As promised.

Experimenting with glass colors is fun. Whenever I get it right, I rejoice. Sometimes the outcome looks a little weird, though, as happened in this tile. The colors I thought would be amazing, really weren't because I picked a crummy background color to work with. That's what happens when you don't have enough of what you want and "settle" for something else just to get the idea out of your mind and onto glass. I'm not Happy. (So, which Dwarf are you, then?) Also, using Glassline paint is quick and easy, but the color vibrancy leaves a lot to be desired

My favorite part of the tile painting is the fish skeleton on the cat's forehead. I'm tired of day of the dead stuff. Dichroic glass is much more exciting! Look at this combo. I know. It's a skull. But GOSH!

This is so simple, and actually quite beautiful in a frightening sort of way. I put a photocopied skull behind clear glass and plopped a piece of electric clear dichro over it.  Makes me wonder what would happen if I made a decal out of the photocopy and then tack fused it all together. Decals "brown out" into sepia tones during firing, so the end result wouldn't be as startling. Hand painting the skull onto glass using the traditional method with Reusche paint, and then firing the dichro over it would work and it would look just like this.

"Day of the Dead" cat tile, pre-fire

It's interesting how a three dimensional piece of art can actually have another dimension. The tile I'm making has the outline painting sandwiched between two layers of glass, which adds depth. Now that I've painted the color over the outline, it looks like it has another dimension. Look into the cat's spiral eye.

There are tiny little bubbles caught between the layers (about the size of small champagne bubbles). I don't think you can see them from this photo; they show up below the ears and around the whiskers.

With the color layered on the outside of the glass, the outline beneath the clear glass, and the bubbles between the layers, it looks like the cat is under water.

This picture was taken prior to firing. When it comes out of the kiln, I'll snap another shot. The colors should be vibrant. The flower on top of the head is deep red with yellow highlights. The leaves are varying shades of deep green to yellow green. The ears are pink with green flowers. The nose is pale green and the lower jaw is dark blue.



Day of the Dead Cat Coaster



Strange yet wonderful glass combination

While I was firing things in the kiln on Sunday, I fused together two pieces of glass and this is what came out.  The top glass is called "royal glass" and the bottom glass is green iridescent.  Both are 90 COE. The royal glass is actually glue chip coated with copper colored paint that goes through a fusing process when fired. The combination reminds me of weathered copper.

Day of the really dead?

Today I made this skull coaster .

This is a 5.5" x 5.5" coaster made by fusing clear glass over white irridescent glass. I fired the dichro wavy strips at the same time I fused the two pieces together at 1450 df, then drew the skull (Glassline paint again) and fired the image and slumped it in another firing at 1350 df.

It took most of the morning to draw this guy.  He/she has a nice smile, don't you think?

Day of the Dead dish

It's going to rain today. Rather than start something big I might not be able to get in the kiln before the raindrops start, I thought I'd work on a small dish to sell at a small boutique a friend and I are having at work, towards the end of November.

It's 5"x 5", fused clear glass over white iridescent glass. Since it is painted on the clear side, the design creates a shadow on the white base glass. Sweet, huh? I added some millefiori slices and an aqua blue glass pebble on her eye. Yes, they are glued on because they were an after-thought, but this dish wasn't meant to be "used" as a dish (unless you put a bar of soap in it).

Not to worry. If the glued on pieces come off, there will still be decorative paint melted into the glass. I used Glassline Pens for the outline and color, fired it in two firings--one to set the outline of the design, and the other to fire the colors and slump the dish. I think I'll charge $5000.00 for it (not really).  It WAS a lot of work, though.