9 Degrees of Whimsey

I'm excited about this post because Susan's lamp gets to make it's debut and I really think that it turned out wonderfully.  We found out the hard way (after the lamp was started) that 4" square brass lamp caps are no longer made (3 1/2" is as high as they go these days) so we had to improvise a bit to finish the lamp off by using a 4" fence post cap.  It looked great sitting there on the work table but when we went to add it to the lamp it stood far to tall and looked rediculous.  That was when we pulled out the tin snips and trimmed its edges down to a more usable size.  And in the end--  Perfection, as you can see for yourself. 

Martha had six of her nine cross windows VERY near completion so I insisted that she finish these off before cutting the backgrounds for her final three.  There was yelling and cursing and even some wrestling on the glass covered floor but I finally got her to see my way.  You should never let a nearly completed window sit for too long as the solder gets harder and harder to clean and color.  After all was said and done Martha had no problems with these but I'm more of a 'safe than sorry' kinda guy.  And seeing how great these look I'm sure that Martha will be more than psyched to get the other three completed!

 

And this week we're pleased to introduce everyone to our newest student, Janet.  She was partial to red and picking the colors for her butterfly was easy enough,  She decided to go with a yellow head because we both agreed that it just flat out looked best (the red head was a bit of overkill).  Janet had no problems whatsoever making this and I have a feeling that we're going to be seeing great things from her.

Becky worked on grinding her horse this week and although she was a little concerned about the process when she came in she had things well under control by the time she left .  She's got plans to do a second version of this window only in reverse.  I think she's close to the halfway point on grinding this so she'll most likely start wrapping it soon.

 

Bonnie's latest FDL is nearly complete-- she's taken it home to solder so it could very  well be completed when you read our update next week.  She also worked on her Cross (which I seem to have forgotten to take a picture of) and I'm confident that piece will be finished so Bonnie may very well have two completed projects upon her return to class.

 

Brenda's making excellent progress on her Beauty And The Beast Rose Window.  With everything all cut and ground she spent the night wrapping glass.  She accomplished a lot and this is another window that I can't wait to see completed.  I used to make windows with fractured backgrounds like this one but I seem to have moved away from them.  Now that I see this I'm reminded at just how good they look and I'll most likely start doing them again.

 

Next we're going to look at our pair of LSU Windows one after the other.  This first one is Linda L's who managed to tack her pieces together and then contemplate using a single or a double border.  It didn't take long for her to decide that 2 is better than one.  She used a thin yellow inner border and then finish it off with a thicker purple border.  That last purple border just needs to be cut into smaller sections and then this window will be ready for some solder.

 

Jeanne came in to face the same decision that Linda L did with hers earlier in the day.  Jeanne was unsure of how to go so I showed her Linda's window which then made it easier for Jeanne to decide that the extra work of a second border was well worth the time. Jeanne went with the same thin yellow inner border followed by the larger purple border. 

 

I was thrilled with Mary Grace's progress this week.  After I stressed that she needed to start cutting the line off of her pieces I came back to her project and discovered that her Eagle window has certainly taken flight!  The amazing thing  is that this Eagle window isn't even ground yet.  Mary Grace has two ways she can go with this at this point and she's decided to grind and tack the eagle together so it will essentially be just one piece set into the background.  This will make it far easier to grind and fit into the landscape later on.

 

Terry has been busy as usual.  She has not just two but three (3!) separate windows that she's been working on and they all look great.  Since she didn't have a beveled cross for the pattern that she liked so much she improvised (something I love to see our students do) by putting 5 bevels into a cross pattern and then redrawing the connecting lines so that it all works out the same.  Terry is also working on an LSU Football window as well as her Flower Window that has everyone's attention.  I'm not sure when Terry sleeps.  LOL

  

Betty was unable to make it into class this week but both Mary and Linda F came in and continued working on their Nativity Scene Windows.  They're both coming along nicely and I see some foiling in both of their futures.  FYI, Mary's is on the left and Linda's is on the right.  And our newest student, Janet, likes the pattern so much that she's going to start making one next weeks as well! 

 

Just look at Shelley's Beach Window.  She's got it all cut out and has started grinding her glass which is wonderful.  She's making this project look easy and it already looks great even before it's been ground or soldered.  It makes me want to lay out on the beach and just relax...

