Bayou Salé GlassWorks

Busy schedules had a few students flipping from days to nights and vice versa. The only person who was unable to make it in this week was Ellen, who we all missed. But Russ and I got to see her today when she came over for some glass so she could get some more work done while she’s at home.

We’ll start with Mark who will be regularly jumping from day classes to evening classes every other week. He came in for a day class on Tuesday morning and immediately got to work tracing out the pattern he’d picked. Soon afterwards he picked out most of the glass he’d use to do his window and he began cutting out his water. I love the glass he picked and he cut it perfectly and quickly. After the water was all cut out he moved onto the 3 white birds that are in his window. Before we called it a day he was able to get all 3 of them cut out. The man is a quick study for sure! Here’s a look at what he did Tuesday.

Fran continued cutting the remaining pieces of her Camaro Window until she only had the grill of the car left. We’ve decided to leave that go until it’s all ground because I want to see what a piece of clear granite would look like for the cars grill. I think the texture will look great but I’m unsure of the clearness of the glass. When the window is finished being ground we’ll be able to get a better feel for how the Granite Glass will look. After Fran finished cutting her glass we mover her to the grinder and set her to work making sure everything fits together perfectly. She got fairly far and took home the pieces that she ground so she could wrap them before she comes in next week. The picture below shows the bottom left corner all ground and fit together. If you look closely you can see where we skipped the pieces for the front grill.

Jane was unable to make it in Tuesday morning but she did manage to make it in on Wednesday Evening. She had finished tacking her Macaw together and even added the background to it. When she arrived we cut the strips for her border and after she ground, wrapped and tacked them to her window she went to work soldering it. She got about 90% of it finished bef9ore she called it a night and headed on home where she’ll finished the remainder of the soldering and then color it. Another job well done by Jane.

Gerald was in on Tuesday evening and he traced and cut his pattern all out. Then he laid out his logs and cut them out of glass. With time left to spare he worked on some of the larger pieces of his birds. I have to say that the glass he used for his logs is perfect. There’s a real 3D look about them that you can’t really achieve when you use Spectrum glass. I can’t wait to see more of this one done next Wednesday…

And speaking of Wednesday night, let’s jump back to this Wednesday and see what Joey and Cheryl were doing while Jane was working on her window. It was nice to have Jane finally meet Cheryl and Joey since they only really know each other from reading the Blog and seeing the projects that each of them are making on here.

Joey tacked together his birds and background that he wrapped while he was at home. After it was tacked we cut the remaining 3 borders for this window out of a tan/brown glass that was horrible to cut on the strip cutter. For some reason the glass had a hard spot right in the center of the glass that made cutting strips almost impossible. But we persevered and got it out in pieces. In the end we needed one more strip that was only 7 inches long and that was the one that ran the full length of the glass without breaking. We should have tried cutting the short ones first! Joey started soldering his window after the brass channel went on it and he took it home with him to finish up for next week. The end is near!

Last, but not least, we have Cheryl’s window. She had to skim the center bevels to get it to line up with her corners (all that foil in between the glass adds up and will make your pieces bigger).  We had cut the center clear glass sections a little bigger hoping to make up for the space that the foil would be taking up, but the best we could do without having the bevels wrapped was guess-timate what the size would be.  Cheryl said it was only off by a little bit and that she took the difference of the center bevels of each row.  Good job Cheryl!  She finished soldering her window in class and had it washed and colored before she left.  It looked GREAT as you can see below.  The bevels around the clear glass really sparkle.  Up next for Cheryl will be magic wands and her street address numbers for a window in front of her house.

And that was it this week!

Paul
Bayou Salé GlassWorks 

It was a busy week with the Classes and we have a lot to show you so let’s move right along and start with Jane’s projects.

