Slumped Melted Glass

This is my favorite experiment so far... the results are all mine! I will keep it and eat out of it and cherish this. Some things are meant to be kept and this is why I love successful experiments! Its kind of heavy, dunno if I can fix that in future melts. I have some theories to try. They simply turn out very thick. Lets just say they are super sturdy :)
This bowl was made from scrap, melted thru a screen, cooked into a good looking circle and then slumped into a mold. Voila. My new bowl.

Melting Scrap Glass into Art

Meet my new kiln tool - its called a screen melt system. Basically you melt glass thru the screen and it puddles in the form below. My new friend Steve made this for me, its awesome and I have been having fun experimenting with it.
The idea is simple: melt glass thru the screen and the right balance of clear and color will create chaotic patterns in the finished puddle of glass. I have hundreds of pounds of scrap glass accumulating and this screen melt system could be a way of transforming it into beautiful art.

Here's what I've been doing in my kiln experiments...

- first I weigh out the glass so that the scrap used will equal the volume I want in the finished puddle (I have been using about 800grams to make a 9"plate)

- then I transfer this scrap onto the screen in the kiln (I have prepped the screen by laying fiber blanket against the steel of the form that the glass melts into and along the kiln shelf (so that final puddle will not stick to anything)

- then I melt the glass, using a program that cooks the glass at 1600degrees Fahrenheit

- once its cold and cleaned off the scrap has transformed into a puddle!

Here are my first three melts, I think they are beautiful.

I have been learning a lot along the way. These experiments will probably turn into bowls in my kitchen.

Kiln Glass Resource Centers

Let the glass flow...

Last night I had the awesome opportunity to join a group of artists at the Bullseye Glass Company to discuss KGRC. That would stand for Kiln Glass Resource Centers. Everyone is in town for BeCon and Bullseye generously hosted a meet n' greet round table event for the owners of Kiln Glass Resource Centers. We had a great discussion - I have so many new ideas now! And it was great to meet so many incredible people. Nathan Sandberg gave us a great presentation about achieving movement in fused glass. It was called "Going with the flow" and featured the work Bullseye did with artist Jun Kaneko. Really inspiring. I am drawn to movement in artwork and this presentation was all about causing motion in the glass with your kiln forming process. Very interesting.

Bullseye has a class that Nathan teaches for this technique

Fusible Decal Paper on Glass

My friend Laura made these little glass pendants using images that were printed onto photo fusing paper. She pointed out that if you use French Vanilla Bullseye glass (the reactive glass 0137) instead of White (0113 or 0013) the decal looks almost black (note: its not really black, but the dark brown reaction with the vanilla looks black!)

The image above shows one decal fired on White Glass under clear (the pumpkin) and another fired on French Vanilla under clear (the witch). I'd bet the new Reactive White (0009 Reactive Cloud) would also make the decal look sorta black.

At the Aquila Glass School you can get Don to print out your images onto "Photo Fusing Paper" (he has the paper and a laser printer) and many people use this product to put images into their fused glass projects. They bring in their image saved onto a memory stick and he prints it out onto the decal paper. You wet the printed paper and slide the decal onto your glass. The results can vary, but its a simple and effective process.

The iron oxides in the laser toner make the image withstand high temperatures of firing the glass, afterwards it leaves a sepia-tone type image (sort of a burnt rusty color).

Here is a link for more information and prices for having Don print your decals:

http://www.thestoreataquila.com/photo_fusing_paper.htm

to check out Laura work:

http://appleglassoriginals.etsy.com

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First Kiln Firings

Mustafa (my new kiln) has been workin' hard! I documented my first fire in case anything freaky happened, taking notes of any little changes in the kiln program and pictures of what the glass looked like before and after. As you can see, I didn't really do a "test" as my first kiln load of glass... as in, I could have put just a few choice pieces of glass in to see what they did before loading it up with a bunch of work and hitting start! :) But rest assured Mustafa is treating me well and there have been no kiln snafus so far.
I was somewhat conservative in my program as well as the distance between pieces (just in case the kiln had hot spots or the programmer was not properly calibrated)
And I made these two little piles of glass in an open spot on the shelf... they were tests to see how much the glass was moving at these temperatures... you see, this white glass is really stiff, so is the pink and lime green, so I made these little piles to see how flat they would become. If I raised up the temperature of my "Full Fuse" or kept it at that temperature for longer (currently Mustafa stays at full fuse for only 3minutes) I could get these piles to fuse flatter.
Lastly - for all my readers that are fellow glass artists - here is the kiln schedule that I am using:

Segment ..... Rate ... Temp... Hold

1 350 500 0.10

2 450 1000 0.05

3 200 1250 1.30

4 9999 1488 0.03

5 9999 900 1.30

6 50 800 0.01

7 75 500 0.01

8 100 300 0.01

9 Idle to room temp.

Busy Working

"Sun Salutation"
new glass mobile I've been working on... capturing some yoga poses in the glass panels... this mobile shows the movement between poses, from namaste to mountain, forward bends to cobra to downward facing dog... let me know what you think! (there are a few more pictures if you click the listing)

Earrings
cleaning glass bits for earrings... I've been busy creating silver ear-wires as well... I love the little green earrings, and I finally have them in stock again :)
I think everyone needs a pair of these little sprouts

Yoga Card Sets
oh my goodness - I played with Jan's printing press yesterday and printed up a kazillion little yoga ladies... I am thinking card sets. I'll post more when they are dry and the project has progressed further...

