Summer in the Studio - 2018

Over the course of seven weeks in the glass studio this summer, I completed four pieces I’d worked on previously and created one brand new piece – my first commission!  

The commission resulted from a meeting with a Mantua resident who saw my fused glass work at last May’s Mantua Made Market.  She requested a piece for a specific location in her house and added that it should be a piece that could serve as a focal point.  After an in-person visit to her house, where I took careful note of the color scheme (various shades of teal and turquoise, with gold metallic accents) and furnishings, I spent several weeks developing designs.  I also experimented by making test pieces with different colors and types of glass.  This was especially important since I wanted to take advantage of the reactive qualities of certain glass combinations.  For example, you get an interesting effect when you place certain shades of blue and green glass colors next to the creamy white glass called French vanilla.  The copper-containing blue or green glass reacts chemically with the sulfur/selenium-bearing French vanilla. In the final piece, which is a 12-inch square, I used French vanilla frit in several locations where it was adjacent to blue or green. I also tack-fired small puddles of coarse frit in the corners of the piece to create a raised texture.  

I’m happy to say that the owner was delighted with the finished piece when I delivered it in August. The photo below shows how it fits in with the décor.

In addition, I finished work on a 12-inch square platter that taught me about the unpredictable qualities of Steel Blue opalescent glass.  The glass I used was blue before firing.  You can imagine my surprise when I got it out of the kiln after a full fuse firing and found that the glass was now steel gray!  Since I wanted to restore the blue color, I sandblasted the entire piece, which got rid of the gray coating.  A few other steps were involved before the final slumping.  Next time I’ll know how to avoid this problem. The side that is against the clear Tekta glass remains blue.  I will assemble the piece so that it will be flipped over after the full fuse firing. 

Lastly, I slumped three small dishes that I’d previously made.  Working in a small format gives me a chance to try new techniques while using up some of my glass scraps.  In the first of the small dishes, I’ve used a piece of stringer that we made in the vitrograph.  The piece was sandblasted for a matte finish.  

In the second piece, I’ve used scraps of streaky glass (clear with black).  

In the third piece, I used a stripe of rainbow iridized glass along with French vanilla and artichoke. The circle came from dot I made earlier in a beehive kiln.  

Ready for Market Day

Once again, I'll be participating in the local Mantua Made Market - just in time for the winter holidays.  It will take place at the Mantua Swim and Tennis Clubhouse on Saturday, November 11, from 10 am until 2 pm.  Please come out and see my latest pieces.  

After a very busy year (several overseas trips), I’m finally back to working on my fused glass at the Workhouse Arts Center.  Over the last couple of months, I made several pieces with some beautiful streaky salmon-pink and white Bullseye glass.  I’ve done two large pieces (11-12 inch diameter) that I slumped into a new bowl-shaped mold.  I have a few pieces still to finish up before the end of November, including a Seder plate.  Here are the pieces that I’ve finished to date this fall:

Large pasta bowl

Large pasta bowl

7x11, 8.5x4, and 4x4 pieces

Two 4-inch square pieces 

A draped piece, which can be used with a tea light candle

Fall Glass Harvest

Fall Glass Harvest – 2016

I’ve had a productive fall season at the glass studio.  Several pieces are finished while others are awaiting their final slump or drape fusing.  For the past seven weeks, I’ve been taking a class taught by a wonderful instructor, Rhonda Gilbert, a glass artist at the Workhouse Arts Center.  If you have an interest in exploring the medium of fused glass, I encourage you to sign up for a weekend workshop or a longer course. 

I hope you can stop by the Mantua Made Market on Saturday, November 12, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.  It’s indoors at the Mantua Pool & Tennis Clubhouse, located at 9330 Pentland Place, Fairfax, VA 22031.  I’ll be displaying and selling my fused glass there, and you’ll also find work by many other Mantuan artists and artisans.  Food will be available for purchase. 

Here is a sample of some of my recently-completed work:

Iridized glass (gold on black and silver on black) form the border for a piece of Bullseye glass that combines French vanilla with aquamarine.  A chemical reaction takes place between the sulfur or selenium contained French vanilla and the copper containing aquamarine, creating the shades of brown.   

 

Both are “bubble” pieces, created by using 2 layers of glass stringers.  The process of creating the diagonal plaid was extremely long and painstaking. 