We know that Jane had finished a window last week and that she was planning to do a parrot window based on a photograph she had. Well, Jane’s not one to take time off between classes, so she walked in the door the a major portion of her latest window already finished! When she showed me the work she’d done on her own I was impressed. When she showed me the photograph that she was working from I was amazed at how perfectly she managed to render the bird in glass. From the pattern itself to the perfect colors, everything about this makes you say, “Wow!” She got a lot finished in class today and I can’t wait to see what it looks like when she comes in the door next week. Next up after the parrot will most likely be a deer window. Jane brought me in a photocopy of a painting she had done and hoped we could turn it into a stained glass pattern. I don’t see any problem with doing that so we’ll see what happens with that one very soon. Can you pick out which bird is the stained glass one and which are the photographs in the thumbnails below???

Ellen was working away on the next table and finished the second panel of her fireplace screen. She’s been working very hard on this and before she finished soldering it she wanted to be sure that it would fit in the metal screen framework. At first, to our surprise, it wouldn’t go in but closer inspection showed us that it wasn’t a problem with the window at all– the clips built into the screen that hold the window in place weren’t bend back all the way. In the end it was a simple matter to push the clips back allowing the window to drop down in to place.  We then took the window back out and Ellen was able to finish soldering it. Within an hour and a half she was finished (which is about as fast as one could hope to do a window of that size.) Normally I touch up the soldering on all the students windows but this one didn’t need touching up at all. Ellen makes the art of soldering (the trickiest part of doing stained glass) look downright easy even when it’s not.

From there I suggested she start working on her last panel while I cleaned up the window and set it into place in the frame. But Ellen hadn’t expected to get this far along in her project  (I told you she was good!) and therefore didn’t bring the third section of the pattern with her. Of course that wasn’t going to stop her from working. Having liked the beveled candle holder that Russ had made a few weeks back she decided to put one of those together in her remaining time. She got all the pieces wrapped and tacked so the only thing left for her to do is cut the bottom mirror and join the 4 sides together. Here’s a look at her candle holder sides and her second window set into the fireplace screen. You can see a Rooster in the left side of the screen but that’s just an order that we have hanging on the wall showing through the empty 3rd section that Ellen will be working on next week.  One thing you should know about the picture is that the side panels are twisted at an angle so that the screen stands up.  When you see it in real life it’s very apparent that there is an angle involved.  In the picture the angle is not visible which makes the line where the water meets the land look like it’s crooked.   It’s just an optical illusion that doesn’t exist when you see the actual screen.

Fran came in and continued working on her Camero window. Each week she moves faster and faster as she gains more confidence working with glass. She managed to trace and cut the sky, the clouds, the sand, the tree, and the red sections of the car for a total of 31 pieces of glass! Compare that to the 10 pieces that she cut during the previous class and you can see that she’s settled in nicely now.  In just three weeks Fran has become comfortable with the glass cutting process and she’s now moving with great speed. I highly suspect that she’ll have the rest of it cut out next week and that she’ll be grinding all her pieces for a perfect fit. She’s purchased a large amount of red glass for the Camero and has hardly used any of it. That’s because she already has her eye on her next project and will be needing some red glass for that as well.  She’ll be doing the red-robed Mickey Mouse that you’ve seen on here in the past! Fran’s doing great work and it’s a pleasure to work with her.

Next up comes our Evening Class. We had a new student this week so we’ll start with Mark’s project. I’d like to say that like most new comers he was a little leery about his ability to do this work. Needless to say, three hours later he had surprised himself. Regular readers (or even infrequently ones) know that the first project a student does is a butterfly. It’s not too big, can be finished in one night and introduces the student to every step involved in the making of a stained glass window. Mark and I started with an 8 by 11 piece of clear scrap glass and we started him cutting it up in straight lines, curves, compound curves, circles and crescent-moons. I knew immediately after he made his first cut that he’d have no problems at all with this. His cut had the perfect pressure and he was able to follow the line on the glass effortlessly. When he moved on to the green glass he used for his butterfly wings he cut them out perfectly. Next came the body of the butterfly cut from a slightly different shade of green. He then learned how to grind his glass and smooth out any rough edges. From there he wrapped the pieces and finally soldered them all together. When he was finished he decided to leave his butterfly’s lead lines silver rather than making them copper colored or black. The end result is a beautiful butterfly. Marc will have no problems when he starts his window next week- of this I’m sure!

