Variables in the Experiments

I finally had an empty kiln available to do experiments over the weekend! I wanted to control all the variables and see the effects of changing the temperature the glass melts thru the screen...

3 major things seem to effect the melts: time, temp and quantity.

So I kept the quantity of glass the same and the time it was held at the melting temp was also kept constant. What I changed was the temperature. This caused all sorts of variations: the roundness of the shape, the amount of bubbles in the melt, the patterns of color in the clear glass and the thickness of the finished piece.

The experiments continue... I just thought I'd share what came out of the kiln this weekend...

from left to right:
1700 degrees F
1600 degrees F
1500 degress F

Momma said don't play with fire

Auction at the Museum of Glass

This weekend I attended the gala fund-raising event of the year at the Tacoma Museum of Glass. It is called the Red Hot Summer Party & Auction. A collaborative piece that I worked on with Dennis McConnell was in the silent auction. The museum invites the artists to this event, and Dennis could not go, so I drove up to Tacoma on Saturday to represent for the two of us. This year the work was juried and we had the chance to win some amazing prizes, as in a week in the Museum hot shop with their team and their equipment and they foot the bill (amazing!!) and I think there was a $10,000 prize as well. We didn't win, but it was an honor to have my efforts displayed in such good company! And some lucky bidder got to take our piece home with him.
The event was a wild and luxurious. The glass artwork on display was awe-inspiring. So many of my favorite artists had work in the auction and so many of the patrons of the museum came dressed in tuxes and gowns. I hope it was a successful night for the museum, as I know they raise a good deal of their annual budget at this particular event. But regardless it was pretty amazing. I felt under-dressed. I had somehow missed the memo that I should show up in my most fancy attire. Luckily I did dress up, and I clean up pretty well, but I felt embarrassed non-the-less. Although honestly many of the artists were not dressed in their finest. In fact it made it sorta easy to assume who was an artist and who was there to shop. :) My first thought when I saw all the formal evening wear was that I had missed my chance to really dress up.

If you'd like to sorta see what it was like, there is a video online from a live stream done by Team Photogenic, its long, go to 33min to see the best couple minutes of the whole thing.

Watch live streaming video from seenliveattheredhotsummerparty at livestream.com

While I wanted to take pictures of the people and their formal outfits, instead I was snapping shots of the amazing glass.

The flowers above, made by Kari Russell-Pool were inspired by dalias in a Tacoma garden. When I look at this piece I can't help by gasp at the thought of what it must feel like to assemble this vase! Wow! I love the detail of this vase.

This cocktail set made me swoon. I want it. I can't afford it. I love it. Someone lucky now owns this amazingly perfect set.

All in all it was a fantastic night. A lot of driving, very humbling, excellent food at the dinner and the best part was a presentation about the Museum's "Kids and Glass" program. I hope to blog more about this program soon...

I took more pictures as well... they are on flickr... lots of shots of the glass installations outside the museum as well, I put them up on Flickr

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.

Draped Melted Glass

First I melted a pile of glass scraps thru a screen to form a round flat puddle.

Then I re-fused the glass (to level out any bubbles that had come to the surface and popped which leaves sharp edges).

Finally I draped the glass over a metal milk shake container to obtain this sort of ripply vase effect...

I thought it would make a nice lamp shade (although its small, maybe 8" around and only 6" tall) because it looks incredible when its lit up like this... allows all the swirls and ripples in the color to pop...

So I went to Ikea and perused the lights, I thought I'd find something to take the shade off and use this instead (maybe drill a hole in the center of the glass to put a light fixture thru) but no luck. Very disappointing. But I didn't walk out totally sad, instead I purchased some striped fabric covered hat boxes and a few over-sized glass canning jars for other irrelevant craft purposes... Next I will check out the Re-Building Center, as they might have something older and unique that would fit the bill.

The scrap melting adventure continues!

Smile

All the Apparatus

They call themselves "Avante-garde dirty gypsy klezmer jazz indie anti-folk rock!"

This band plays almost every weekend lately down by Ankeny Fountain. Street music at its best! I can hear them from where I am selling my artwork at the Portland Saturday Market, they make my mobiles dance (and maybe me too!). This Saturday I flagrantly abandoned my booth to take this video. Luckily I have good neighbors to make sales for me while I was gone :) Thanks!

They make me smile.

Pictures from the Glass School

its a slideshow - press play

Aquila Glass School

1628 N Columbia Blvd, Unit A - Portland, OR 97217

This is where I teach torchworking classes - look how much fun people are having! I love this place.