I’m only going to post about glass today.
I’m still behind on quilting, but retreat is coming and I WILL catch up on some things!!!
First of all though – Cat picture of the day… Bronx and Ariel
A New Technique
I spent a bunch of time looking through Pintrest last week and then went to the studio. One can really, really lose themselves on that site! I wrote down a few things on a note card and then tried something out. I think it turned out well.
First, I took a clear sheet of glass, and I shifted powdered glass on it. Several colors and random amounts… Then, I dragged the end of a spoon (which I used to scoop the powdered glass from the jar to the sifter) through the glass to make some random lines. Ironically enough, when I make plates with the crackle technique – which also involves sifting powdered glass onto a surface – I try VERY hard NOT to make lines in it; the opposite of what I did here!!!
Next, I cut out pieces of glass to match the basic color scheme (green in this case), and made the second layer of glass. I didn’t worry about it being a solid top sheet, but rather pieces together enough to cover. This made a patchwork look to the piece. Now I had three design elements going – the sifted powder, the lines, and multi colored top.
I covered the top layer with a variety of pieces. I threw organization to the wind! Medium and coarse frit were sprinkled, a little more powdered glass, chopped up some stringers…..
The kiln ready piece looked like this.
I really had no idea how it would turn out. Would the powered glass show? Did I put it on too thick? Or too thin that it wouldn’t even appear? What about the scraps on top? Would they be just that – Scraps? Was this a garbage heap of design? Would this look like I just threw things on it? (Ok, fair enough, I did just that)
Here’s the final piece – after slumping.
I’m happy with it!
What do you think?
Blue Pieces
I’ve been working with blue a lot lately. Not sure why… it isn’t really up there in my favorite color list. I’ve been finding some good blue glass pretty cheap/reasonable at the shop, and I have several friends who love blue, so I guess that is inspiring me.
Here are a couple pieces with some different techniques.
Yes, I know I really have to take better pictures – these don’t do it justice. I promise a nice photo shoot soon and I’ll give a link here to my photobucket site where I will store them.
Blue Nubby
This piece is made with a sheet of clear, border pieces and then scraps through the center making a mosaic. Since I don’t have my own kiln yet, I let Karen – the owner of the studio I spend a lot of time at – make decisions on firing. She usually fuses my pieces fully. For some reason, this one was done with a “relief” fuse… maybe that’s the cycle she had room for it. I wouldn’t have thought to choose to do it that way, but I’m really happy with it.
A relief fuse is a lower temperature/time, and the glass doesn’t melt out fully flat as in a full fuse. A “Tack” fuse is even less temperature/time, and the pieces just round on the edge. This one is smoother, but there are discernible lumps and a texture when you run your fingers over it.
Blue Diagonal
I’ve also been fixated on diagonals lately. I guess I like testing myself on cutting 45 degree angles!
This piece was slumped into a deeper “sushi” mold and is dramatically curved. I have a plan for it, but I can’t tell here yet; can’t give away a secret. Remind me in about a month if you haven’t heard more about it.
I did a couple other little things on this – look for them. I laid stringers and noodles – as well as marbles – on top of the diagonal strips. Rather than doing my “squiggles and curves” on top of straight lines – I put straight lines on top of straight lines!
More with Stacked Pieces – AKA Scalloped edges
Look back through my posts and you will see several pieces – including a vase – where I use the technique of stacking a square on a square. The edges round slightly and it’s a cool look.
This time, I learned something new. It’s a smaller piece (6 inches) and I stacked a lot of squares on it, and fairly close to each other. Now, if you remember from earlier posts – I’ve discussed that when glass is fully fused, it tries to melt out to ¼ inch thick. It likes that level. This piece has a single layer of base; it does NOT have a full two layers of glass at all points. Then, some areas have four layers.
It had to adjust itself.
What happened was that the white areas – which are single layer – between the stacks, pulled in closer to the center (to build up thickness). This results in a scalloped edge to the pieces.
I really didn’t know that that would happen!
It’s cool!!
So now, I have a piece going into the kiln that is similar, but has even more layers to the stacks!
Red/Black and Gold
Boring….
Just another of “My Style” pieces…
Ho hum….
J
I like it. It’s a cool combination of colors. I could make these all day! I love cutting out pieces, fitting them together, and creating a unique design each time.
