O Ye of Little Faith

May 5, 2009 at 2:09 am (Uncategorized)

Beads turned out just fiyunnn!

Rrrrockit

Rrrrockit

But…still…I didn’t have a plan and just started grabbing stuff. Now, that’s all fine and good, but I think I do bettr beads when I have a design in mind.

A couple of possibilities for this week:
1. The rocket was a total accident, but I could make one with more intent.
2. Used the lentil and kalera molds for the first “real” time (orange lentils, tricolor kalera). With the kalera mold I need to work on the amount of glass on my mandrel…

I really really like the bullseye orange marmalade. There are a couple other swirlie colors I will use if I take the lentil route.

Need to work a little on simplicity. I sure do have a tendency to get fussy, and it can detract from a good bead. More discernment is needed, until I have a better grasp on some of the technical stuff.

Speaking of technical stuff…going to the ISGB Gathering in July. Just decided today, and booked everything. See next post for details!

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Next time make a plan

May 4, 2009 at 3:58 am (Bullseye, glass, lampwork, lentil)
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Made some random beads tonight that may or may not work. I made a caterpillar, but I fear it will crack. I don’t think I kept it backed into the flame enough as I was working (endlessly it seemed) on the dots. Also, very bad stringer control, a little shaky and maybe just a little tired after last night’s successes.

Tried to make a butterfly sort of thing, and a really funny thing happened. As I was adding glass to the sides for “wings,” I suddenly noticed 3 rows of glass I had added were just…gone. I looked around my work area, and never did find them. This is generally something you don’t want to happen, because duh glass is hot. It will burn ya! And your clothes. And your carpet.

Then tested out my lentil and pillow molds, with dubious results. Need to figure out exactly how much glass to melt for a perfect fit. Did discover that the Bullseye Orange Marmalade is a really pretty glass.

Will post pix tomorrow.

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Sea change

May 3, 2009 at 9:41 pm (Bullseye, glass, lampwork, studio)
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I think I beat my previous record for a torch session: 12 beads in two sittings.

I feel…sorta possessed. Working with the Bullseye glass had given me new energy. It seems to be very forgiving. Having the kiln going for immediate annealing also helps, especially for the thin, scalloped discs. I had not one single casualty!

Seaform III

Seaform III


This is a thin disc of different colored layers, flattened and shaped as it grew. The edges were scalloped with the dragging/poking tool, and dots applied to the disc as the last step.

My last bead of the night:

Crayzee Dayzee

Crayzee Dayzee


same process as above, but the disc is fatter so the “petals” wouldn’t droop. Then went all fussy on the dotting, which is not as neat as I would like, but hey, I’ll take it!

Something has happened in this past couple of months, but especially in the last few days since pulling out the Bullseye rods from the corner. I feel more in control. Though I’ve been more than willing to take chances this last two months and not mind failing, upping my chances of success with the tools I use has been a phenomenal experience.

So the question is, how — or indeed WHETHER — to transition from COE104 (Moretti/Effrete/Vetrofond) to COE90 (Bullseye, most likely). I will use up my current stock of about 15-20 rods before making a commitment: Bullseye can be a bit pricey, and there’s no need to hurry the process. On top of price, there are space constraints, if a new collection of rods is to be as organized and handy as my current set-up — a necessity, not a choice.

Now I think I know why I was able to purchase collections of cheap glass from eBay when I first started lampworking! I think I will not do a complete turn-around, as I have lots of COE104 that I really, really like, especially my Vetrofond oddlots (of which I will be getting another bundle soon). There’s plenty of room for all of it under my tent!

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Seaforms

May 2, 2009 at 8:01 pm (Bullseye, glass, lampwork, twisted cane)
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I decided to mess about with some Bullseye glass that I’ve had forever and have barely used. The last time I tried, I was not happy…but I was also not quite as adept at the torch as I am now.

I didn’t really have a plan. I made a twistie, but it was really hard to pull. Bullseye is a bit stiffer, and I also didn’t have my punties ready for action (forgot to snip off the sharp ends, duh!). So that didn’t turn out well at all. I figured I’d choose some colors, pull some stringers, and just see how it felt.

I made a base bead out of swirly, transparent dark orange, then used dark orange opaque stringer (which barely showed up) and green sparkly stringer (which most emphatically did!). Then grabbed my poking/dragging tool and inadvertently pushed some of the glass up, and it didn’t just flop back into place. I pushed the next bit down, and then saw that the glass is stiffer, and takes/holds a shape very nicely.* I repeated the pattern a couple more times to make a scallop or clamshell shape. I added a few light purple dots around the scalloped edge, and that was that.

It was so easy to repeat, I made three. And two smaller spacer beads.
Seaforms
I am so happy with these beads, I am going to make a whole bunch of sets using different color palettes. If I am happy with them (and why wouldn’t I be?), I think I’ll make the leap and get the Bullseye sampler. I’ll try the same design, of course, using the Moretti/Efrete/Vetrofond that I’ve got, too, just to see if there is a marked difference.

This is fun, this is exactly what I want to do right now! Experiment and document, and hopefully find my own voice at the torch.

*The stiffness is what I didn’t like when working with Bullseye in my first few months of flameworking. Now that I am doing more complex stuff, I think it will be an advantage. From what I have been reading, stacked dots are easier to control, as they don’t spread so quickly. It will be easier to “sculptural” beads, too. If I decide to do that. (Many artists who do sculptural glass use boro because it has low COE and thus higher melting point, making it easier to shape and manipulate. It is also used for blown glass.)

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More Twists and Silly Bead

May 2, 2009 at 2:43 am (glass, lampwork, twisted cane)
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Made a complex twistie that I was really happy with, two larger rods (electric blue and cobalt) and two white stringers between. Then I decided I wanted to use it on a bead, but didn’t make a plan. This is what happened.