Gerald appeared in the doorway shortly after class started (he has a long ride to get here) and he brought a picture that he planned on starting with. Alas, it wasn’t a stained glass pattern so it had to go thru a bit of a conversion process that Gerald was able to do himself over the span of the night. We cheated a bit by printing the picture out to the actual size he wanted the window to be and he then traced out the basic outlines and feathers until he had a finished pattern of 2 pelicans on a wooden post with the ocean behind them. The pattern looks great and I have to say that Gerald is one of the few people able to make his own stained glass pattern. That’s an art in and of itself and something that goes far beyond the scope of your basic stained glass class. No wonder his windows turn out so good!

Joey came in with his Bird, Flowers, Leaves, and Branches all wrapped and tacked together. Then came the fun part– Rather than using the pattern pieces he’d initially cut we decided that it would be easier and faster to cut out new pattern pieces drawn around the objects that Joey had ground and tacked. No matter how exactly you cut and grind there will always be little discrepancies that when added together throw off original background pieces. To make things easier I recommend cutting out new background patterns by tracing out the parts that were finished so he’d have new background patterns that mimic any of the discrepancies. And that’s just what Joey did. It took him about 20 minutes to redo his pattern pieces but in the end all of the background glass slid perfectly into place and only needed to be skimmed on the grinder. He finished cutting and grinding all 25 pieces by the end of the night (and some of those pieces were very tricky– look how some of the flower petals cut deeply into the background glass.) Joey works meticulously and it pays off in a window like this. Next week he’ll have the border cut and then begin soldering his window!

Of course Cheryl wasn’t sitting around like a bump on a log while all this was going on around her. After having a week off from glass classes she was raring to go. She finished grinding the Franklin Foundation Hospital logo and wrapped the rest it before tacking it all together. The idea behind this window originally started as just a rounded logo but then she decided that a bevel border would look nice around it. But she didn’t want the focus of the logo to be detracted by whatever glass she’d pick to square it off for the beveled border. The solution was simple– she would use clear window glass to square out her design and then follow that with a row of bevels. Gerald had decided on the same approach a week earlier for the background of the L S U section if his last window, but neither Cheryl nor Gerald knew that they both had the same idea. I guess Cheryl and Gerald are on the same wavelength or perhaps the idea rubbed off thru osmosis since they both work together in the shop here. After a bit of a panic involving finding some clear window glass (we thought Gerald had used it all the week before) we were able to locate a piece more than big enough to square out Cheryl’s window. When it was tacked together Cheryl staggered 3 inch 4 inch and 1 inch bevels to make the last border. She’ll be wrapping the bevels at home this week and then tacking it all together. This window is about finished. Look how nicely the colors she used work to create the illusion of a reflection under the logo.

We’re at the end of this post so I’ll say that it’s time for a confession. Most of our students (as well as Russ and myself) are Survivor fans which created a bit of a problem this week. Survivor wasn’t on during its normal Thursday time slot and was shown on Wednesday night right in the middle of our classes this week! So we ended up we ended up with a bit of a distraction from 7:00 until 8:00 when we turned on the TV and more or less listened to Survivor while we worked away at our projects. Once it was over the television got turned off and we went back to our 80’s music all the while commenting about how we remembered originally hearing the songs when they first came out 25 years ago. lol
So that’s it for this week. Next week Jessie will be rejoining us during our night class while Mark swaps over to day class for a week to accommodate his work schedule. See you all then…
Paul
Bayou Salé GlassWorks

Let’s start this week’s entry with a picture of the missing windows from last week that Joey and Cheryl made.  Cheryl’s is the one on the left and Joey’s is the one on the right.  You can easily see how the pattern connects between each window.

