Bayou Salé GlassWorks

We had our last class of the year on the 26th. It was a small little gathering with just 2 people– Cheryl and Joey. Instead of just having 2 pictures for this Blog entry we have 3. Janice and Grace had more or less finished their window the week before with washing and coloring being the only thing left to do to finish it. During the week I gave it a bath for them which brings us to our first picture this week. It’s Janice and Grace’s finished window. Doesn’t it look GREAT!

Joey finished off his Aeroscope this week. He came in and wrapped the last wheel and then soldered it together. The wirework that forms the struts is a little tricky and we ended up running a little late trying to get it finished by 9 o’clock (he finished at 9:08). The end result looks great though. I have to give Joey credit for making the most perfect set of wheels I’ve seen. He ground them perfectly and then soldered them into absolutely perfect circles. Here’s a look at his first Kaleidoscope.

Most people don’t realize that these planes are actually working kaleidoscopes.  There are 3 mirrors inside the body of the plane and when you look in the tail end of the plane and spin the wheels you see something like this:

Cheryl came in and got to work on the angel she piched last week. It’s got a lot of small pieces so cutting it took a bit of time but now that it’s all cut out the hardest part is complete She’ll start grinding it next week but you can see what it will look like even before it’s ground in the picture below.

So that about does it for 2007. We’ll have plenty of great things to see during the coming year though so be sure to come back and check out everyones progress.

Lastly, we have a modified class schedule for next week. We’ll be a day class and a night class on Wednesday, January 2nd, 2008. Both classes will occur during their regular hours: Day class from 10 to 1 and Night class will be from 6 to 9. We hope to see you all soon!
Paul
Bayou Salé GlassWorks

Paul and Russ

Our last set of classes before the Christmas Holiday have come and gone. Everyone seems to have finished everything that they needed to complete before the big day has arrived so I’d say it’s safe to say that all went well.

Fran worked at home to get the background cut out for her Fleur-De-Lis window so she could get it finished and wrapped (in wrapping paper) for Christmas. She did wonderfully! And her soldering was almost perfect which meant that she required very few touch ups. I have to compliment her on how well she did with this project!

Ellen came in and soldered her glass propeller wheels for her airplane kaleidoscope and then attached her mirrors and wooden landing gear to the body of the plane. When she left, this is what she took with her! Look here to see another one completed next week by Joey.

Jane wasn’t just baking cookies while she was home last week. Nope, she was busy making an oval Iris window. When she came in she had the oval section completed and just wanted to square it off to make it rectangular. She cut and ground 16 final pieces which finished off her latest window!

Gerald started cutting and grinding the flower bed of his center panel. He’s only got about 6 pieces left to go before he starts on the top part of the window. I’m not sure if he’ll do the houses or the trees next. It’s really looking like a window now that he has half of it cut and ground.

Joey was in and began working on his own Aeroscope. He got the glass for the plane all cut, ground and wrapped and then cut out the two propeller wheels. He ground them to complete perfection (which is not an easy task) and had them wrapped before he called it a night and left for home. Since there’s not much to show this week I’m only going to post a black and white picture of ‘his’ aeroscope. Look for a completed version in full color next week!

Mark ground some more of his Peony window making his way past the halfway point. I suspect that well see his begin wrapping his pieces next week. The flower is very complex and although you can’t see much detail now you certainly will when the pieces are wrapped and you can see where all the lead will be flowing throughout this window.

Mary Lynn, like Mark, spent the night at the grinder fitting all of the bottom pieces of her Spiritual Window together. as you can tell from the picture of the closeup, the shading and textures of the glass she’s chosen worked very well together. She took this home with her and hoped to get some ground before she comes back next week.

Janice and Grace’s window is officially soldered. I only have to touch up a few sections on it before you can see the finished picture of it on our next blog entry. It already looks great and it hasn’t even been washed yet. I can’t wait to see it with light behind it.

Cheryl wasn’t exactly sure what she was going to do when she came in and after some time looking through all the patterns she decided on making an Angel. After the pattern was drawn up to size for her she traced it, numbered it and then cut out all the pattern pieces. She hopes to get some of this worked on while she’s at home this week but I cleaned up the shop today (Monday the 24th) and found her Breaking Pliers on one of the tables. It’s been almost a week since the shop was last cleaned up– there have been too many things that needed to go out the door before I could worry about being neat! Here’s the Angel Pattern that Cheryl is making.

Lastly, all of the orders here that needed to be completed for Christmas got finished last night (the 23rd) at around midnight. Ellen gets a special nod of appreciation for bring in her Angel last week which gave me the idea of what to make this year for our yearly ornament. It was quick, easy and most importantly it was beautiful to look at when it’s finished. After making twenty 10 inch tall Lion heads it was nice to know that the last 15 items that I had to make were going to be relatively easy. Here’s a picture of both sets of suncatchers.

