Peace Angel ~~ Complete!

Here she is....The Peace Angel. Tomorrow afternoon she will be in her new home.

Until any of my stained glass pieces arrive in their new homes, I always feel the need to protect them. Do any of you feel that way about your work?

I'm very happy with the way this turned out. I find the lavender hues of her gown to be wonderful for the shading in it. Both angels' gowns and wings came from the same glass. It fascinates me, that I can create 'shading' with the color variations in a sheet of glass. My stained glass instructor taught me about that, and I owe her a debt of gratitude. Thanks Kate....you can see her talent by visiting her website, River Song Art Glass.



In case you were curious about her counterpart, here is a picture of the Jubilation Angel I did a little over two years ago. Both will have a wonderful home in the Foote residence.

New Projects

Tonight I started a fuse that will complete a couple of projects from my Patty Gray class last week. The first is a triptych, another is a mosaic of sorts. I'm re-working a couple of pendants from my last firing. I'm firing both shelves at the same time. It's nice to have a kiln that will accommodate that type of work.

And I have a teaser....I completed the Peace Angel and tomorrow I'll have a picture to post of her with the sunlight coming through. She will be delivered to her home on Sunday afternoon to watch over little Robert Foote. Her companion, the Jubilation Angel, has been watching over his big sister, Rachael, since her birth a little over two years ago. My hope is that both of the angels will become family heirlooms.

Stay tuned......

Looking for a Bright Note

Well, my kiln needs a 'transplant'. While trying to trouble shoot the controller, it started smoking. Not a good sign when it comes to circuit boards. So, I removed it and will send it to the manufacturer for replacement. And I still don't know what the actual cause of the problem was. As my husband says, we'll see what happens when the new circuit board comes back and we install it. If it's still malfunctioning after that, we'll try to find an authorized repair service in the area. For now, my kilnwork has come to a halt and I am very disappointed.



Looking for the bright note in my day, I was able to solder the Peace Angel. I wasn't sure I could put a lead border around her, but after looking at her tonight, I think I can, so that will be my next step. I did get to see the light shine through the glass this afternoon and she's beautiful.

Things happen for a reason. I just don't know what that is right now in terms of the kiln malfunction. But I'll go forward with my stained glass pursuits and wire wrapping glass cabochons for now.

At the end of this week, I will be heading up to Denver for a three day glass with Patty Gray. D & L Stained Glass is having her come to teach her techniques for fused bowls. That's another bright spot for me.

Happy creating everyone.

Work in Progress - Foiled!

In this case....foiled! is a good thing. Here's the Peace Angel, with all of the copper foil complete. Now the definition of the lines is clear. Soldering will be the next step.

In my multitasking process today, I still need to cut out another design for fusing tomorrow. With that as a goal, I may not start soldering the Peace Angel until tomorrow. That gives me a large time slot to devote to the soldering process and I can complete that phase, which is important to do all at once, if possible. Once the soldering is done, oxidation of the solder lines takes place almost immediately. It's important to clean those lines and apply the desired patina asap. I think I'll wait to start soldering until tomorrow.

At least she's almost complete and I'm very happy with the outcome so far. It's been a productive day for me.

Today's Fusing Project

I just put this piece in the kiln for fusing. I don't know what I'm going to call this series. I have plate molds for this shape in three different sizes. This is the first one, the smallest....about 9".

I'm using a Bullseye Streaky glass, with some colored flakes. This is the first time I've fired this particular Bullseye and I'm very curious to see what color changes, if any, I will see once the piece is fused. I find this glass gorgeous and tried to find nice pieces of accent glass for the design I placed in the left side of this. If all turns out well, then I'll use this same design and color scheme for the two larger plates.

A footnote on the Peace Angel, I'm almost done with the copper foil. My plan is to finish that phase today. I also want to work on another design for fusing so that will be ready for firing tomorrow.

It's the first of November (can you believe it?!?) and I'm multi-tasking.....

Pre-Firing Picture

I generally take photos of my glass before I fire it in the kiln. This is a picture of my latest batch before it was fired. The stars are prototypes for a commission....possible Christmas ornaments in varying sizes. Unfortunately, as things go with prototypes, the fired results didn't turn out as I would have hoped. The smaller stars to denote the Texas flag, fused too far (my fault), so they looked like blobs. The main stars turned out well, and gave me more information about what to try next.

It's ALWAYS fun to open the kiln and see what surprises, good and bad, await. I had some jewelry pendants and earrings in this batch that turned out well.

The star in the center is the right overall size (approximately 4"). I'm feeling pretty confident that my next group of stars will turn out great because of what I learned from the results of this firing.

And I'm continuing to work on the copper foil for the pieces of my Peace Angel. I'm multi-tasking (just hope I don't experience the blue screen of death...a little geek humor) and need to continue to get better at juggling tasks. I expect the angel will be ready for soldering this weekend and I'll post a picture of her once all the copper foil is complete.

I love keeping busy.

Work in Progress - Pieces Cut and Fitted

Here she is! All of the pieces have been cut and fitted. Her wings are an iridescent white, which the picture doesn't show very well. The definition of the piece will become apparent after I copper foil all of the individual pieces in preparation for the soldering process.

I changed the color of her ribbon to a rich navy blue, instead of the yellow gold I had planned to do. I also used iridescent clear glass for those areas that needed to be transparent.

I started this project three weeks ago and it has really come together fast for a stained glass work. There are 145 pieces and some are extremely small; that dictates the detail in her hair, wings, and the dove she holds.

Next step will be copper foil, which can be fairly quick. And then on to one of my favorite parts, soldering! I'll post another picture after the copper foil is complete.

A Diversion Tonight

Tonight I indulged in a diversion.

I started working on the full size drawing for the commission I recently received from a fellow artist, Milo Stephens. She is a very talented oil painter and has done a series of mosaic type paintings of women with their personal stories. This one is "Peace Offering". Milo's painting is on the right, and my design for a stained glass window is on the left.

Milo and I connected through Art Scuttlebutt. I admired her work and she liked my stained glass so much that she commissioned this window. So this will be my next project after I complete the "Peace Angel". Tonight's diversion was to draw the full sized sketch of the window. I did this because Friday afternoon, my husband and I are headed to my glass supplier in Denver so I can select the glass for this piece. I'm so excited to start working on the window itself. I needed the full size sketch to use it for glass selection and to know how much I'll need of different colors.

A little bit about my design process....I use the Glass Eye program to start my initial design. That's how I was able to email various designs (jpegs of the design) to Milo. She liked this one and it will be 9" x 24". I am blessed to be able to do this window for her. So, I took a break from working on the Peace Angel, so I could get my drawing ready for my glass shopping on Friday.

Current Work in Progress

I'm working on a stained glass angel. It's a reproduction form Jan Patten's the Carousel Collection. This one is the Peace Angel and I am doing it for my friends who recently had their second child. I did the Jubilation Angel for them upon the birth of their first child 2 1/2 years ago. Hopefully both of the angels will become something that is passed on to the next generation.

I thought it would be fun to post a picture of the work in progress. This stage in the creative process is challenging for me as I work to fit all of the pieces of glass together correctly. My "ah ha" moment comes much later in the process after the piece is soldered and I can actually hold it up so the light comes through it. Then I have confirmation of my glass and color choices. I can honestly say I have never been disappointed with my first glimpse of the light bringing a piece to 'life'. One of my favorite parts in the stained glass window process.

I plan to have this window done by the end of the month. Stay tuned......