Now let’s jump to what Joey did this week.  He had already cut out the pattern to his 3rd and final section of his cabinet door windows and on Tuesday night he finished cutting all the glass but the background and 3 borders.  Then he ground all that he cut before heading home to wrap everything so he can finish the remaining pieces next week.  He used 2 different shades of blue for the bluebird and as you can see they blend together perfectly.  He’s doing another great job and is already thinking over what he’ll be making next.

I put the 2 windows that Joey and Cheryl finished last week next to Joey’s current window to give you a rough idea of how it’s all shaping up.  Here’s a quick look.

Ellen finished all the cutting and grinding on her window and went to work wrapping all her pieces.  Once the bird is wrapped she’ll be set to solder and she’s already planning for the next window to be started because she took the third pattern home to trace and cut out.  In the picture below of her current window, don’t be fooled by the empty looking section– the body of the bird isn’t wrapped and you can’t see all the separate pieces while they are sitting on the white pattern paper.  Believe me when I tell you that they are all there!  You’ll get a much better look at this window next week when all the lines are defined.  Ellen’s work is always perfect and her finished screen is going to be beautiful.  In fact, it’s inspired Jane to do a fireplace screen for herself later on!

Speaking of Jane, she came in with her Bayou Scene practically finished.  She needed hooks on it to hang it and then it needed to be washed, colored and waxed.  When it was finished we took it outside to get a picture of it in the sun light.  Jane was also able to get the four beveled sides of a candle holder wrapped and tacked together.  She’s thinking about a Deer window next, so look here next week to see the pattern for her next project.

                  

Gerald finished his LSU window but the pictures don’t really do it justice.  The tiger really stands out when you look at it with a few feet between you and the window.  It’s very visible in the picture I took, but when you walk up to it for the first time it’s a bit hard to figure out what it is.  Not that that’s a bad thing– I love it when someone looks at it for a few seconds before their eye’s light up and a smile lights up their face that was previously puzzled!  Another great job by Gerald who is leaning towards a Flamingo window for his next project.  (I wonder if he’ll color them pink???)

Once again we have multiple windows finished this week.  Check back next week when Cheryl will return  from Florida to finish her Franklin Foundation window.  Hopefully we’ll see some more progress on Fran’s Camaro as well.
Paul
Bayou Salé GlassWorks

Due to my being a bone-head I’m missing a picture of the two windows that Cheryl and Joey managed to finished this week. After Joey finished washing and waxing them we had laid the panels out on the table next to each other. I then became obsessed with getting a shot of Cheryl’s newest window into the camera and I completely forgot about the finished ones only 2 feet away from us on the same table. I’m hoping that I can convince Joey to bring them back again next week so everyone can see what a wonderful job they both did when I finally take pictures!

I did manage to take a picture of the last section of Joey and Cheryl’s cabinet doors that Joey was working on. It’s more pattern than window at this point in time but you can easily see what it’s all about. Joey traced out the pattern and averted disaster by reminding me that our original pattern was drawn 1/2 inch short. In the nick of time (before he started cuttingit up) we added the extra half inch to the edge of the pattern and then when he cut all the pattern apart Joey began cutting the flowers out. Here’s the latest window he’s working on.

Cheryl went immeadiately to work on her Franklin Foundation Hospital logo this week. It will be finished long before the new hospital is up and running at the rate she’s going. She got all but 2 pieces cut and ground all in one night. It will most likely have a completely clear glass background to square it out and will be finished off wil a beveled border.

Ellen was back and it was good to see her again. Life has a way of stepping on the things we really want to do and Ellen will attest to that. After all the jokes about forgetting who she is (it had been only 2 weeks but we love to kid!) we sat her down and got her working on the 2nd window of her screen. She’s almost finished with this section and as I’ve said before her third panel will be really easy for her since it’s the least complex of the 3 sections. She has part 2 all ground except for the feathers in the bird but they’re cut so we should see some wrapping going on next week. Everything is fitting together wonderfully on this project and as always, Ellen’s work is flawless. I can’t wait to see the 2 panels next to each other…

On a similar note, Jane was hard at work while at home this week and her bayou scene (which is very reminiscent of Ellen’s pattern) is also nearly complete. She got the top of her skyline cut and finished grinding everything. She managed to get all the tree limbs and the sky behind them cut while she was at home (a tricky job to do alone) and it all fit perfectly. She cut a green/brown border and got it all ground and ready to tack together just before class ended. This will be finished next week for sure.

