Friction or Pressure?

 Melissa's Tiffany styled Birds Window is pure perfection.   The key to making a window look vintage (and Tiffany styled) is to use multiple colors throughout each subject matter.  In this case Melissa had varied the colors that make up each bird rather than using a single color each of them.   Rather than using just pink flowers she's made a mixture of light pinks dark pinks and white.   The icing on the cake is her attention to detail which makes this window such a standout. 

  

  

Bee's Peacock is a fiery delight that has captured everyone's attention. Great work and a wonderful color scheme sets this apart from other peacocks that we've see made in class. Bee has made this pattern with an eye for color and a dash of panache as well.

 

 

 

 

Let can always be counted on to get plenty of work done throughout her week. Her first completed item is this elegant circular Woman's Hat. Beautiful precise curves make the circular border as perfect as the hat itself.

 

 

 

 

Let also made this stunning Geometric Suncatcher as well as her Hat and this is yet another example of just how perfectly she can grind and follow a pattern. 

Susan R put the finishing touches on her cute Halloween themed Pumpkin Gnome and he's ready to be 'planted' in a flower pot!  This one moved really quickly for Susan and she'll ready to start a small project of mammoth proportions next.  

 

 

Judy is seeing Crosses in her dreams (nightmares?).   He latest is a new design and it looks like she's giving up the old design for the new one. 

Cheryl has a wedding coming up so she's dropped Mr Bingle so that she can get this Wedding Box finished in time for the wedding. She had started working o this at home which is why she is this far along on the top already. The top lid will surely be completed when she comes back in two weeks from now.

  

 

 

After completing her Tiffany Birds Melissa said she wanted to make something easy but I do not think the word EASY means what she thinks it means. But holy cow, look how far along she is on this already! I guess it IS easy (to her).

 

  

 

 

Cindy decided to make a Ghost Suncatcher this week and almost got to complete it but like our students always say, "class comes to an end way too soon."  That said, I have no doubt at all that this will be soldered and ready for hanging upon Cindy's return.  

 

 

 

Kandise is well under way on her new Cardinals Window. Featuring one male and one female the only glass left to cut out on this is the green for the four leaves and the the flower petals that reside between the heads of the two birds. I have a funny feeling that this will be ground before you know it.

 

  

Lara's making great strides with her African Woman Window and she's been grinding it here and there as she gets sections of it cut out. That colorful dress consists of a lot of pieces which can quickly overtake the limited real estate available on the paper pattern if things aren't ground and pinned into place.

 

  

 

 

Linda L got all of the glass cut for the inner oval section of her window and is now grinding those pieces. When I say that she is grinding them I'm sort of exaggerating because all she's really having to do it skim them to make them fit. There's probably about 2% of those pieces that will need SLIGHTLY more than a skim but that's just a drop in the ocean when you look at just how many pieces make this up.

 

 

 

 

Martha has all of her Sunflower cut out and ground save for the border (which is how we do things in here). The first thing we did was to add some thickness to the sunflower's stems since they were originally only lead lines which didn't look like they could support a bumble bee let along a flower of this magnitude! Adding green stems cut from glass has helped make this window look so much better. 

  

 

Lorrie's Whale Shark has a border attached and is ready to get it's back side soldered.   Since this is a small window I'm sure that it will be completed when she returns.  She's also got all of the pieces  that make up the clear front ends of her  Oil Scope Wands cut out as well so these are going to go together in the very near future.     

 

 

 

Susan D has tacked together all of her leftover Humming Birds and Flowers and has assembled a total of three Suncatchers from her lot of five humming birds and four flowers. It's hard to see here but she's actually doubled up things to come up with this total. She'll be soldering and possibly adding some wire when I show her my idea for holding together the tricky two birds in one suncatcher.

 

 

Ann's Fractured Background is just about ready for solder which means that she'll be finishing this project up before you know it!

 

 

 

It's becoming very plain to see that the pieces in the second section of MiMi's Lamp are quickly being foiled. It won't be long until MiMi shifts her first tacked section over on her mold and then begins adding the pieces to the second section.

 

  

 

Annette began soldering her LSU Window and made some incredibly great progress on it.   Her soldering has really come a long way when compared to her first pieces.  She'll be flipping this over before you know it to solder the back side (which should go faster than the front side since there isn't solder on it already which needs to be re-melted.)  The end is very near.

  

 

 

Mary Grace has another frame ready to be soldered and only has two more to make after this one. Repetition can be mentally taxing and I do believe that Mary Grace is VERY happy to be finishing this run of frames. 

 

  

 

 

Here we see that Judy is starting her second color variation of the completed Cross that we saw at the start of his post. 

  

 

Lastly I have to report that Zoe was in this week just long enough to pick up the pattern for her next project. All I'm going to say is Dinosaur. You'll see what that comes down to when we see Zoe again.

And so it goes!

