Time to solder away!

Weekend Getaway

 

photo by Joseph Robert Patrick Beggin copywrite protected

I am back from a wonderful weekend trip with family that I have missed so much. While I was in the midst of it all I reflected on how much life, with all of it's wonderful quirks influences my creative juices, ideas for design and inspiration to continue growing as an artist. I am offically back to work full time this week in my art studio. Enchanting~! With gratitude, Laurie B.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Hello friends!

I am sending out best wishes for a happy and healthy Christmas and New Years! This year has been filled with many blessings for myself and my family and we are filled with gratitude! Laurie B. (newest completed lampshade photo above)

Angels Among Us 2 and Gold Van Gogh Cross

Here are a couple of new listings to my inventory on Etsy..and yes, that is the SAME cross in different lighting...The Gold Van Gogh Glass ROCKS! With Gratitude, Laurie B.

My Turnip Review is in!

CMF has finished their review and published it at http://cmfads.com/2008/11/21/review-step-through-the-looking-glass/ Needless to say, I've been holding my breath for the last 24 hours! Please visit. Thank you Turnip! Your blogging resources can't be beat. This concept is a good one. Changing Marketing Forever (CMF) With Gratitude, Laurie B.

Hyde Park Project Stage Three

Here are two pictures of the process of cutting each pattern piece to size prior to grinding. One photo shows the scoring process. I routinely use a green running pliers for all straight cuts and use the grosing pliers (shown in photo two) to make the breaks on any scores that are not straight. The deeper the cut, the more chance there is of an unintentional fracture. Deeper cuts take several narrower scores and nipping of the glass in several stages. My next post will show the pieces all cut down to size and ready for the grinding process. With gratitude, Laurie B.

HYDE PARK PROJECT

Hello friends, I've started on my Hyde Park panel (finished example shown in a prior post) and wanted to share the first couple of steps with you. I chose the various colors of English Muffle glass and purchased the individual sheets. I then took the pattern and cut each piece out and affixed it to the appropriate color of glass. This picture shows the glass panes cut down to a size that is easier to handle when cutting each individual piece. The goal is to position the pieces so as to have as little glass waste as possible while allowing the artist to make the cut as easily as possible. Remember that glass only WANTS to break in a straight line. I'll be cutting each of these individual pieces out tomorrow and then will start on the grinding process. I'll share a few photos of those steps in the days ahead. With gratitude, Laurie B.

HYDE PARK WINDOWS

Image from Marick Studio Patterns Hyde Park became a Royal Park in 1536 when the land was acquired by King Henry VIII. To this day, the name Hyde Park has been associated with elegance, style and grace. In London, New York, Chicago and many more places, majestic homes of affluence designed with stained glass accents are considered masterpieces of beauty and grace. These style have a timeless quality and are just as comfortable at the beginning of the last century as they are at the beginning of this one. (excerpt from Marick studios patterns) I recently started on my first Hyde Park design (shown above) and am excited to get the grinding process done~I'll be sharing each step of the process with you. Enjoy. With gratitude, Laurie B.

Art remains after artist turns to dust!

Photo by Laurie Beggin

Good morning faithful readers,

I've just finished reading the article in our local newspaper and it was very well done. I LOVE the writer. He's from England (with totally cool thick accent). One of the things that impressed me most about him was that he actually KNEW that my garden was an English Cottage Style Garden. Most people look at it and think it's "just messy". At any rate, he did a wonderful job with the article, I love his writing style and I wanted to share it with my readers so here's the link. His comment about my stained glass being around after I have turned to dust still has me chuckling! I've always said "just throw my ashes into my gardens and that will make me the happiest!"

http://www.herald-review.com/articles/2008/11/02/money/1036713.txt(minus the pictures of me) I think it's time to get my hair cut! ugh!

I'm blessed, and filled with gratitude, Laurie B.

An Artist I admire!

I can't say enough about my satisfaction with DaliDecals. They are a JOY to work with. I recently purchased several different patterns from them along with two from a different decal company within the Etsy stores. The difference in quality was amazing. DaliDecals won...hands down! They have a huge selection to choose from and will work quickly on commission ideas that the homeowner may have. My story.....I had a large brunch and was in a budget crunch. I needed wall art for several walls. We live in a smaller cottage style home where wall space is at a premium. I ordered the "signature" design, the branch limb featured in their logo above and put it up in my living room. I used the flowers for my very narrow staircase and used another paisley design for above my guest bedroom bed. I'm always leery of hanging things above a headboard, for fear it may fall on a guest! This LOVELY paisley design was large, the correct size, came in every color imaginable and was shipped very fast. So, if you're like me, and need some fresh, high quality wall art that lives up to its name, please visit DaliDecals. I have a custom order in at the moment so this will make my fourth or fifth purchase from them! Visit their shop for some beautiful eye candy! With gratitude, Laurie B. THE LINK! http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5958100

Etsy Treasury, Take 2

THANK YOU SHARON OF MANAMOON STUDIOS! YOU ARE SUCH AN AZURE GEM! WITH GRATITUDE, Laurie B.

Style FX sign handed off to owner!

Well my friends, regular readers of this blog know that I have been working on a commission for several months. Today I handed it off to the Hair Salon, Style FX! Jamie Lee came to The Olde Farmhouse to pick it up and we took a couple of pictures for posterity! Onward and upward to my next commission! With gratitude, Laurie B.

In the Middle Of A Makeover!

Hi Friends!

Sorry for the lack of pictures, links, blog lists, etc. but I'm in the middle of a makeover....I'll have all of my bells and whistles back up by days-end tomorrow. Until then, Enjoy Prudence! I'll be adding an update on this six-toed wonder soon! PS> I have the Style FX sign done!!! Woohoo!!!!