I did some work with stencils for the first time.  For the red dish, I used a stencil and applied gold mica powder to create the design.  For the votive, I used pale tints of Bullseye glass powders with the stencil. 

(before fusing)

This votive incorporates copper leaf sandwiched between 2 layers of glass.  When the copper is in contact with clear Tekta glass, it turns a blue.  When the copper is contact with a reactive white glass, it turns a dark red color.  You see, there’s a lot of chemistry involved in glass fusing.  

Small squares of iridized glass (gold on black and silver on black) alternate with squares of French vanilla to form a checkboard pattern in this 5x5 inch piece.

Cobalt blue is one of my favorite colors.  This 9x5 inch piece uses irregularly shaped pieces of cobalt blue glass along with various frits. 

Spring Work in Progress

Spring 2016 Work in Progress – May 30, 2016

Around mid-April, I finally was able to get back into the glass studio at the Workhouse Arts Center.  I finished up a couple of pieces and had a successful sale at the Mantua Made Market in early May.  In fact, I sold all three pieces featured in my previous blog post.  Currently, I’m working on several pieces that are not yet completed.  This presents an opportunity to show you various stages in the process of creating fused glass art. 

I began the first piece by looking at some of the multi-colored components I’d made from a stack of several squares of glass.  In the kiln, the squares fused together forming a puddle.  After the fusing, I broke off irregular chunks of the thick puddle – which requires heavy-duty pliers and a lot of muscle!  These chunks were then fired to form organic looking blobs that I can use as accents.  I selected two of the components and chose a piece of gray opalescent (non-transparent) glass to use as a background.  I cut the gray glass to the size of the mold (4x8.5 inches) I will use in the final step of making the piece.  Then I had to decide on the placement of the components.  I also considered adding additional design elements, such as the black and white stringers.  When I was sure of the design, I cut the stringers and used a tiny bit of a special glue called GlassTac to hold all the pieces in place.  

Before full fusing

After firing, the surface of the piece was very smooth because the components and stringers had melted down.  However, I noticed a small area of devitrification, i.e. cloudiness on the gray glass.  This can occur as a result of chemical changes during the firing and is most common on opalescent glass.  To get rid of the devit, I lightly sandblasted the entire piece.  The piece now has a matte finish.  If I want to retain the matte finish, I can go ahead to the final slumping stage.  The other option is to bring back the shine with a firing to “fire polish” the piece before slumping.  I still haven’t decided which surface I’d prefer.    

After sandblasting

The next piece measures 9x5 inches and features gray glass with a panel of stripes formed by setting stringers into reeded glass.  After the initial full fuse, I noticed a little devit on the gray areas of this piece.  Before I sandblasted it, I masked the striped area so it would retain its shine.  As with the previous piece, I still am considering whether I want to fire polish the piece before slumping it.  

Before full fusing

After full fusing

After sandblasting the gray glass

For the following 7x11 inch piece, I cut an unusual piece of special production Bullseye glass for the center panel.  This glass combines creamy French vanilla with transparent aquamarine.  I added light aquamarine stringers and narrower side panels of French vanilla to set off the beautifully colored glass.  Since the French vanilla glass contains sulfur or selenium and the aquamarine contains copper, I knew that a chemical reaction would occur when I fired the glass.  However, I was quite surprised to see that the aquamarine color was completely transformed.  This piece now needs to be cold-worked.  This involves using the lap grinder or belt sander (two large pieces of equipment) to smooth the edges.  Once that is finished, the piece will be ready for slumping into a channel mold I recently bought.  

Before firing

After firing

Like most of the molds I use, this one is made of a ceramic material.  Before I use it, I have to coat it with several layers of kiln wash, which ensures that the glass won’t stick to the mold.  It’s important for the surface of the mold to be absolutely smooth.  After a couple of firings, the kiln wash can start to flake off.  When that happens, it’s necessary to sand down the mold and re-apply the coatings of kiln wash.  

Using kiln wash to prepare molds

Another piece that is waiting for slumping is a 9x5 piece that I made with scraps of deep cobalt transparent glass, one of my favorite glass colors.  I added some French vanilla frit and aquamarine scraps to the design.  Notice the reaction that occurred between the cobalt and the French vanilla during the full fuse firing.  I then added a few small chunks of a pattern bar that I’d made last year and did a tack firing.  

