Two new bowls

Close up showing frit design

Red Nebula bowl

In the past few weeks I made two bowls and have learned what happens to the base dichroic glass when fired at full fuse temps of 1430 to 1460 df. The Red Nebula bowl is fused out of a piece of what I believed was brilliant red "Pixie Stix Godiva" COE 96 glass. It arrived cut in an oval shape with two flat long sides, not round as pictured on the seller's website. When I first viewed it online the pixie stix that tracked all over the glass were obvious, and the aqua, gold, brilliant green and red reflections were spectacular. Cutting it into a shape that still reminded me of a nebula, yet retained a balance of the brilliant colors was a challenge.  Alas, to no avail. After firing the glass on a backing of clear 96 COE, I was extremely disappointed to find that the base dichroic colors had faded to a cocoa color unless a bright light was shone on it. However, I am happy that the slump went well, and the curvature of the bowl is nice. The bumpiness of the frit and small bubbles add texture and depth when viewed in person. Dimensions are 17.25" x 14.25" x 1.75".

I call this one the wedding bowl. I made it for my daughter, Margaret and her new husband, Michael, who recently married. The base glass is nearly a full 18" round sheet of 96 COE thin "Reptilian" on black (from the same seller). I fused the dichro to a base glass of 96 COE clear at 1450 df, sprinkled with clear backed dichro frit to follow the network of design on the base glass. The bowl is 15.5" across and 1.75" deep. The picture, above and right, shows the dichroic frit glowing against the darker background.  I think I like the black background dichroic base glass better than the white background of the red bowl. The colors stand out better.