach the chains which hang this.

 

 

 

 

Susan D finished off her four Christmas Ornaments and made quick work of them. I'm not sure what she'll be doing next but you'll discover that when we return next week.

 

 

 

 

Julie is our newest student and she's off to a fantastic start. In the entire cutting lesson that she received this week she didn't break a single piece of glass. That could explain why her Butterfly looks so wonderful!

Paula made her Batman and Superman Logos almost completely at home and she said that she had a lot of fun making the Batman logo.   She said that it was easy to do which tells me that she really understands how to finesse the glass as she's grinding it because keeping those pieces perfectly oval is not easy to do.  Then again, that Superman emblem is nothing to sneeze at either!

 

Sheri's Halloween Ghost is the perfect Suncatcher for Halloween and she's crafted it impeccably.  I can't find a single fault in this. 

Keri has begun working on a Circular Dragonfly that when completed always looks amazing. There won't be any background glass to cut in this as the circle of glass that acts as a border gives this suncatcher its strength and stability. She's moving quickly and efficiently through this project and it may even be finished as soon as next week!

 

 

  

 

 

Let began this cute little Bird suncatcher whose eye will be tacked on top of the glass. In the end it will look as though it were meticulously cut into the class with a rather daring thin placement, but it's all going to be an optical illusion.

 

  

 

 

Shelley's changed the pattern for her Ballerina Girl by enlarging it so that it can reside in a hoop which eliminates the need for background glass. We really wanted to omit any background glass because the only places we could place the cuts to make the pieces possible made it look as though the ballerina was a puppet with strings going upwards from her arms. This is a far, far more elegant solution.

 

  

 

 

Bee is already cutting glass for her Oval Dragonfly and has the small sectional pieces of the body cut as well as ground. That could very well be the most difficult part of this window so she can now take breath and relax throughout the rest of this project.

 

  

 

 

Cindy's Golfer Window comes even more alive this week as more and more of the course comes into view. There are just the pieces that make up the green now and knowing Cindy that won't take long at all.

 

  

 

 

Susan R has another large section of her Multi-colored Leaf cut and ground. She is literally flying through this complex Suncatcher and really impressing me.

 

 

 

Cheryl's got another Wedding Box under way and is opting to go with a simple yet elegant double border. At first she considered just one border but in the end she found that to be just a bit too plain.  This is the perfect solution. 

 

  

Paula also worked on her Iron Man Face and has picked a beautiful amber glass for the brass sections of Ironman's armor.   This is really going to stand out wonderfully against the red that will form the rest of his armor.

  

 

 

Martha got all of the glass cut for her Art Deco Woman and decided to go with an iridized white gown rather than a pure black dress. Although the black would have looked striking I have to say that I like Martha's decision to change it to White. The softer color blends in beautifully with all of the textured clears while having just enough sparkle to stand out.

 

  

 

Sheri is now giving up on Halloween and moving straight ahead into Christmas by beginning a pair of Grinch Hands complete with an ornament hanging from a chain between Mr. Grinch's fingers. Always appealing, these sell like hotcakes for Sheri !

 

  

 

Linda L has the inside oval section of her window all tacked together now and will 'rectangle' or square it off by adding four clear textured corner pieces that will then be surrounded by a border.  Linda has discovered that she'll need to re-cut two pieces of glass due to their being short but that is a small price to pay when you consider all of the time that she saved while grinding this.

  

 

Lorrie officially has all twelve of her Oil Scopes ready to have the mirrors inserted. These have all been touched up, washed and waxed and only require a clear glass view hole on the back of them but we can't solder those into place until the mirrors have been cut, taped together and inserted. This process could very well begin next week. 

 

 

  

Lastly, MiMi has emptied another two Egg Carton's worth of glass pieces and as she empties them she ceremoniously crunches up the carton and throws it away with a laugh and a victorious smile.    

 

So thanks everyone, we can wrap it up here!

Paul
Bayou Salé GlassWorks

So You're Making Two Of These?

Annette is not only happy that her LSU Tiger Window is completed-- she's also thrilled with how it turned out as well.   I knew that would be the case because as I always say, "You always get more out of a window than what you put into it."  And when you put this amount of work into one project you know that the end result will be spectacular.  I know it's the wrong analogy for this window but I do believe that she's knocked it out of the ballpark with this amazing window. Talk about a head turner! 

Keri's rounded Sun/Moon Box was completed this week and the end result is amazing. Since we can't easily make curved pieces of glass for the ends Keri 'rounded' the left and right sides of the box by arranging rectangular pieces of glass to form a curve on each side. The curve was painstakingly kept within the border of the box top for a perfect fit that finished off this perfect box!