 

And bookending things here we'll take a look at Susan's newest window.  It's only been sketched out in pencil so it's very hard to see in the picture but it's an Abita Beer window.  And I must say that there is a LOT going on it it!  But all that work will surely translate into an amazing window and there's no doubt about that!

 

That's wraps things up here.  Next week we'll resume our basic suncatcher tutorial and check out all of the windows that our students will have completed in the next seven days.  See you all then!

Paul

Bayou Salé GlassWorks

Did the Lights Just Dim?

We haven't had a Weekend Workshop in a long time (due to family obligations) but when we received a number of serious inquiries about possibly having one we discovered that the timing worked out wonderfully so the gig was on.  In the end, three of our four interested students made it in but the loss of our fourth just made the atmosphere even more personable.  So without further ado let's look at what was accomplished by three people on a Saturday and Sunday in our shop.

The Cast:
Gerry is from Washington, DC and is a first time Stained glasser.  She's always been interested in the art but never had a way to satify her curiosity since she hasn't been able to turn up regular classes locally.

Becky is from Delcambre, LA and has always wanted to take classes with us but just hasn't been able to clear out time in her schedule to make that happen.  Like Gerry, Becky has never cut glass before but that was about to change...

Lastly we have Martha who is from Franklin, LA and who is actually a regular and ongoing student in our weekly classes.  When she found out we were doing a workshop she called Becky to tell her that this was her chance to 'sample the fun' by joining us for the weekend.  Of course she couldn't let Becky show up alone so Martha decided that she would come in to be with Becky and to possibly brush up on her skills with a refresher course on the basics.

Day 1:

10AM got here faster than expected but by 10:30 everyone had cutters in our hands and we began going over the basics of cutting glass.  Straight lines, curves, complex curves, circles and the dreaded inside curve kept everyone busy but by noon everyone was able to cut out all of the required cuts so we then  moved on to working with the patterns they had each picked out and made copies that they would then cut apart and cut their glass pieces from.

We have a series of 10 patterns to pick from for the Workshop and as luck would have it both Gerry and Martha picked the same Geometric design (although with slightly different color schemes).  Becky chose a Daffodil pattern which had about the same number of pieces in it that Gerry's and Martha's had (just under 50 pieces).

(Every time we see a set of three pictures they will always

be arranged in the same order:  Gerry's first, Becky's in the 

middle and then Martha's on the far right.)

By 1:30 we had eaten lunch and all three of our students were making progress cutting their first pieces of glass.  Confidence levels rose with each successful cut and correct use of the two pairs of pliers.   Also, cheers of happiness would accompany each piece as it was placed on their pattern bring it more and more to life!  Gerry was originally concerned that she wouldn't be able to cut the muster when it came time to cut the glass but she did so with aplomb and a stylish degree of gracefulness.  ;-)

By 4 o'clock everyone had accomplished the cutting phase of their windows.  There were still the borders to contend with but we don't pay borders any attention until the center of the window is cut, ground, wrapped and tacked together.   It took almost 2 hours to get all of the glass ground to fit within the lines of the patterns which was hard work for sure.   Becky, however, showed a stunning ability to effortlessly shape and sculpt all of her pieces on the grinder and by 6pm everyone had achieved our goal for the day at the time we hoped to complete the grinding process.  What you see below are Gerry's, Becky's, and Martha's windows ready to be foiled.

Day 2:

 After a  good night's sleep we resumed our classes at 10am.  There was still a lot to accomplish and the day would be long (but fun).  We went over the process of wrapping each of the glass pieces with Copper Foil making sure that it overlapped evenly on both sides.  It may sound easy but there's a certain amount of skill involved.  Luckily, it gets easier as you go along and no one had any trouble mastering the skill.  Before I knew it everyone was ready to tack their windows together and get to work cutting, grinding, wrapping, and tacking their borders into place.

Once the borders were tacked onto the windows we went around each of them with some brass channel (to protect the edges of the windows) and then began what I think is the hardest part of the stained glass making process--the soldering.  These are our three windows just before they're about to receive their final finishing solder application.  Of course, we don't simply squirt the lead on from a tube, we actually melt it onto the windows using a soldering iron.  It can be intimidating, but only at first.

It takes a while to solder a window-- you can't rush the process because the lead will only flow evenly at one speed.  If you move too quickly you end up with bumpy, ragged solder lines.  On the other hand, if you move too slowly your solder will flow through to the other side and the heat will most likely crack your glass.  Martha will be the first say that there is an art to the soldering process that you can't just learn over night.  But in the end it was surely Martha's moment to shine because her lead flowed like it never has before in a perfect bead of smoothness almost as if it were machine made. 