Can you tell I really used to love puzzles?
More Pendants and Semi Failed Experiments
Pendants
I had a tiny bit of the hand rolled glass left (actually, I found two more small pieces when cleaning up tonight, so you’ll hear about it again) and I made a couple more pendants. They are just fun and easy to do. These ones have channels done with fiber paper like the others, but they really tucked in at the openings! I think they’ll look really nice with a chain run through them.
Beads – Set One
I took some small pieces of the rolled glass, put clear over, fiber paper inside, and tried to make beads in the style of the pendants.
They’re ok, I guess. I’m not too impressed. I’ll post some more pictures later when I incorporate them into a necklace. Maybe I’ll be happier then.
The edges around where the fiber paper was were quite rough. I need to use the grinder on them – else they’d slice up the neck of the wearer. That’s probably jading my viewpoint slightly on them right now.
Beads – Set Two
Even less happy with these. I put the left over squares from the scalloped plate on top of squares of white. I off set them (45 degree turn), and put fiber paper through the diagonal. My hope was that they would round out nicely.
They didn’t.
I ground the edges on these too…
At this stage, I’m hoping that they will make a nice abstract necklace…
Yea – I meant them to look that way…
Really…
I think they look like something out of a bad sci-fi show....
*sigh*
Taught a Class
Not really, but that’s my story and I’m sticking to it….
I was working in the studio today. The only other person there was one of Karen’s staff who was manning the store and working on her own projects. It was quite quiet.
A couple came in and wanted to make some art. Painting ceramics didn’t appeal to them.
Maybe it was the fact that Karen (studio owner) was not there, but I was embolden and suggested to them that I could teach them to make a fused project.
That appealed to them.
I discussed glass with them, taught them to cut pieces, shared some of my scraps (they bought the big pieces out of Karen’s stock), and was impressed with what they created!
I didn’t get paid anything, but I increased Karen’s sales for the night, and hopefully got her a couple new customers!! I really enjoy the studio, and think that Karen is really a neat person. I loved the ability to contribute in a positive manner to her business. Don’t worry though – I told them from the start that I wasn’t a teacher there; just someone who wandered in one day and now they can’t get rid of me.
Advertising plug: The Studio at Rush Creek. Click HERE for their website and click HERE for the class list. Take a class, drop in and paint some pottery, take your laptop and have a delicious smoothie or coffee drink in the coffee shop part, buy a piece of readymade local art if you don’t want to create your own. Just let Karen know that I sent you!!!
(Side note: the husband actually caught on to cutting glass quicker and better than the wife – and he didn’t even want to do his own project in the first place; he was just going to watch!)
My Dishes Put to Use!!
I will update this later when I get the pictures.
We have house guests.
“Couch Surfers”
We’d never met them before….
Really!!!
I’m active in a community called “couch surfing”. It’s a network of people who share their homes (often just a couch) with other like minded travelers. I used the network when I went to London two years ago. Although we’ve had lots of people stay with us through other networks (church, school, friends, and once another forum), this couple was actually our first request through the couch surfing network. It’s not for everyone, but I like it, and this worked out very well.
Note: if you decide to follow my footsteps and use/offer couch surfing, my biggest words of advice are to first meet the people in a public place. I have a fantastic BBSI (Build in Bullshit Indicator) and sum people up pretty quickly. That first impression in a public place is all I need to put my mind at ease. Most people who participate in this community are open minded, honest people looking for more personality out of their travel experience. Only once have I been contacted by a person (ride share actually, not house sharing) and decided to turn them down completely.
Ok, back on track
Our house guests - She is French, and he is Syrian. On their profile, it states that they love to cook, and cook Middle Eastern cuisine.
So, I asked them to cook for a dinner party. I bought the groceries at the local Middle Eastern Market, and invited a bunch of friends. We had five ethnicities/heritages, and a similar number of languages represented. A great evening was had by all.
How does this fit in my post about glass?
Well, I’ll tell you!
We used four of my 12 inch plates for the serving dishes for the Syrian/Saudi Arabian food. We piled them high with rice and bulgur dishes and laid them down the center of my 1920s American crafted table, on top of my very Italian looking 8 foot table runner!
I will show a picture when I get one….
Promise
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