Robin Thompson Glass Gallery: 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.