Finally, I’m working on several 4-inch square pieces that have not yet been fused.  One features silver foil capped by a transparent light orange glass.  While it looks nearly clear at this point, the true color of this glass will appear during the initial firing.  Glass that changes color during firing is referred to as a “striker.”  By the way, I’ve decided not to do any more work with silver foil during the warm weather months.  It’s simply too difficult to work with the tissue-thin metal foils with the air blowing through the air conditioning vents in the studio.  All of the silver pieces I carefully punched out started crumpling and blowing away before I could transfer them to the glass.  That’s why you see the irregular silver shapes in this piece.  I'm not sure how this is going to turn out.

  

Here are a few more small works in progress, all of which use stringers to create a variety of effects. 

This will be a striped piece.

These two pieces are combined to form the plaid piece seen below.

I hope to have all of these pieces completed by the end of the summer. 

Winter Glass Update

Winter Glass Update – April 28, 2016

I didn’t have a very productive winter season at the glass house.  For several weeks, while I was caring for my husband during his final illness, I was unable to get down to the Workhouse at all.  However, I recently returned to the studio and resumed work.  Several pieces are now awaiting kiln time.  A few are already completed.  It's fun because I'm never sure how it's going to turn out!

In the square piece below, I’ve used some iridized glass along with the opaque glass.

In the next three pieces, I’ve focused on chemical reactions that create special effects.  Certain blue and green colors of glass contain copper, which reacts with glass containing sulfur or selenium. Both the copper-containing glass and the sulfur/selenium-containing glass also react with silver. 

The white glass is a special reactive glass.  It reacts with the blue stringers. 

The vanilla glass reacts with the circles of silver foil. 

In this piece, there’s a reaction between the glass and the frit. 

Summer at the Glass House

August 20, 2015 – Summer at the Glass House

I wasn’t sure I’d have time to do much fused glass work this summer, but I signed up for a 7-week session at the Workhouse anyway.  It turned out to be a surprisingly productive couple of months.  I completed 12 pieces, made numerous components that I’ll use in the future, and have started work on several more pieces that I’ll finish up in the fall.  I took advantage of the opportunity to experiment with some new techniques and materials.  I’m most excited about the sandblasting that produces a matte finish on the glass.  You can see that in the two pieces below:

I also did two pieces with photo transfers.  In the first, I used one of my own photographs.  It’s a view of my former house in a small French village.  

For the second photo transfer piece, I printed out a quote that I found in a fascinating book on neuroplasticity of the brain, The Brain that Heals Itself by Norman Doidge.  You’ll also notice that I used some frit (small fragments of glass) that reacted with the base color.  

During one of our class sessions, we used the vitrograph.  This machine allows you to make “stringers,” thin strands of glass that you can manipulate into curves while they’re hot.  By putting several colors of glass into the vitrograph machine, you can make stringers that contain a rainbow of colors.  I took pieces of the vitrograph stringers I made and placed them on a circle of French vanilla glass before fusing the piece.  

My instructor, Sandi Martina, encouraged us to try recycling various types of glass.  This is a piece I made using shattered tempered glass.  I love the amorphous, organic shape. 

I experimented with the reactive qualities of glass in the next piece, which includes both opaque and transparent glass.  Certain glass colors contain copper or sulfur that react with other colors or with silver.  When the reaction takes place, a halo is formed.  I also applied some circles of silver foil to the surface of the glass before the second firing.  Finally, I created recessed circles on the underside of the glass by using a material called Fiber Frax.  This process is called kiln carving.  

If you remember the pot melt I made in the spring, you’ll see that I incorporated it into the piece below.

The largest piece I made is about 11 inches square.  The focal point is a broad band of thin stripes created by setting stringers into reeded glass.  

There was plenty of time to make dots and cabochons.  In the photo below, you see the pieces of glass for dots and cabochons arranged on the shelf of a small kiln prior to firing.  

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The cabochons in the piece below came from fragments of a puddle, i.e. a stack of 7 squares of glass that was fired and then broken into rough chunks.  The chunks can be  fired again to make cabochons – or they can be fused “as is” onto a piece.  The results are always a surprise!  

Just to finish up the session, I made a couple of small dishes using one of my favorite colors of transparent glass.  

 

Classes at the Workhouse are on break now until the fall session starts in late September.  However, I’ll be going in for open studio time before the end of the month and I’ll also be working in my studio at home.