Bayou Salé GlassWorks: Let's See What We Have Here

MiMi's Lamp was competed this week and to say that it is simply spectacular would be an insult to it! It's been 22 months of on and off work on 1200+ pieces without a single compromise. The end result speaks for itself. I am most impressed with her ability to solder this hulking 3D behemoth. In the end I think she had only four run-throughs which is actually EXTREMELY brag-worthy when dealing with the soldering of a lamp. Here it is, revel in its beauty.

Tracey's Cross Window is beautiful as well as uplifting and as I've said before the addition of a second border really knocked it out of the ball park. By using the same glass that she used for the cross the last border pulls color from the center of the window and frames it out perfectly

Just for fun, Here's a look at what Tracey's window would have looked like without the second (final) border. As you can see it's still beautiful but it just sort of lacks something. This is why I always say that if you REALLY want your window to stand out, adding a second border can really do the trick easily.

Nettie drew up this stunning religious pattern all by herself and you can certainly call me impressed! I love this Cross and Bible design and I have a sneaking suspicion that our other students will as well. Also, her quick start-to-finish work on this is equally impressive!

Let's Coffee Cup was (as I semi-expected) completed while she was at home last week. She brought it in for me to look over and then washed it, colored it and hung it up for this closeup. It's good to the last drop!

Cindy's got another dozen Heart Crosses under her belt leaving her with about 24 more left to make. This may very well have just become the most mass produced stained glass project that we've ever had. Oh and FYI, there are more on the way!

Let has also begun working on a geometric styled circular piece with a slight flower motif. She got all of this cut in just one class which is no mean feat but let's face it, we've come to expect things like this from Let.

Barbara is making more Crosses starting with this Blue single bevel cross. I've shown her the simplest way to make this which involves splitting each 'extremity' of the cross after it's been ground as a solid piece first. It sounds odd but when you see the process in action it all makes perfect sense and alleviates the workload by about half.

Sheri's begun a Rooster and she's started by grinding the eyes and some of the comb. She did this on her own and when I saw what she was doing I was impressed because I myself like to do the eye's of living things first so you can build the rest of the pieces around them and they don't end up twisted out of position.

Lorrie, as you will see, has got two irons in the fire. Her Address Window needs to be foiled and tacked together before she can add the final border. She's much rather foil while at home since she hates to waste class time wrapping glass.

After taking her Address Window out to the car Lorrie brought in her Bee and Flowers Window and resumed cutting glass for it. She's noticed a slight issue with the glass for her background blending in too closely with the glass that she used for the Bee's wings. We discussed it and she's come up with a new (and better) glass for the bee's wings which she'll cut out when we see her next.

Betty has all of her Luna Moth cut and mostly ground as well. She's put her two two silverware Butterflies on hold so she could get this finished. I've got to say that she's muscled through the cutting and grinding wonderfully. She'll be keeping this one for herself and by the looks of things it will surely be completed soon.

Mary has begun making her Address Window by working on the oval center with the numbers in it as it that were the entire window. Once that is tacked together she'll be able to work on each side separately which makes storing the window between work sessions much easier. I have to say that I love the deep blue numbers against the streaky wispy white background glass. Yes, there is a streaky white background cut for this but it's just hard to see against the white of the pattern.

Martha has got her Alligator and the leaves that it is 'hiding' behind ground and hopes to come back in with all of those pieces foiled so she can then cut out her background glass quickly and efficiently. I have no doubt that will happen and if it all goes well (why wouldn't it?) she may even get a border cut for him/her!

Paula is now at a standstill on her Foxglove Window only because the person she's making it for has yet to decide on a color for the stem. With only two pieces left to cut (plus the border) I'd say that this will be finished shortly after a decision has been made.

Susan R has all of her Watering Can with Flowers cut as well as ground so she'll be foiling this and soldering it before you know it. She's really moved quickly through this which isn't surprising so much as it is impressive because there's actually a lot to this piece. Susan simply set herself to work and wasted no time at all. Next up will be the 22 leaf pieces that she'll accent this water can with!

Julie is soldering the back side of her Heron Window and doing an amazing job on it. Slow and steady wins the race when it comes to soldering but this window is quickly nearing its completion. I'm expecting to see this hanging up with light behind it when Julie comes in again next week. Be excited. Be VERY excited!

Lara's African Woman was back in class and now that she's been ground, foiled, and tacked together Lara was able to get the background glass cut out. It was a tight fit since we didn't have any more of this glass and it's no longer being made but where there's a will there's a way!

Bee's Long Tall Iris now has it's final border attached as well as the brass channel that surrounds it. She's got most of the front side soldered which leads me to believe that this could possibly be completed as soon as next week. I'm thinking that's HIGHLY likely!