We’ll be having a class on the night of the 26th so expect a more timely Blog update soon!

Paul
Bayou Salé GlassWorks

With Christmas also upon us we’re really rushing to get things out the door and hung up in windows. Here’s a quick rundown of what happened last week.

Cheryl finished her Rooster window and the last thing I heard is that it was delivered and VERY much appreciated. And when you look at it is there any wonder why it wouldn’t be? Cheryl also finished up Danielle’s LSU window and got that ready for wrapping paper, so to speak…

Meanwhile, Julie finished her 3 quilt block suncatchers, they really turned out wonderfully, just try to forgive the bad focusing in the one picture.

Janice surprised us all by walking in the door on Tuesday night. She’s doing wonderfully and so is her window! She and Grace finished soldering the second side and all we have left to do is touch up the soldering and then wash it all up.

Gerald got some glass cut and ground on his final window and it’s already looking great. Look for more detail to be added next week.

Fran made 3 more Beveled Stars during class and is about to get going on her Fleur De Les Window when we see her next.

Mark finished cutting his flower and leaves this week and moved over to the grinder to get everything to fit together. After the flower is all ground he’ll cut the background from his flower to insure a perfect fit.

And Mary Lynn was another student who managed to complete all the cutting on her Spiritual Window. She already started to grind some of the pieces before she left.

Lastly we have one of our busiest students of the week, Christine. While she was in class she finished the last 2 of her Aeroscopes. While she was at home she ground all of her sister’s unfinished project that was started last year. Then she wrapped it all. She brought it into class before she tacked it together just to make sure everything was ok before she covered it in lead. Everything about it was perfect so she it’s all tacked together. Look to see the fish window completed next week for sure. And if that wasn’t enough Christine also managed to figure out how to make not one but TWO Magic Wands while she was at home. She even made stands for them! Color me impressed!

That about covers this past week. Look for more in a few more days when classes resume on Tuesday and Wednesday!

Paul
Bayou Salé GlassWorks

I have to apologize for the fact that this update is almost 1 week late but we’ve had a VERY busy week here with deadlines that have kept us working until midnight and beyond. Luckily, we’re almost caught up now. It’s hard to believe that there’s only 2 more classes before Christmas gets here.
Fran was in this week and made another of her 3D beveled Stars. I know she has at least 2 more of these to make and then she wants to work on her Fleur De Lis Windows. Here’s a look at her latest star.

Jane more or less finished her Birds and Flowers window that she worked on at home last week. There’s only the back side left to solder but you can’t tell that from this picture.

Cheryl would have finished her Rooster Window this week but had to leave class early (and unexpectedly). Nonetheless, her window, like Jane’s, only needs solder on the back side and then some hooks to hang it by. Look for the finished picture next week.

Ellen had made an Angel while she was at home and brought it in to show us. The irridized wings and the jewel used for the head really make it sparkle in the sunlight.

Both Ellen and Christine worked on making their first 3D Bi-Plane Kaleidoscopes this week. Both of them had the glass cut before they came into class so I was able to put one together while Ellen and Christine watched and followed my lead. We were very close to finishing but decided it was probably best to do that next week. Ellen’s is the one done in tan/brown while Christine’s are Green and a Blue Swirl glass.

Mary Lynn continued cutting out her Spiritual Scene Window and made a lot of progress. The colors she’s used have helped to give the window a sense of depth that can be hard to achieve. I’d say that she’ll be grinding this very soon.

Gerald spent the night cutting the pattern for the center panel of his window. I had forgotten to draw out the flower bed for him (it was just an outline with no definition) but Gerald was able to draw it out himself without any help from me at all. Look for some glass to add some color to this pattern next week.

Julie worked on 3 quilt pattern windows that measure 6 x 6 each. She not only got them all cut out but she also got the first one ground as well. She’s taken that one home with her to wrap and I’ll bet that they all get finished during this next class.

Now I feel the need to explain why this Blog was so late in getting posted. As our students know we had an order for 9 windows made up of 9 last names. Each window measured 22 x 9 and the letters for the names had been cut ground and tacked together the week before. They were going to be delivered on Saturday so we had plenty of time to get them together but then on Wednesday we got an addition to the order in the form of 1 more name in a fancier 2 foot by 3 foot size. Wednesday night I had the basic idea in my head as to what it would look like and Thursday morning just before noon the pattern was completed. Two 12+ hour sessions later the window was complete. Russ took off for Baton Rouge to deliver the 10 name windows while I put together the 15 candle holders that we need to have finished. Russ has soldered the front of all the sections and by the end of the day I had then all together. Sunday night they were complete save for the final waxing that they’ll get Monday morning.

Here are the 22 x 9 inch windows:

Here’s the 2 foot by 3 foot window that we finished in 24 hours:

And here are the 15 Beveled Candle Holders. It’s been a busy week for sure!

Paul
Bayou Salé GlassWorks