This morning I prepared the blue bowl for its second fusing. Here it is, in the kiln, ready for firing. Taking it back up to full fuse temperature may mean that I will not be able to see the results until later tomorrow afternoon.
I had great fun arranging all the curls on top of it. I believe I have made the right decision and I want to thank Deborah and Karen for their words of encouragement as I re-work this piece to become (hopefully) even better than the original design.
I took a profile view to show how these curls 'stand up' on top of the surface. During the fusing process they will drop and become part of the glass surface. They will retain their circles and curls, but become part of the piece in the fusing process.
The dam, to maintain its 3/8" thickness, is held in place with steel pins. A technique I picked up in Patty Gray's November class at D & L. I couldn't believe that I could use steel pins in my kiln, but I can. As an added safeguard I used some kiln blocks as additional reinforcements to the dam.
Last, but certainly not least, is a picture of two of our three bassets. As I worked on this piece this morning, they kept me company....sleeping on their beds. Newton is on the left, Bueller is the one on the right. As an added bonus, today we went to the big dog show up in Denver and saw lots of our basset friends. Couldn't ask for a better day. Happy Valentine's Day!
2 comments:
Wow! What a process...to me it sounds so complex to see it through. But I think then when I see a piece like this one, complete, I can even more appreciate how hard won all of the beautiful, intricate little subtleties are. How cool to see the stringers standing on end! I never would have imagined that.
I'm so happy our words encouraged you...I can't say how many comments of your have done the same for me.
And, I love the basset picture. This is what I imagine having a dog is like (all the time) :) . People keep talking me out of it!
Thanks Karen. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on what I'm doing. Glad my comments have helped you too.
I love dogs and you have to be prepared for bassets, as they are part of the hound family, but they are true delights and clowns. I would encourage you to consider a dog; just figure out what breed is best for you so you wouldn't be discouraged. I'd be happy to chat about it via email if you'd like. Trust me, these guys aren't as peaceful as they appear in this photo, but that's part of the fun. Bassets are more active than one would think, believe me!!!
I have more pictures to post and more irons in the fire, so I hope to get to that tonight!
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