Ridiculous Bead 3

Totally silly. I made a pretty nicely shaped cylinder, then used a shaping tool to make a “neck”. Then started applying the blue twistie to the top and twirling and dragging almost compulsively. I can’t leave anything alone for a second! This is why I don’t have two beads alike. When I encased the whole mess, I got a big glob of clear on one side, so made some grooves in the glass and applied light blue dots.

The bottom part I just used some of the twisted cane stringers, melted them in and dragged the melted glass with a pick. Add a few dots and voila! One. Silly. Bead.

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Missin’ the Flame

April 29, 2009 at 8:40 pm (Uncategorized)

I’ve taken off a few days from the torch to travel to SoCal for my partner’s parents’ 50th Anniversary. Been either a) time-lagged or b) busy since returning Monday morning (very early), so haven’t had time at the torch.

Last week I pulled some pretty successful twisted cane. I want to do a few more color combos, then figure out a design for beads using them. Need a little more application practice, truthfully, so will not use my fancy glass.

I am debating getting a large-ish lot of Bullseye rods. I’ve never loved working with it, but I think I just need to do more. The advantage is that I also use Bullseye COE-90 for fusing, and rods always come in handy for that. I really want to do more fusing, but have felt a bit intimidated of late, due to recent mmmm…shall I call them “failures”? Ok, yes, I will. Free weekends coming up mean I really should do some fusing and PMC.

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Complex Twist!

April 22, 2009 at 6:45 pm (glass, lampwork)

Hooray! I successfully twisted a cane with 3 colors! It wasn’t a pretty process (one of my punties broke near the base, and I had to remelt it and get it to harden, while still keeping the “blob” of three colors flowy). The end result looks like I knew what I was doing, pretty much.
complex twistie

Of course, the next big step is learning how to actually use the twisted cane. I tried it on a black base bead. The colors were pretty enough, but I got the cane too hot and it lost its integrity.
mediocre use of twisted cane stringer

As I’ve said before, stringer application is one of my weak points as a lampworker. I’d like to take a class focussed solely on pulling and applying stringer.

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Twisted Cane

April 21, 2009 at 5:20 am (lampwork, twisted cane)

Yikes! this is hard! Glass is pretty predictable when you are just sort of melting it, but getting it just hot enough to stick to another heated rod without losing the “rod shape” — and stay that way after it cools a little: Well, it’s kinda tricky. Then add the element of puntying the ends and having THOSE rods stay firm-ish, not melt into the rods you are wanting to twist: Gotta pay attention. The last thing is knowing when to start pulling after you remove the blob from the heat. Too soon, and the cane is much too thin. Too late, and you end up with about 2 inches of cane. Then you need to twist both ends at the same rate. Out of all of my attempts, the second one was the best (from left to right) and the last one was the longest, and I never had to deep six an attempt. Not perfect, but I’ll take it for the first real try at twisting cane. I’ll work up to complex cane by Wednesday.

Twisted Cane: 2 colors

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This Week’s Project

April 20, 2009 at 7:51 pm (glass, lampwork, twisted cane)
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Well, randomly opening Passing the Flame took me to twisted cane stringer.

My heart sank. Even pulling simple stringer is not my strong suit. But I REALLY need to know how to do twisted cane. It opens up design possibilities considerably.

Guess that’s why the book opened there 😉

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Goddess Beads

April 20, 2009 at 7:10 pm (glass, goddess, lampwork)
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Caelyth

If you Google on “goddess bead,” you’ll see a lot of very lovely, female-shaped beads. Well, I actually have no desire to make a bead like that. My Goddess Beads were made specifically for a Sensual Goddess party I attended on Saturday night. There were to be seven of us, and besides eating, drinking, sharing poetry and stories, we also planned to share gifts.

I got myself in a Goddess Groove on Friday night, and sat at the torch for 3 hours, one of my longest sessions ever. I felt exhausted and energized at the same time when I finally shut down at 10:30 PM, beads soaking in the kiln to be revealed as successes or failures next morning. The beads were pretty large, and I’m always afraid large beads will crack from not staying properly hot while I work on them (between prepping* and working the glass, each bead took about 15-20 minutes to make). I was so happy to see all seven beads turned out crack-free, and quite pretty as well. I made them focal beads on various pieces of jewelry.

This was a great project for me, at this particular time. I’ve been wanting to free myself up and increase the intermixing of spirit, imagination, and technique. Flow, I will call it. Making a bead flow into a piece of jewelry is something I have been sidling up to until now. It all happened here, and it was thrilling.

The lampwork technique was inspired (and instructed) by Sarah Hornik, whom I’ve admired for a couple of years. During the course of making these seven beads, I became much more proficient with my marver, maintaining the cylindrical shape of the bead as I was working in the colors and stripes. My stringer application still sucks, but with this bead it doesn’t matter that much since the stripes get swirled. Mostly, my dots turned out okay, a couple were not “perfect” — but I was happy with them, overall.

Another thing that made me happy was that the holes were nice and “innied” — no jagged bits to grind off. I think this is because I kept marvering the bead to shape as I was working it.

*Prepping: Each bead required making color choices in advance and pulling stringers. The beads are composed of a cylindrical base bead in a light opaque color (pink, yellow, blue were my choices); the top half of the cylinder encased with rubino oro or other light-hued transparent glass (I used rubino oro, light red, and light yellow). After I chose base and transparent, I then pulled stringers complementary stripes applied to the base, for melting and swirling into flowy shapes, and then for dots in the last step. I tried to use different color combinations for each bead, but a couple of them turned out looking a bit similar. I was a little tired by the last bead, and used stringers I had pulled for previous beads, but in a different combination.

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