Gerry was the first one finished with her window and that was right around 6pm.  She gave it a quick bath in the sink and then went over it with Copper Patina to change the color of the lead from silver to copper.  After a second quick bath Gerry's window was dried and then waxed to make it really sparkle.  By 6:30 she was admiring her window as it hung in the quickly fading sunlight and as you can see Gerry did an amazing job. 

Beck completed her window right about the time that Gerry was washing hers.  Becky's Daffodil is flawless as was her work on it.  She came in with a positive attitude which is most certainly a prerequisite to making a great window.  Trust me when I say that if you leave your doubts at the door you will be able to make a stained glass window that looks just as wonderful as Becky's.

Martha has some previous skills when it comes to making windows since she's a regular student in our weekly classes but she said that she was able to pick up quite a few pointers throughout our weekend together.  But it's her soldering ability that that really came to fruition on Sunday.  I'm not sure what it was that she did differently but her window didn't need any touching up at all and her soldering looks like a professional did it.  I was VERY impressed with her work.

And In The End:

Everyone had a great time and the two days (although very full) went by quickly with more laughs than you could ever hope to imagine.  I can honestly say that our classes and workshops are filled with more laughter than broken glass and I think that's a key part of making great projects.  If you aren't having a good time you're doing something wrong.  That said, it's always the people that we manage to assemble that make our classes as fun as they are.  Gerry, Becky, and Martha each made the weekend more than memorable to Russ and myself and we hated to see them leave.

Our students often thank us when they leave but the fact is that without our wonderful students we wouldn't begin to consider doing this again.  And we are setting new dates even as I type this.  Thank you Gerry, Becky and Martha!  May your glass always follow your cuts and your solder flow smoothly!

Paul

Bayou Salé GlassWorks

A Pound Of Flesh

This update is a day late basically due to the fact that our Weekend Workshop was held this weekend and out 3 students wore me out!  We'll have another post shortly to show you what that was all about but right now let's focus on our regular weekly classes  and start with Cindy.

Cindy completed her Texas Star/Blue Bonnets Window and everyone was excited about how great it looked with many compliments passed around.  This was made as a gift and I certainly hope it's appreciated because I love this window.

 

Meanwhile, Cindy also completed this LSU window for her son, Chad.  He knew exactly what he wanted and told her just how to place the Tiger Eye, the LSU and the Football.  Then he came up with the alternating border colors to finish it all off.  But it was Cindy's hard work that really brought this window to life.

  

The we have Bonnie's Suncatcher Crosses which turned out lovely (as expected).  The glass jewels and bevels really dress up the crosses without going overboard making this a clean design that doesn't lose focus on the overall theme.

 

Last week the horse in Becky's window was missing but this week it's very obviously been cut out. There are just some green plants left to go (only 21 pieces) before Becky can begin soldering her second window with us.  And let's face it, this already looks great.

 

 Susan's Panel Lamp is all soldered and ready to be put together.  That means that we'll certainly see a completed picture of this project when she comes back in next week.  In fact, the sides were joined together after this picture was taken which means that only the top needs to be soldered on before this gets washed and then colored.  All I can say is, 'Wait until you see it!'

  

This is the LSU window that Jeanne is working on and it's all ground and ready for foiling!  I took this picture before the last 2 pieces were officially ground, but rest assured that they have been fitted into place and Jeanne has taken this home with her so she can tack it together when she comes back in and then add her final borders.

  

Bonnie resumed work on her Fleur De Lis Window and her Holy Mother Of All Crosses!  There's still one more outside trim to add to the cross but it's already shaping up to be something spectacular.  And the nice thing is that it's VERY easy to make.

 

I have to officially state that I'm so thrilled with Shelley's work!  This window hasn't even been ground and it's already fitting together well enough for us to know what everything is in it.  with just the sky and a bird left to cut I'm suspecting that Shelley will be grinding this before we know it.

  

This is another window that I can't wait to see completed.  I love the circle border in a rectangle border design and the Rose inside it looks great.  Beauty And The Beast's version has nothing on this one! Brenda really accomplished a lot this week and this window is going to be another crowning achievement for her.