Cutting Circles

this is me trying to be organized with these 350+ circles soon to be more holiday inventory... my fingertips are covered in little bitty cuts from so many sharp edges! Fortunately these little tiny cuts don't hurt and they didn't bleed. Except my left index finger hurts when I type. dammit.

a Mr. Rogers thank you

I know its summer when I have to break out an extra pair of comfy shoes to have at the shop. You see, in the summer I gotta let my feet breath, so I wear leather flip flop kinda things, but at the shop there is a rule that artists have to wear closed toe shoes (makes sense, you could go dropping sharp glass on a bare foot and then you'd have to go to the hospital, shoes slow the glass down considerably, no feet cuts for me). So in the summer I leave a pair of shoes and extra socks at the shop.

I call it my Mr. Rogers moment - when I walk in the shop and change shoes, sometimes I sorta get to singing about neighbors and whatnot :)

So today after I changed shoes (and took a picture as to blog about my daily Mr. Rogers moment) I happened to later knock over a cottage cheese container that was full of random sharp pieces of glass, right at my feet (which I happened to be standing right where I had left my sandals) and I had to take another picture, cuz you see what could have happened had I not had my shoes on!
By the way - shout out to little baby Orson - thanks for the nail polish :) see I painted my toes!

Sweet Necklace Made of Some Bits

My friend Aimee came over today wearing this wonderful necklace she created from my scrap mobile pieces. How great is that! I think the pendant looks like little buddies, and I love it, the little curlie of twist around the black cord... its precious. I am inspired by her creative use of these pieces.

And yes, Aimee came over wearing this necklace and I took it off her neck and put it in my photo setup so I could capture a few shots and share about it in the Garden of Leah. :) Isn't it beautiful!

Images on Glass IV

More colors!

From left to right these little plates show a progression of our color possibilities - Jan and I have been doing a lot of experimenting. I'm loving the green on the right (the ginko leaves).

By the way - these plates are available for sale in Jan's booth at the Portland Saturday Market, and I'm setting up an Etsy shop for our collaborations as well (I'll announce that when its available). The little duck is $9 and the robot and ginko plates are $14/ea.

The small plates are perfect soy sauce size - in fact we could make you a beautiful sushi set (completely dishwasher and food safe) with ginko leaves printed in the glass. yummy.

The little long plate is the perfect functional size (if you ask my opinion) - adorn your favorite spot with a plate to put your keys, rings, change, etc... look how perfectly it holds my glasses (I have this size plate in my bathroom as well as on my bedside table)

Mobile Earrings

Here are a some new mobile earrings that hit my Etsy shop today.
I've been making more and more mobile earrings - I love them!
My own little earlobes have been adoring them, and I get comments everywhere I go. People seem to really like them. I notice they are smile-makers, and that is a good sign!

7 Days of Color

Thanks Amy for this blog coverage!

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New Glass Creations

After a couple months of experimenting, Jan and I are excited to be launching two new lines.

This weekend at the Portland Saturday Market these collaborative glass pieces will be available in our booths. There's nothing like seeing artwork in person to make you really love it!

In Jan's booth where you can find her beautiful prints and amazing hand-bound books, now you will be able to purchase printed glass plates. The image above shows a set of plates printed with leaves, food safe, dishwasher safe.

In my booth I will be showing our mobile creations, printed glass pieces in kinetic constructions. Its a wonderful evolution of my work. So far I have listed one of these mobiles online, but there are many more to see.
Jan has been so gracious about me blogging about our experimentation process, and she is going the extra mile now. As a paper artist at the Portland Saturday Market, creating and selling a new line of glass artwork requires her to submit this new product line to the Product Review Committee (of which I am a volunteer). She is going to let me publish pictures of this process in my blog for anyone who may be curious - so stay tuned and feel free to ask questions.

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Give-Away: FREE Mystery Package

I've always loved a good mystery - whats not to love about a free package that has hidden surprise inside!!

The story here is over a year ago while doing my shipping I mistakenly sealed this box and completely forgot what was inside. See how its an older version of the USPS Priority shipping boxes :) I really don't remember the circumstances at the moment, but for some reason at the time I decided to put the box aside and not ship it (the recipient received what they ordered, and whatever is inside this box remains a mystery...) I know its a miniature mobile, I think its one that can stick onto a computer monitor (but I could be wrong there) and I have my guess what is inside, but who knows?! (my best guess is that its one of these guys)

So leave a comment on this blog and enter a chance to win the package! This give-away will run thru March 10th 2009. I will draw a winner and email them for shipping info. This give-away will even be sent to you USPS Priority Mail (its already in the box, so hey, you get 2day shipping!)