Paul

Bayou Salé GlassWorks

All-Purpose Paul

Susan D's hard work both at home and in the shop has certainly paid off in spades because her three foot tall Humming Birds and Flowers Window is an impressive work of art. She's done the lion's share of work on this at home on her own and even when she worked in the shop she avoids having any help at all. When a problem rears its head she takes a step back, assesses the situation and then forms a plan to rectify the issue. This is a window that she can be very proud of since she not only made it on her own but designed it as well! Stunning! 

Lorrie completed this Peacock Panel last week but I've avoiding showing pictures of it as she made it because she was making it as a surprise for someone that looks at this Blog from time to time.  People are going to assume  that this is a large window but truth be told it measures in at a demure 11 x 14 inches in size!   That's a lot of detail for just a little bit of space but Lorrie handled it with ease.  This is another stunning window.

 

Shelley's Trio of Cats are ready for their place in a window with some actual sunlight behind them. They certainly look great with just LED lights lighting them up as you can see in the picture here. I can't wait to see what Shelley decides to make next.

  

 

Let completed her seven inch Round Butterfly Suncatcher this week. What impressed me the most is that the tiny 1/8 of an inch head is clearly visible, certainly round, and not covered in lead at all!

  

 

Sheri's first large Rose Suncatcher was completed and, as always, she's done a beautiful job on it. She's perhaps a tad slower right now but only a tad and I commend her for her resilience and her determination to strive for only the very best!

  

 

Paula's Butterfly Suncatcher is now ready to be hung in a window so everyone can see it. Beautiful work all around makes this Butterfly a pastel beauty.

 

    

Let was so busy that she also completing a second New Age Cross Suncatcher. Dare I say that you can feel the tranquility wash on over you as you view it. 

  

  

Mary Grace has another Frame completed which means that she will begin a new one when she comes back in.

  

 

Kerri started working on a Sun/Moon Box which will be novel since it won't be rectangular. The curved ends will be matched with a box bottom that will also curve. Alas, we won't see how that comes together until the top has been 100 percent completed.

 

   

 

Lara is not only working steadily on Honeycombs but has begun a new African Woman Window as well. The glass that she chose for her skin tone is phenomenal and the colors of the clothing will surely contrast stunningly against the dark, rich skin tone.

   

 

Lorrie has a Whale Shark under construction as well as a 12 different Oil Wand Kaleidoscopes! Her glass strips for the bodies of the scopes are all cut and she will be assembling these soon. Once they're done she'll get to mass produce all of the stands for them as well! 

  

 

 

Linda L has begun cutting out all of the triangular pieces for her fractured background and before she started cutting she said that she would slow things down a bit and be sure to cut off every line of each piece. In just one class she's gotten about half of her window cut (which is great progress in its own right) and the 'extra' time she's taken to ensure that she cuts inside the lines is paying off incredibly because it already looks as though it's been ground! When it comes time to actually grind all she's going to have to do is sim her pieces for a perfect fit. That's when she won't only make up 'lost' time but gain some as well!

  

 

Cindy is just about ready to cut out the background pieces for her latest large Circular Flowers Suncatcher. Whenever I call a window a 'flower' design you can bet that I'm unsure as to what kind of a flower it is. It's not due to bad workmanship on the student's part but rather my ignorance of flowers!

 

 

Martha's Flower Window (just kidding, I know these are Sunflowers!) is moving right along but we are going to make a change to the pattern after Martha has all of her pieces completely ground. We're going to add much heavier stems which will be cut out of green grass so the flowers don't appear to be balancing on tiny stems that look like pieces of string!

 

  

 

 

Annette has her borders attached and will begin soldering her LSU window when she comes back next week! It's been a long haul but you can already see just how stunning this will be after it's been washed and waxed.

 

 

Judy has her newest  Cross design tacked together which means that she'll be finishing this up upon her return next week. 

  

 

MiMi is now wrapping her pieces in copper foil piece by piece. There are a lot of pieces but she's moving steady and is on a straight and narrow great course.

   

 

Susan D has extra Humming Birds and flowers from the window that she completed (see the top of this post). Why does she have extra? It's because she's a perfectionist who believed that the colors were a little off for use in the window. However, as solo suncatchers they will be nothing short of perfect so she's assembling them, soldering them and then hanging them as beautiful suncatchers in their own right. 

  

 

 

Bee has her Peacock all soldered but we need to do a bit of touching up before she washes and colors it. Rest assured that this will be completed before the end of her next class.

  

 

 

June's Multi-colored Cat Window gains new colors with each and every passing week. Those eyes are clearly the coup de gras of the piece though.

 

   

 

Melissa has her Tiffany Birds Window all soldered and will wash and color this upon her return.  This has been an amazing journey for her and it's paying off handsomely.  Look too see this completed in our next post!

 

 

 

Cheryl hasn't completed grinding the inside of her Street Car window because the shear number of pieces in it have her pieces shifting around and making life difficult for her. By wrapping and tacking everything that she's already ground and fitted into place she won't have to be concerned about anything shifting when she resumes grinding again.

 

  

 

There is that!

Paul
Bayou Salé GlassWorks

Get Off The Drugs!

