New Garden Stake

One new garden stake finished!

Yesterday we had a beautiful spring day. My daffodils are finally starting to bloom.

This year's spring has been non-existent. We still have a pile of snow at the end of our road. Getting the kiln running again and successfully completing a new garden stake feels very good.

I am optimistic that May will bring better weather.

Garden stake resting on the ground.

Garden stake with light shining through it.

This garden stake has been donated to a charity auction to benefit special needs students.

Fusing - this morning in the kiln . . .

Black w/ a yellow bottom and multi-colored detail.

:-) Happy Saturday.

~ Julz

tentative steps w/ kiln

My first tentative steps with a fixed kiln . . .

Some new glass for plant stakes with glass scrap.

I 

re-thought,

re-programmed,

and had success.

Small steps.

Now I'm feeling better.

~Julz

Kiln problems continue

I arrived home, made supper and ate with the family.

~ then ~

I checked the kiln.

Yes, I am still having kiln problems as evidenced by a fatal error on the kiln's controller display.

I didn't cook anything (like expensive glass) that I might have destroyed

if the repaced relay didn't solve the problem, 

but this is frustrating.

I have been doing some stained glass work. Shown above and below is my current tulip project - another leaded piece to practice my new skills.

darn!

~ Julz

Excited for the day job to be done

Okay.

My kiln has been on the fritz.

A new relay was installed yesterday.

Kiln fired over night w/ the new relay.

- to do -
1. Day job.
2. Board meeting.
3. Grocery shopping for supper.
4. Home to check the kiln. . . can't wait!!


~ Julz

Ready to Solder

Leaded Glass Piece

My first leaded glass piece -

Here it is prior to soldering.

Below is the finished piece placed in a window so that the sunshine shines through. 

The reflective properties of glass 

keep me coming back. 

Today was a sunny, but windy day in Wisconsin and even though 

it has been warm (45 degrees F is warm for us) this week - we still have a good snow cover which you can see outside my front window.

I purposely chose a very simple pattern for my first leaded piece.

The next leaded piece will be more complicated:)

But - the next piece that I'm working on is a stained glass panel made with copper foil.

Here it is pre-border and pre-foil or solder.

Hope your weekend is a good one.

~ Julz

New Project/New Skills

This week I started a class to learn more about Stained Glass. Specifically I want to learn how to use lead came to construct a stained glass window.

I am excited to learn a new way (for me) of glass construction. I needed to find a simple project for my first one. I don't want to become frustrated with the process before I learn it. I had a great time looking at vintage stained glass windows for ideas. I have kept a scrapbook of pictures collected over the years and the Internet is also a significant source of ideas. I hope the project I designed, based off an old window, will be simple enough for me to learn the new skills and also have a nice window.

Here is my project prior to being leaded. The picture doesn't show the colors well, pieces 7 & 9 are dark green and #5, 6, 10 % 11 are a clear textured glass.

This week in class I will be leading, soldering, mudding and whiting the project.

I hope to have a finished window by the end of the week as well as some new skills & tools for my toolbox.

~ Julz

Inspiration

Inspiration for new pieces comes from many different places - nature, a fleeting image, the Internet, other glass artists, photos, attempting a technique or out of thin air. I have so much to learn and sometimes I just ape another person's work to see if I can accomplish it.

Recently Christine Masters posted a piece that she created and I really liked it. I also thought that I had the skills and equipment to replicate this project, Strings of Color Between White.

I did change the project a bit. I fused colored glass stringers very close together onto a clear glass strip and then fused this strip between white pieces with a clear glass base. I generally like designs that are not centered, so I placed my colored glass strip off center.

 I like it. Thanks Christine, this was a very nice project.

~ Julz