Show and Tell: New Earrings

My new jewelry line is fresh and ready to hit my shop... I love these new earrings! They are so fun, and I made all sorts of varieties... I've taken so many pictures. The little green ones above are particular favorites of mine - they are made of little tiny dots of green glass dangling from a round handmade earwires. Its hard to get a good shot of earrings. I took over a hundred and there only seem to be a couple good ones:

After all those pictures, its sorta exhausting picking thru the pile... I'm not really happy yet with what I've taken... but there are some fun shots in there somewhere...

This little red set is available in my Etsy shop... soon :)

Bullseye Reactive Glass

Bullseye Glass has a few new reactive colors, a reactive white and a reactive clear. This afternoon I was in the resource center here in Portland and I snapped this picture. They had made a really wonderful display of the "reactive" effects.
From top to bottom: (click on the picture to enlarge and see detail)

• the top pieces show copper foil under clear glass, on top of white (looks blue) vs on top of the reactive white (looks coppery)
• the middle pieces are silver foil on the reactive glass, to the left is reactive clear (isn't that effect insane!) and on the right is reactive white
• the bottom pieces of glass are reactive clear and reactive white, with turquoise and cranberry on the samples to show reaction (stringer, powder and frit)

For all of the glass fusers who may read this blog and do not live in Portland, I thought it would be fun to share this. I love the new reactive clear. Its yummy. My favorite reaction is with the turquoise frit. But thats just my opinion. :)

Copper Powder in Glass

Images on Glass IV

The printing images on glass experiments with my artist friend Jan resumed today. And we today added Copper Powder to the mix. You can see I wore a mask, and I used an exhaust hood right above the powder... protection is a must.




Its been a while since we've gotten to play... after a small hiatus due to weather and the holidays, we are starting back anew with new tests. My notes were pretty crappy on the early testing, so we never really could figure out how we achieved the results that we liked. So its sorta back to square one.

I did some tests with applying fine black powder to wet oil based copper/gold ink.

Jan mixed the oil based ink with a transparent white ink that we had been using, the transparent white is really weird stuff.
I am not sure if we will use any more of this transparent white, it made a huge mess and you can see in the picture if you zoom in that the white makes funny patterns on the transfer. In the end we chose to use the blue instead of the transparent white.


We did lots of testers with this copper powder that Jan bought. After printing onto the glass with the blue oil based ink I applied the powder to the wet ink. We used one block (the heart) that was very solid, and one black that was very detailed (a ginko leaf, not pictured here). I then applied a clean piece of clear glass on top of this for a fuse fuse fire.

Then we also did a batch where we mixed the copper powder in to the ink. And we did all of these copper tests twice, once with a -100 grade copper powder and again with a -325 grade copper powder. I am intrigued to see what the copper powder does. It may not be impressive, it may be really neat! It was fun stuff to work with too, I took some pictures of the patterns it was making:

links to other Image Experiment posts:

• http://leahglass.blogspot.com/2008/11/images-on-glass-experiment.html

• http://leahglass.blogspot.com/2008/11/images-on-glass-ii.html

• http://leahglass.blogspot.com/2008/11/images-on-glass-iii.html

Big Glass Bowls: Birds on a Line

These are two large 17" bowls that I made for my family as Christmas presents. I am currently holding them hostage due to weather snafu.

I thought it'd be nice to blog about something other than snow.

These bowls turned out really nice. I used Brilliant Blue - which is a great color (I can't think of the Bullseye # for this right now) - just cut one sheet in half and cut two big circles, and for each I cut a 17" circle of clear tekta. Then I used some of the scrap marzipan glass from the first "Birds on a Line" big bowl series to make some long wires and birds with my handy dandy torch and some tweezers. I purposefully made one of the wires flex a bit and put a fat bird sitting on it (this is on the bowl that is out of focus in the picture). The other bowl has two birds kissing, and both bowls have one bird flying away.

I love the narrative aspect of this image. Birds on a Line. Birds are funny. We've been watching naturalist David Attenborough, "The Life of Birds" series on Netflicks. Its wonderful.

How to Sign Glass Art

I just bought this little cheap number at Harbor Freight (its dollar days there this weekend!) and its a miniature version of exactly what I like in a signing device. And it was only $5 - so hey - I'll love it while it lasts.

There are many ways to sign a piece of glass - I like to use a dremel tool equipped with a diamond tip bit.

Sometimes I forget to sign my work while at the studio, so now I have this handy little tool for signing things at home. Its so polite, its much quieter than my plug in number that I usually use at home - I am in love with this cheap tool. *sigh*