My Knight of the Woeful Countenance

[sharelle]

Yay, an update! (Now that I finally have something to say!) And a new piece of stained glass to share!

Actually, I'd been looking forward to posting this for a while. (Since this one took a long time, and a great deal of effort, to make.) I've always had a great love for the novel Don Quijote by Miguel de Cervantes. So, some time ago, I made up my mind to make a pair of windows depicting some rendition of the famous windmill scene from that book.

I began by making this window about two years ago:

Don Quijote

which simply portrayed Quijote and Rocinante, and really turned out to be one of my very favorite pieces that I've made.

My original plan was to then make a panel with the windmills to balance off the original. However, this fell through when I realized I didn't have enough glass to make the ground. (The sheet I used turned out to be an "uncat" -- in other words an sheet of uncategorized glass made by mistake. Hence, one of a kind.)

So, since the two pieces clearly wouldn't match, my plan changed. In the end, I used the windmill pattern I had set aside for this set, extracted the Quijote from the pattern of the first piece, and inserted him as a silhouette into the new one. I think it turned out better because, while the windmills themselves would have only worked as part of a pair, both windows can now stand on their own:

Tilting at Windmills (new)

I plan on taking a better photo later, when I have more sufficient light behind it, but I was so excited with the fact that I finally finished it -- and that I'm especially pleased with the way it turned out -- I had to post it right away.

Comments

[singer-d.livejournal.com]

Both are beautiful!

[sharelle.livejournal.com]

Thank you, dear! I am pretty proud or both of them!

[sandy-s.livejournal.com]

These are GORGEOUS, sweetie! So the first one you dismantled? Or do you have two pieces now? I am definitely amazed by your work, dear! How much would you charge for something like that?

[sharelle.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much, Sandy! *huggles*

No, I didn't dismantle the first. I just shrank the image I used for it, and inserted it into the windmill pattern with Photoshop. (In the end, both pieces turned out to be about the same size.)

As for prices . . . whew, I don't know. I *do* know my teacher would never forgive me if I got less than a few hundred for them. Since he's a professional, for a window of approximately the same size, he could probably get somewhere around $1,200 or more -- depending on the detailing. Plus, his technique is near-perfect. I, on the other hand, am not a pro (and my technique is not nearly as flawless), so mine would likely go for a bit less.

[makd.livejournal.com]

beautiful!

[sharelle.livejournal.com]

Thank you, dear! *hug*

[deborahc.livejournal.com]

Wow. I thought the first one beautifully captured Don Quijote's weary isolation but the second image is even more powerful. Just...Wow. Are you keeping or selling?

[sharelle.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much, hon. I'm so glad that came across well. (Glass isn't always the easiest medium with which to portray emotion. So, yay!)

I'll definitely be keeping this one. (I've got a thing for Cervantes. *G*) But who knows -- since it turned out so well, I may make another some day. Then, we'll see. :)

[fishsanwitt]

This is *really* beautiful :)

[sharelle.livejournal.com]

Thank you, dearest, that means a lot!
(And I was so happy to see that the Fringe went well!)

[bloodypoetry.livejournal.com]

That is some seriously nice work there. My mom and I do glass work (etching and painting and carving) and we've always been impressed with stained glass. Can never seem to pull it off ourselves. Very lovely.

[sharelle.livejournal.com]

Do you really? What kinds of etchings and carvings do you make? If you have a way to upload pictures, I'd love to see them. (I love looking at all kinds of glasswork.)

And thank you so much! I'm glad you like them.

[priscellie.livejournal.com]

Lovely! I can't wait to see how they look under different lighting conditions. They're already so beautiful!

I played Aldonza/Dulcinea in my high school production of the musical Man of La Mancha, so I'm already quite fond of the story.

[sharelle.livejournal.com]

Did you? I would have loved to have done that production. But, alas, when I was in high school we only had about 3 guys who could sing. It wouldn't have been the ideal show for us.

Thanks so much for the lovely compliments! *hug*

[evil-overlord.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure I've probably commented about the awesomeness that the Don Quijote one is. But in case I haven't....awesome!!!

'Tilting at Windmills' looks really great!! Poor little Don Quijote, looking so tiny against that big hill and big windmill. No! Don't try to knock it over! Poor Don....

guh. Sorry about the weirdness, it springs upon me at the oddest times...LOL But in all seriousness, 'Tilting at Windmills' looks totally awesome! I don't think I could ever work with glass myself, I seem to prefer my medium to be a bit more flexible. *G* Even what my hubby has done in the past [he did models when he was a teenager, perhaps one day I can get him into doing stuff again...*G*] has been sort of flexible...at least plastic does get soft when you melt it. And he's considered trying his hand at glassblowing at some point in the future. We'll see about that though. hehheh

Anyway, enough about me! Your work is beautiful!! Keep up the awesomeness!

[sharelle.livejournal.com]

Thank you, dear! That means a lot!

And, oooh! If your hubby gets into glass blowing, I'd love to see how some of that turns out! (Some of the things one can make look really, really neat! Though I've never tried it myself.)

[seal-girl.livejournal.com]

I think they both look amazing - but the Windmill is my fav.

[sharelle.livejournal.com]

Thanks, sweetie! (I think it's my favorite, too!)

And I see the countdown has begun for you! I hope all goes well, and that you and Baby #2 are as comfortable as possible. *hugs*

[seal-girl.livejournal.com]

Baby is hopefully going to be comfy enough for the time being - even though I'm getting far too large!
The stained glass is fascinating - It's the sort of thing I could look at for ages, and see different patterns. I would love to be able to create things like that, but I've never had the opportunity to try.
Sealgirl

[hyacinths-arte.livejournal.com]

Oh, they are both so beautiful! I wish I could do something like that. You have been duly blessed with talent, haven't you? Don't sell them, keep them around so your great-great-great-great grandchildren can sell them for loads more money! :0p

[sharelle.livejournal.com]

Aw, you're a dear for saying so! Thank you, Gabi -- I may just do that! ;)

[orichaldragon.livejournal.com]

I keep meaning to comment and say how much I love your stained glass pieces everytime you post one, but then I always end up forgetting to. I remembered this time, though. :) They really are very beautiful!

[sharelle.livejournal.com]

Thank you, sweetie! That means a lot coming from you; I do admire your artistic talent so! *hugs*