With gratitude, Laurie B.

LIFE IN A MOSAIC

Good Morning Friends,

I just finished this mosaic on an antique window and hung it in my kitchen.

I'm almost done with the Style FX salon sign and will post it after the owner sees it (next weekend). It's VERY chic and I think the shop will really like it.

I love the way this still life turned out and am so glad I held onto the picture I used for the pattern for so many years. This picture doesn't do it justice but I still wanted to share it with you.

Much gratitude to all of you, Laurie B.

UPS STANDS BY THEIR WORD!

Hello dear friends!

As an update to my previous post, it appears UPS will stand by their word and reimburse my buyer for the damage to her mosaic. Thank the GOOD Lord! Whew. It was a lot of work and I really enjoyed creating this for Lea. So, cross fingers and toes that this gets taken care of toot-sweet. On the BRIGHT side, and believe me, Lea is a bright and sunny person, I am really hopeful that she'll allow me to re-create this window for her. I was happy all the while I made it and actually am anxious to get this done for her! Was this whole thing frustrating? You betcha, but with patience anything is possible! Gotta scoot for now but wanted to send out the happy news on this sad affair! (Still waiting for the Monarchs!) With gratitude, Laurie B.

TRANQUILITY

When we are unable to find tranquility within ourselves, it is useless to seek it elsewhere. Francois de La Rochefoucauld

French author & moralist (1613 - 1680)

MY MIND IS IN A TRANSOM STAGE 5

Hi Friends,

If you've been keeping up with my blog the past few days you'll be expecting this post. I believe we're on Stage 5 today.

Once each piece has been trimmed and burnished with the copper foil it is ready to be reassembled and prepped for the soldering process. Here are a couple of pictures that give you an overview. Once the piece is reassembled you can see how the copper foil edges each piece. A liquid chemical called Flux is then brushed on the foil to prepare it to "take" the solder bead.

I'll update this weekend with a picture of the soldering process if I have enough hands to do all at the same time!

Here's hoping everyone has a wonderful weekend! With gratitude, Laurie B.

MY MIND IS IN A TRANSOM STAGE 4

Hi Friends,

I've shown you the basics for the first few steps in creating a stained glass piece and today is Stage 4-the copper foil method. After each piece is ground around the edges and cleaned and dried you then burnish them with copper foil prior to soldering. It is the copper foil that actually binds your solder bead, which in turn holds the pattern together. It's an important step and one that needs to be done with precision. Beginners usually use a wider copper foil as it is easier to apply and burnish but as you get use to handling the foil you can move to a thinner width and/or one that is suitable to the thickness of the glass piece. These photos show a black-back copper foil being adhered to the pattern piece, another shows the width of the foil and what the foil roll looks like. There are contraptions out that that hold the roll for you and "feed" the foil as you need it but I've always done it by hand. I just recently purchased a burnishing tool. Prior to that I used a tongue depressor and it worked just fine! Whatever gets you through the night. So, this is stage four of the Transom. Tomorrow I will show you the pattern assembled with foiling complete and then on to the soldering process! Enjoy. With gratitude, Laurie B.

MY MIND IS IN A TRANSOM STAGE TWO AND THREE

Yesterday I posted about a "mini transom" that I am creating and shared the first step in the process...picking your pattern or creating a design of your own. The next step is to choose your glass. This is where the sky is the limit! There are hundreds and hundreds of types of glass to choose from. Things to take into consideration when coordinating the glass choices is, texture, lighting application and the glass transparency.

Once your have made your choices you then cut the pattern pieces out (after making two additional copies) and adhering them to the glass. (I use a glue stick)

Placement of each pattern piece is also an issue. Glass only WANTS to cut in a straight line. Pieces with deep grooves and curves take several smaller cuts to achieve the pattern design.

When each piece has been cut I head on over to my "monster" as I like to refer to him...It is my glass grinder. I featured a picture of "him" in a past post....Each piece must be ground smooth along all of the edges and then washed and cleaned in preparation for the copper foil.

Here is a photo of the pieces I cut and ground for my first "mini transom". Tomorrow I will show you what the copper foiling application looks like.

Stained Glass artists all have their own "way" of mastering the art of stained glass. I believe that is where the word "art" comes into play...There really is no "right" way and "wrong" way to do things. Some methods may make your life a lot easier, granted...but in the end, it's all about enjoying the process. With Gratitude, Laurie B.

MY MIND IS IN A TRANSOM

Hi Friends,

There are so many people out there who have fallen head-over-heels in love with Transoms in the old homes throughout the United States. Those lovely, charming, ornaments that sit above the doorways, who's sole purpose was to let air through the house by opening and closing them. Even though their original purpose may have gone by the wayside, even in this day and age we still are drawn to their beauty. I was thinking about this stained glass application awhile back and realized that most of us can't afford a transom in it's original size and shape. After all, they were often times huge! I set my mind to finding and designing patterns that honor the Transom of old, yet are smaller and more affordable. I have been working on my first of a series and will be introducing it in stages. I thought it would be the right opportunity to share with you the steps I take in making my stained glass pieces. Today I'll be sharing STAGE ONE.....

It's a no-brainer really....you either find a pattern or design one yourself. This pattern is the one I chose for my first "Mini Transom". Tomorrow I will be sharing STAGE TWO AND THREE.

So keep your eyes above the doorways of the old homes through this country and abroad....If you see a transom you just can't live without....I'm your go-to artist for a "mini transom" of your very own! With gratitude, Laurie B.