The paperweight class I’d signed up for at the Mesa Art Center, though cancelled three times in a row, went off fine the fourth time I registered for it, and I was able to make three paperweights. We were having trouble with the crucible kiln not clicking shut properly, and the glass got too cool, …
Tag: Glass
Jul 15
Latticework Tray
Here’s another thing that people do when they make fused glass pieces; they make slumped bowls and trays. I had less enthusiasm for this, because I’m a potter, and pottery makes functional, sturdy, dishwasher-safe pieces that don’t cost $60 in raw materials. There’s a flaw in one of the bands because I tried to cut …
Jul 06
Next-To Last Beetles
So now I figured out that you have to fuse the dichro to the background glass before you cap it. Here’s what I also found–when you have iridescent glass in the background, the dichro doesn’t fuse completely flat. That means that even when you fuse it before capping it, you get blisters of air trapped …
Jun 27
Butterflies
Now that I’d done a few beetles, I decided to see if I could make a butterfly that looked okay. Butterflies are easy to do poorly, and hard to do well. I find that if I stray too far from a photograph or good drawing of a butterfly, it doesn’t look as real as I’d …
Jun 21
Dragonfly in Amber Glass
For this dragonfly, I used a clear sheet over amber. The instructor suggested it for greater visibility. She didn’t quite understand that I was a skinflint who didn’t want to buy more clear glass, I guess. This was before I had tested the mica pigments to see which ones worked (bright gold) and which …