I went on a weekend workshop in Santa Cruz in August 02 and have been trying out some ideas since then.
Basically, you layer glass into a design and then put it in a kiln to 1500F and it melts! You can then put the glass on a mould and re-fire it to get a shaped bowl etc, called slumping. The dish with the gray circular pattern was made with frit or crushed glass and it keeps its texture after firing. I also made some pendants. At the moment I have to drive to Santa Cruz (30 miles) and rent their kiln for the day. It takes 3 trips so ideally I'd like my own personal kiln - I'll see if I can sell them first!
I've been experimenting with window glass since it's free but it's more unpredictable. You can fuse any type of glass, even wine bottles and traffic lights but it's problematic when you try mixing them. I buy special compatible glass which is guaranteed not to crack etc. Each 10"x10" piece of glass is approximately $12 and normally you place your design on a single piece of glass to make the piece double thickness.
Silk painting is pretty easy - but it's hard trying to think of the best colour combinations. The cushion cover was done by tracing a design that I enlarged from a book on to the silk and then using 'gutta' a rubbery material that's applied with a steel tip to draw an outline. This outline stops the silk dye from running into other areas. You then apply the dye by painting with a brush or foam applicators for larger areas. The piece is then washed in a special solution to 'set' the dye. Some dyes can just be set using an iron but steaming is the best method (but too much flaff for me).
This was good fun. The classes were in a Senior Community centre - but myself and a few other 'H4' visa wives gate crashed! The slab method is what you learn first. My chinese pot was created with 4 pieces (slabs) of clay which I rolled out and cut to size. Then were 'stuck' into place by roughing the edges and using another piece of clay inside the pot which is worked into the join. The Chinese characters were then gouged out of the clay and I painted on the glaze, leaving the characters bare. There's only so many pots, dishes that you need so I haven't done much since these!
Latest craft is mosaics. I bought two small side tables a few years ago in order to mosaic them. Never got around to it! The class is run by a professional mosaic artist at the local school. The oblong piece was my first attempt. The heart was made in one night. The mirror was something that I'd bought in the UK at a craft fair and I hacked off the shells on the frame to re-cover with mosaic. The table was picked up for a few dollars at a craft shop and then re-covered.
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Silver and Black glass slumped into a round bottomed plate |
Glass arranged before fusing in the kiln |
Rainbow iridescent glass slumped into a flat bottomed plate |
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Raised iridescent tiles |
After fusing, a 2nd fusing 'slumps' the glass into a shape - a sushi style platter. |
1st attempt |
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Scarf set up in kitchen |
Cushion cover for Bill's parent's 50th |
My slab pottery |
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Made with broken ceramic tiles |
Vitreous glass tiles |
vitreous glass and marbles |
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A Celtic design similar to the cushion cover |
I made this in May 2007 |