  

Martha has four of her Cross windows so nearly completed that it's almost a lie to say that they aren't finished.  All they need are some hooks and these will be set.  She has 5 others to go with 2 of them just needing minor touch ups and hooks.  I'd say her work here is almost done!

  

Betty, Linda and Mary have all made excellent progress on their  Nativity windows.  In the end there are minute differences between the three windows but not really enough to merit going over the same points three different times so I'm putting them all together so you can click on the picture and check them all out on a larger view side to side so you can hunt for the differences yourself.  :-)

 

Linda L came in and started wrapping her version of the 3D LSU window.  By the time she left it was completely foiled which means that when she returns next week she'll tack it, add the 2 borders and then tack it together some more.  I think she'll easily manage that in one class so I'm expecting to see this completed real soon now!

 

Mary Grace has decided to make an Eagle window and although she was happy with the pattern she wasn't exactly thrilled with the number of pieces in it.  But the thing is, most of the Eagle is cut out and that's the hardest part of this window.  It fits together nicely already because all of her pieces were cut inside of the line she drew on the glass she used.  Once this eagle is together the rest of this window will be a piece of cake.

 

Next up is Terry's Flower window which is all assembled and basically soldered.  With the front completed and only the back left to go Terry will be looking for a new project to start next week!

 

And lastly we have the wedding present that Ann has been worrying about working on.  Time is of the essence but this week she got her background all cut out and the front completely soldered so I'm going to say that this will definitely be completed on time.  Ann won't be in with us next week so we'll see this finished up the following week which is in time for the wedding.  What you're looking at is the back side so you can see there isn't much soldering left to be done. 

 

Hopefully we'll return to our suncatcher lesson next week (I really don't see anything that will stop that.)   There's going to be a second post before the end of this week so you can see exactly what went on in our Weekend Workshop so be on the lookout for that update shortly!

Paul
Bayou Salé GlassWorks

Seeing Double, Triple, Quadruple, etc.

We're going to jump right in with our students windows this week and start off with the most colorful one first.  Mary Grace's Geometric Window has pushed her to work much more precisely than she has ever worked before and as you can see by the way things line up in this window, she's got it down!  Nice straight lines and fluid curves make this a window that Mary Grace can be proud of.  And her soldering is becoming smoother and smoother with each project that she makes with us.

 

Brenda's Cross window is accented perfectly by an inner Ribbon Border.  I think that her use of only two colors makes this completed project exude style and class.  Everything is uniform and fits together perfectly (which is very important on a window that is a mirror image of itself).  I'm thrilled with how far Brenda has come and hope she can see just how wonderful her work is.

  

And this is Brenda's second completed window this week.  I guess you can tell that she likes the Ribbon border.  This one was a little easier to deal with since it's a bit larger than her cross window but still a challenge to put together nonetheless.  Of course, Brenda makes it all look easy!

  

Up next we take a look at Mary's Beveled Cross Window.   I'm starting to see a pattern in Mary's color choices-- she likes clear glass especially as a border choice!  And there is certainly nothing wrong with that as you can see in this window that absolutely sparkles when it's in the sunlight.

  

Betty also completed a Beveled Cross Window which is similar to Mary's but with a brown border rounding it off.  It always amazes me how much a persons choice of colors can change the feel of a window and you can easily see that in these 2 windows.  

 

  

Betty also completed this Modern Nativity Scene which features a triple border.  The extra work on the borders really gives the window a church-like feel which fits the subject matter perfectly.  There isn't a single thing I'd change about this.  Great work Betty!

 

We ran a little late on Jeanne's butterfly last week but she more than made up time this week!  Her butterfly was completed right off the bat and then she moved on to cutting out an LSU window which you'll see further down below.  Her butterfly looks perfect though and I love her choice of colors.

 

Becky has begun cutting out her Horse window and with just some background pieces cut it's already looking to be every bit as impressive as her last window.  She'll be cutting out the actual horse when she returns and then you'll really get a feel for what this window will look when it's completed. Right now it sort of looks like an Invisible Horse window!

 

With two windows under her belt this week Brenda has begun working on her newest project-- a Beauty and The Beast Rose Window.  the pattern actually came from a frame in the Disney animated film Beauty And the Beast.  When it gets further along I'll post the still that it was drawn from so you can compare them.  Knowing Brenda this will be spectacular.