Paula's '65 GTO features a lot of lead pieces that she added detail to with some wire work soldered on top of the lead to form the hubcaps of the car. This is NOT a beginner pattern in any way, shape or form and Paula handled it with without batting an eye.Even the lettering that she did with enamel paint and then fired onto the glass is extraordinary!

 

 

Keri's Praying Mantis may be a bug but it's pastel color scheme makes it a very unique and beautiful bug!  She's learned a lot while making this and I love how she worries about the little things because it's that attention to detail that will make her windows stand out in a crowd- just like this one.

Mary's first project since returning back to class three weeks ago is impressive and shows that, without a doubt, she retains what she learns!  This Eagle is an impressive piece of art that will surely put a smile on the lucky recipient's face!

 

 

 

Cindy's Big Beautiful Butterfly has officially been completed and it's certainly big and beautiful. She really made this in record time without panicking as the deadline for its needing to be completed fast approached. Her work throughout this was always exemplary!

 

 

 

Lara's Gnome Hiding Under a Mushroom is the very definition of whimsical. Her glass choices were fantastic as is her workmanship. A head turner for sure that will light up any room!

 

 

 

We've never seen this before but I'm sure that we will again. Kandise knocked this out with ease in just two short classes so I believe that proves that she's an apt pupil! Even her color choices are supreme, don't you agree?

 

Let completed a new Wavy Cross pattern that was made out of some of her larger pieces of scraps but which looks as though it belongs in a high end stained glass store!

 

 

 

Let also finished s Teardrop Lily Panel which seemingly came out of nowhere to me. She starts and completes things at an amazing rate of speed. 

Judy has another Cross under her belt and the orders for them just keep coming in much to her dismay!  Will the end EVER be in sight?  Stay tuned to discover the answer to this and many other intriguing questions. 

Martha began a Double Sunflower window and she not only cut out her flower petals but ground them as well. And just look at how perfectly they fit together. I do believe that Martha is trying to show everyone up on Tuesday evenings!!

 

  

 

 

Jan has returned and she's working on a golf green panel which will feature a wire work flag and hole.   It doesn't make much sense when I type that out but it will when you see this completed. 

 

 

Let is working on this tiny Butterfly whose pieces couldn't fit together any more exactly. She left the PERFECT amount of room for the foil because it all went together beautifully and only needs some solder now. The head is so small I'm sure it will cover with lead, alas there's nothing that can be done about that. Luckily it will still look great even when it fills with solder.

  

  

 

Judy is tiring of making the same Cross over and over so she's opened up the pattern bin and decided to make this cross next. Yes, it's still a cross but it's something different to break the monotonous hours that Judy has been putting in.

 

  

 

 

Linda L has begun a window featuring an inscribed bevel with a fractured glass background that she plans on making out of scrap glass. After drawing out a pattern made of random lines she discovered that her scrap pieces where actually too small for what she had drawn so she then cut almost every piece in half at odd angles to make the pieces smaller. The end result looks wonderful and no one would ever guess that it was adjusted to incorporate smaller pieces of scrap glass. 

 

 

 

Susan R's Pumpkin Gnome is all cut out and he now has a new pair of shoes. Susan has also foiled all of her pieces and tacked it together which means that she'll solder this when she comes back in.

 

  

 

 

Lara is also working on Christmas Lights that she'll actually be stringing together! She's also hard at work on her Bee Honeycomb pieces as well so she's definitely been keeping busy.

 

 

 

June's jigsaw-like Multi-colored Cat has glass pieces that fit within the lines of her pattern flawlessly. It's a steady process that June has proven to be more than up for.

 

 

  

Ann is wrapping away on the pieces that form her fractured background. I believe this will come together as a finished project very soon now.

 

 

 

Since Melissa was able to cut and grind the border for her Tiffany styled Birds Window she's taken it home to wrap those border pieces and perhaps even begin to solder the front of her window as well. These birds are ready to take flight!

 

  

  

Cheryl's Mr Bingle Streetcar has all of its detail in the front window of the streetcar which is the section that Cheryl is now working on. The rest of this window is nice, easy large pieces but it's Bingle himself that's going to take the lions share of Cheryl's work. Alas, it's coming along slow and steady.

 

 

 

All of Bee's glass for her Fiery Peacock has officially been completely cut out (and ground as well.) We knew that last border would get done quickly which means that Bee will begin soldering when she comes back in. This window is nearly complete. 

 

 

 

Mary Grace has another frame just awaiting solder and the three pieces of glass that will make the legs and support piece so that this can stand on a table.

 

  

 

 

MiMi's second section is almost completely ground and she only has one 18 pack egg carton worth of glass to grind before she begins wrapping all of the pieces that she has pinned to her board.

 

   

 

And Lorrie has begun a series of 10! Oil Scope Wands but I did not get a picture of the strips of glass that she had cut for four of them.  We'll check that out next week when she also gets more sides cut as well as the 3 clear pieces for each of them.

And there ya have it!

Paul

Bayou Salé GlassWorks