 

 

Kandise finished off her Pair of Cardinals Window and they really did turn out lovely.   By utilizing different reds throughout the piece she was able to use red for the border without having the red wings of the cardinals 'bleed' into the border thus giving it a uniform cardinal red effect.  Fast and efficient are the words to describe Kandise's work.

 

 

 

Cheryl finished her wedding box and I have to say that you just can't lose when you make one of these. Her colors are wonderful and I'm sure that this will be treasured for years to come. 

 

 

 

Jan's Golf Green Panel shows that little things mean a lot. Although this only contains six pieces of glass it is elegant and easily recognizable. Adding and more pieces to this would just be over kill.  It's a hole in one as is.

 

 

 

Betty's Christmas Candle is one of my favorite large suncatchers. I used to make these by the dozed and sell out of them faster than I could make them. Here we see that Betty has put this together perfectly.

 

 

Betty's Pumpkin Owl is the third in a series of Owls made by individual students putting their 'spin' on the pattern. There's no right or wrong to the color schemes used in any of them and this one is just as appealing as the others were. Betty certainly has an eye for color and exercises it regularly.

This is the last of our completed pieces for the week and it shows us that Judy has her second to last Cross finished.  Last week I was under the impression that this was the final cross but her orders for these just keep racking up!

 

Martha started a new window this week which features plenty of assorted clear textures to make the background scenery of her Art Deco Woman. The woman herself will be the only color in this window as she will be wearing a striking black dress.  Martha's cutting thus far is exemplary!

 

Barbara is back and she's hoping that a new type of cutter will make things easier on her right hand which still has not recovered from her accident. Judging by the looks of things here she's managing the cutter just fine as well as the grinder!

 

 

Cindy's Golfer Window is moving right along and now that she has a fair amount of glass cut and ground it's much easier to see exactly what this pattern looks like. It's amazing how color can help the mind to see images more easily and it's why I occasionally color in some of the patterns I draw for people. Sometimes when a pattern has no color it just looks like a mess of lines and it's hard to differentiate what's what. 

 

 

 

Susan D is jumping head first into Christmas and has multiple Ornaments started here. She's really far along on each of them so these will EASILY be completed before the Christmas rush even thinks of starting to panic people.

 

  

  

Let's Mammoth Moth has a cute flower decoration in each of the wings that sets it all off nicely with a little accent of color.  Now that all of her pieces are foiled she can come back in, solder this and call it a day!

 

 

 

Susan R's Autumn Leaf is officially at the halfway point. She has done amazing work on this and she's moved along so much faster than I though possible. It's a lot of work but I know she's going to have a big smile on her face when she sees this hanging up.

 

 

Sheri cut, ground and even began foiling her Halloween Ghost. Once this is tacked together she'll fill in the eyes with black glass and learn the difference between cutting out a piece of glass that has had a pattern traced on top of it as opposed to a piece of glass that's line was made by tracing around an opening in the actual project itself. There's a difference and it really does matter. 

  

 

 

Paula began this Batman insignia and already has it all cut out and ready for grinding. She's really flying now!

Lara took a break from her African Woman to work on a series of large Beehive Suncatchers. She's got everything cut and ground so these just need to be foiled after which she can solder them.

  

Linda L is back from her vacation and it sounds as though all in all it was a successful two weeks of relaxation (except for some mini(?) traumas that always occur when you're trying to relax). That said, she's begun foiling all of her geometric shapes that make up the rounded background to her Fractures and Bevel Window.

 

 

 

 

MiMi is working on the third and final section of her lamp and this week we got to see her empty her first of twenty-ish egg cartons. Each egg carton had three of the same pieces in each of its cubby holes and once she emptied this one she crumpled it up and tossed it away very much like a goal celebration.

 

June got the paws for her Multi-colored Cat cut and ground leaving her with just five pieces in the body left to go before she can start foiling all of these colorful pieces.

 

  

  

 

Paula almost had her Pair Of Cardinals completed but the foil came loose on two of the branches when she thoroughly washed the flux off in the sink. The edges of suncatchers can be fragile until the suncatcher has been dry for about a day but luckily these pieces were easy to remove and then re-foil. This will quickly be completed next week.

 

 

 

Lorrie is moving steadily through her dozen Oil Wand Kaleidoscopes. This week she worked on filling in the corners where the actual oil wand slides into with solder . Her double sided mirror has arrived and these are well into the home stretch of being completed.

 

  

 

 

Here we see that Judy has already cut out and started to grind the (hopefully) last of her Crosses. But you never know. The Lord works in mysterious ways...

 

  

  

 

Bee is taking a break from her large Cardinal Window and is going to get this large and beautiful Oval Dragonfly done first.   She's sketched out that pattern and is now happy with how it all looks which means that she'll be cutting glass for this when she comes back in. 

 

  

 

Looking forward to your response,

Paul

Bayou Salé GlassWorks