January 18, 2008 at 9:49 pm (fusing, glass, kaleidoscope, lampwork)
Tags: beads, Bullseye, fusing, glass art, glass studio, lampwork, Lauscha, Moretti, Vetrifond
A new cylinder of gas. A discussion with Jackie at KMG about oxy-propane, and the possibility of switching when a new studio is in the picture. A discussion about boro glass, and how Moretti and Vetrifond and others are offering a similar color palette. An attempt to re-create the wedding cake bead that didn’t work and became a rectangle instead (and not a very good one, either). The need to clean and prepare my used mandrels for the next round of 40 beads. (I made a whole lot of beads this past 2-3 weeks! Hooray. Making up for lost time August – December 2007.)
For Edwardian weekend, I have loads of fused glass to design/assemble/fire (6 cabochons [designed, at least, and 3 assembled] and GoreyScope2 disc [not yet designed, even]). PLUS building Goreyscope2 and making costumery. Good thing I work well under deadline.
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January 16, 2008 at 11:37 pm (fusing, glass, lampwork, studio)
Tags: beads, Bullseye, fusing, glass art, glass studio, lampwork, Lauscha, Moretti, Vetrifond
I got three of the six cabochons assembled last night, and really need to do the other three this evening so I can fire up the kiln tomorrow at 4 PM.
I am a little beat from work-outs today, and would love to just veg tonight. We are organizing an informal photo shoot for a party invite tonight, so I should try to do glass before.
Addendum: Oh well, guess I’ll do it tomorrow night 😉
I got my glass-cutting work surface, which consists of a large plastic grid to catch all of the stray shards and slivers. I really like it; it also is good for cutting a straight line. I am feeling ever more confident with the glass cutter and with handling the materials. With respect, or course! Cuz glass cuts flesh like butter.
Made a couple of fun beads too (still on the blue kick).
One I call a wedding cake. I’m going to try to duplicate it, as it was an accident that turned out nicely.
The other is a totally stolen idea (thanks, venbead). But I will only use it for gifts and such.
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January 15, 2008 at 10:00 pm (jewelry, kaleidoscope, lampwork)
Tags: beads, Bullseye, fusing, glass art, glass studio, lampwork, Lauscha, Moretti, Vetrifond
So many glass acts yesterday.
I am making a 3-ft high kaleidoscope, with a fused glass disc as the design element. My friend and c0-worker Dave Hilyard (large optics specialist) cut the mirror for me into 8″ x 28″ lengths and smoothed the edges; he also gave me some adhesive strip to secure them together. Next I need to make the disk, and set up the motorized rotator. I will post pix and maybe a video when this is completed, IF it works or IF it doesn’t!
In the evening, my friend Rachel came over. We ate, sipped wine, and talked beads. She is a fabulous artist, and I wanted to pick her brains about possible settings for my beads. She had some insights, and she will do a wire class for me and a couple of friends in early February.
Then I made a couple of beads. Got a little ambitious with one of them and it broke, but in workable place. Pix to come later.
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January 13, 2008 at 10:30 pm (fusing, glass)
Tags: beads, Bullseye, fusing, glass art, glass studio, lampwork, Lauscha, Moretti, Vetrifond
Made a half-dozen cabochons yesterday, and all are basically acceptable. One is exceptional, and raised my personal bar so that I must make another half-dozen utilizing the elements of design I employed. I spent an hour or so sitting at a caffeine depot, nursing a chai, and drawing some designs. I’ll post pix of my goreyglass after the Edwardian Ball weekend.
I need to design, not just assemble. This is true in my beadmaking as well. I tend to be pretty free-form, which is fine. But having good design sense and technique handy as tools makes free-form beading and fusing more fun. I’ve got a ways to go, though.
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January 13, 2008 at 4:27 am (glass, lampwork)
Tags: beads, Bullseye, fusing, glass art, glass studio, lampwork, Lauscha, Moretti, Vetrifond
I gathered up all the loose frit, silver and gold, blasted chunks, &c. on my work surface and put them in a pile. Then I grabbed a rod of pinkish ivory from my cheap stash for my base bead, and melted great globs of stuff into it. And I do mean globs! It was tremendous fun, and I used a few basic techniques for effect — encasing and smashing flat, poking, and swirling. Should be cooled in a little while, I’m excited to see how they turned out.
It used to drive me crazy to have to wait on beads to cool. Now, I find it delicious.
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January 12, 2008 at 6:05 am (dichroic, fusing, glass)
Tags: beads, Bullseye, fusing, glass art, glass studio, lampwork, Lauscha, Moretti, Vetrifond
1. Trilevel bead – 1st dark blue opaque, 2nd periwinkle translucent, 3rd dark blue dichroic layer encased in light blue xparent.
2. White with clear dichroic round the saddle; shape got funny so I smashed it flat. Think it will be pretty and pure. This one is for my friend Chris. I couldn’t get a good photograph of this bead, but it turned out quite nice.
Tomorrow: fusing day! I have 5 or 6 cabochons to make for friends for an event in two weeks.
Sunday: Fusing experiments using metal rings. Wish my glass shipment from COE90 would get here!!
It got here!
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January 11, 2008 at 5:53 am (glass, lampwork)
Tags: accidental beauty, cheap glass, dots, encasing, glass, lampwork
I have so many things I am still working on. Dot consistency, size and placement, are two things that are a constant bugaboo. I try to make the best even if my touch is off, by raking or encasing or wha’ever.
Tonight I grabbed a handful of blue rods, at random, from cheap glass I had gotten from eBay when I first started. I made a large ink blue base bead, then stacked dots about 6 high (alternating white and different shades of blue, xparent and opaque) and melted them flat. I could see that they were drooping one into the other, so I grabbed a rake and drug it through the middle. I think it’s going to be a very nice bead.
Waiting for the render………..
The shape is a little off, but the swirly design is very satisfying.
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January 10, 2008 at 3:50 am (glass, inclusion, lampwork)
Tags: beads, Bullseye, fusing, glass art, glass studio, lampwork, Lauscha, Vetrifond
At the urging of my partner and my better sensibilities, I begin blogging about the journey that is glass art. First, I’m shocked no one has this user name. Second, I am sure that being in the public eye will increase my glass art output considerably. In fact, I am possessed to go make a few beads right now.
I’ve been enjoying using inclusions. My best beads that I have done in the past few days have been a dark pastel ivory base bead rolled in v. thin silver leaf. After cooking the silver for a minute, I wind some very thin copper wire round it. After melting and shaping a bit, I encase the bead in Lauscha clear.
This evening, the clear was pretty thick on one side, and I wanted to pull some off. I ended up doing to too slowly so that it made a “tail”. I decided that looked pretty cool, so now I have a paisley-shaped bead. The photos I’ve taken do not do it justice.
I’ve mostly been using Vetrifond glass lately, because I’m in love with the odd lot colors. I’ll note some of the ones I particularly like in a future post. And I’ll photograph my recent beads.
Oh, and I’m a hothead, not a dual torch!
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