 

Susan flew the coop again before I could get a picture of the latest section she completed for her panel lamp.  Let's look at her work area and see what it says.  I see the cap of her lamp that has been de-laquered (a simple process involving steel wool and a drop of flux) so it can take solder and then be colored to match the rest of her lamp.  You can even see the test section I soldered just to make sure we wouldn't have any unpleasant surprises when the time comes to actually attach it.  You can also see the pliers and the fine point Sharpie marker that Susan was using as well as the plastic cup she was drinking from and her Abita Abbey Ale beer bottle.  Now before you go passing judgement let me explain that the beer bottle will be incorporated into her next project and it was already empty before she arrived in class with it.  There's no telling if she drank it at home or in the car on the way to class but I do know that she was anxious to use the bathroom when she arrived.  I'm just sayin'.  ;-)

  

Betty, Linda and Mary are going to drive me crazy while they work on their latest Nativity windows.  Why?  Because they are all doing the same pattern, the same size and (I think) in the same colors.  Figuring out whose is whose is going to be a challenge and I'm sure I'll get something mixed up eventually.  One thing that I am sure of this week is that this first one is Betty's.

  

 And this second one is, I'm pretty sure, Linda F's.

  

Which leaves this third one which inevitably belongs to Mary.  I'm not sure what to say about these without sounding repetitive so I'll be brief and simply say, 'Nice pattern'!

  

Bonnie began cutting out a new Fleur De Lis Window and with the center FDL now cut and ground the hardest part of this window is complete.  There are just 6 pieces of background left and then the double border and Bonnie will be looking for a new window to make.

 

Next we come to our LSU window section.  We're starting with the fancy LSU window that Cindy has been working on at home.  Everything has been cut and I suspect that she'll be soldering this at home along with her Texas Star and Blue Bonnet's window which is all cut out now as well. I'll say this about Cindy-- she wastes no time!  LOL

  

Again we have two identical patterns and color combinations being made by two different students but this time in two different classes.  The first one is being done by Linda L and she's really flying through it.  On her first class she managed to cut out all but the borders and then get more than half of it ground as well!

  

And when Jeanne said that she wanted to make an LSU window I immediately recommended this pattern to her because of all the text LSU windows, this is the prettiest.  The angled shadow effect gives the window a nice 3D feel and helps ramp up the amount of skill it takes to finish it.  A plain LSU is just too simple a project but this pattern allows more cutting without becoming overwhelming.  Jeanne was willing to call it a night after cutting out her yellow pieces but by the time she left class she had everything but the border cut!  Now that's what I call a productive night!

  

Ann came in with this cross pattern that she had designed while at home during the week and immediately began cutting class.  There are just 6 pieces of background left to go and Ann will cut them by placing the cross on top of her background glass and tracing around it.  That sounds like something that will easily be completed next week. I'm guessing that Ann will be spending some quality time with the grinder when she returns

  

Crosses, crosses everywhere.  Martha has more crosses started that your average church sees in a given week!  These are the first five with their borders cut and ground.  She's taken them home to wrap so these cross windows will begin winding down now.  These are the perfect size for a gift and her color combinations are flawless.  She still has four more to go so we'll be seeing  more of them but I suspect they'll all finish quickly once all the borders are cut and ground.

Myrt is back!  She's been having a rough time at home and we were all thrilled to see that she was able to make it back to class this week.  It looks like we might miss her next week but I think she may be able to show up more regularly hereon out.  This is the Ribboned Border Fleur De Lis window that she has been working on and it's all come together spectacularly.  Everything has been cut so she's about ready to wrap up this project.

 

Meanwhile, Terry started grinding this delicate flower window that she cut out while she was at home this past week.  It's a bit of a jumble here in the picture but rest assured that once it's all ground and fitting together nicely you'll see just how beautiful this pattern is.  Fact is that you can already get a feel for it in its un-ground state below.

 

 And lastly we'll take a look at Shelley's Beach scene.  It's all coming together now with the sky, the umbrella, and the sand pails left to cut.  I have no doubt that she'll be grinding this window before you know it.  Shelley's abilities have really picked up and this window shows just how far she's come along.  It's taken her no time at all to cut this out and her pieces are already fitting together nicely.  What a peaceful window this is going to be.

And that about wraps things up here.  We're going to end up with a double post next week as we have a Weekend Workshop scheduled for this coming Saturday and Sunday.  Three students will start and complete a 16" x 20" window all in the space of 2 days.  I love the patterns that they've picked out and can't wait to get that under way.  See you then!

Paul
Bayou Salé GlassWorks