Fran came in and set upon the task of picking out all the glass for her window this week. She then traced out her pattern and got it all cut up and ready to be traced onto the glass she’d picked out. We started with some of the easier pieces to let her get comfortable with cutting and it worked. There’s a noticable difference in her ability with ony 14 pieces under her belt this week. I’ll bet we see a lot of progress on this window next week since she’s doing great already!

Lastly we have a window that a lot of the students have been asking about. Gerald came in and had decided (just like Cheryl) that the background of the L S U side of his window was going to be clear window glass. This makes the letters really stand out as if they are floating. After cutting 5 tricky pieces he had to come up with a color for his final border. We looked at all kinds of yellow and purples including the ones he’d already used in the window but the one that really seemed to work was a wispy Spectrum purple that’s just a shade off from the rough-rolled purple making up the L S U and darker parts of the tiger. He cut it, ground it, wrapped it, tacked it and then we added the brass channel to finish it all up. He breezed thru soldering the first side and got about half of the second side completed before he headed home to finish it there. We’ll see this one completed next week for sure as well as have him start something else. Great job Gerald. Fabulous!

And that’s what we did here this week in classes.

Paul
Bayou Salé GlassWorks

We’ve made some major progress this week on all our projects so let’s dive right in. Gerald showed up with his paper pattern cut up and ready to go. He cut the purple shadow sections of the glass and then moved on to the yellow background. Time wasn’t an issue yet so he started grinding everything and then the two of us wrapped all the pieces he had ground. At the last minute he took out the eyeball and replaced it with a Glass Glob that looked just like a cat’s eye.  (You’ll see why he was playing with glass globs at the end of this Blog entry.)   The result was perfect so that was what he tacked into place. There isn’t much left to finish on this window and you can see that this is one striking design.

Jane was hard at work while she was home and got all of the water for her window cut and ground. There are some VERY tricky cuts in this pattern as well as some really thin pieces of glass. Normally I tell people to just attack a complex project in a slow and steady manor but Jane threw everything at it and has all the hard work finished.  At the rate of speed she’s been working I’m half expecting to see this all tacked together and ready for solder next week.

Cheryl and Joey arrived back safely (although not without some drama!) from their Cruise and managed to almost completely finished each of their windows. They finished wrapping some remaining pieces on the bird window and then we added borders to both of them. After that they spent was was left of the class soldering while I worked on a pattern for Cheryl’s next project. The soldering is complete on the front of the flower window and I must say that Cheryl has the soldering process mastered now. I always go over the soldering before a project leaves the classroom but this one doesn’t look like it needs any touchups at all. We’ll certainly see these two windows finished next week. While Joey works on the 3rd window of the set (a bluebird design that sit’s on the left of these two windows) Cheryl will work on a Franklin Foundation Hospital window designed from the the Hospital’s Logo.

Meanwhile, Russ had decided that cutting glass for candle holders is a waste of time so he used precut bevel’s to make his latest in a series of candle holders. It has two alternating patterns rather than the same on all 4 sides which makes for an elegant design. Both are visible in the photo that Gerald set up (with glass globs as a props!) below.

We also had a request to redo the Rooster that was posted here way back when the Blog first started. There was to be a difference however, as the customer wanted a rooster with more attitude. I beleieve we achieved our goal on that point– this is a rooster that makes youtake notice of him!

And lastly, since I have pictures of them handy, I’m posting 2 of the Mardi Gras Boxes that we made this year. All we did was take our standard Mari Gras Mask designs and made them into lids for stained glass boxes that hinge on the rear.

Next week we’ll have Ellen back and hopefully Fran will be recovered from her illness so she can start on her Camero window…

Paul
Bayou Salé GlassWorks