Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Meteor Showers

My latest project from this past weekend. I tend to move from one thing to another as you have probably noticed. I feel like I need to multi-task when I work on things. Last Friday, I received a call for artists for a show in Denver and the deadline is Monday, 3/23. I'm hoping that I can have this ready for submission, but the coldworking is time consuming. So if I don't finish it in time for the deadline, I think it will fit nicely in some other shows I plan on doing. I do wish I'd receive Calls for Artists with longer lead times for submissions...oh well.

I call this Meteor Showers. This is one of those cases where, when I saw the stringers a few weeks ago, I had this vision of what they would look like streaming down from clouds....breaking through the atmosphere. This is one of the thickest pieces I've made yet (see the detail in the last picture here) and I'm finding that I enjoy the effects of frit, stringers, and thick glass results.

I thought I would show some of the progress on how this was built. I started with a circle of Bullseye's Marzipan. It is one of my favorites as I think it has such a warm, rich quality. Their Marzipan is a striker glass, which means that it 'strikes' the rich Marzipan color when it reaches full fuse temperature. I placed this in a stainless steel ring with a fiber dam.





Then I started to add some of the stringer drops that represent the meteors. Here is where I started layering shades of blue frit, with clear frit and more stringers. I used combinations from two of my stringer batches, one with a lighter steel blue and another with a dark midnight blue. I'm beginning to understand this frit addiction and once you get started, it sort of grabs your attention and begs you to try more with it!


In this next shot, I've added more layers of frit and stringers. I want that suspended effect between the elements once it is fused.








Final phase of layering. Everything is in place and ready for the mound of clear glass pieces. You can sort of see that mass of blue stringers I put at the top to represent the clouds the meteors are passing through.







A side view showing the mound of glass placed on top of the design.







Another view, taken just prior to placing it in the kiln for firing.








My first glimpse, while in the kiln, after the fusing process. Oh yes, it has some reddish/pink striker randomly mixed in there and I think that adds to the drama of the meteor strikes.









Trying to show that this is approximately 1 inch thick.

I think it is going to be a very interesting bowl when complete.

16 comments:

Celeste Bergin said...

so interesting! I enjoyed reading this and looking at the photos.

Kathleen Krucoff said...

Thank you Celeste!

Tracey Clarke said...

I love when you do these in progress posts. I get a new "oh! I see how she does it!" every time.
It really looks very cool.

Kathleen Krucoff said...

Glad you like the "works in progress". I've debated about whether I should continue doing them or not. I think it's a nice way to keep track of how I built a particular piece. Thanks Tracey.

Karen said...

That process is so wild. I had to read it a couple of times because it's foreign to me...I never imagined how these were built before your process posts.
Can't wait to see the finished bowl.
What was the reason for the thickness here? Experimentation? Something you've been wanting more of?

Kathleen Krucoff said...

Hi Karen!

So glad you like seeing how these are built.

The thickness...I'll call it a happy accident. :) I was going for a thickness of about 1/2" and built up the center with lots of glass. Apparently, I put a bit too much as it found a level of almost 1". Not exactly what I had planned, but I do like it. Part of the learning curve for me. Next time I won't put quite as much glass in the center mounding part. :D

MarilynM said...

It is beautiful!, I love that I'm able to see how it progresses, glass is fascinating to me (although I must admit, working on it terrifies me for some reason). I love how thick it is, I can't wait to see how the light will play between all those layers of glass once it's finished!

Kathleen Krucoff said...

Thank you Marilyn. It's funny you should mention glass scares you. I have to tell myself not to show it any fear when I work with it...glass seems to know and will react when you fear it.

I worked on this piece more last night; it will be a real challenge to have this finished in time to make the submission deadline of 3/23.

Deborah Younglao, Silk Painter said...

Love the title... and I think seeing the different stages makes us appreciate the finished product more!

Unknown said...

I love reading your informative posts...
still a student here...
and I love the learning...
my 10 year learning curve...
or more..:):)
mona & the girls
ps thanks for the follow

Kathleen Krucoff said...

Thanks Deborah, glad you like seeing the works in progress. It's fun for me to show the development stages too.

Hey Mona & the girls! I enjoy following your blog too. I think we all continue to learn and grow. Glass has a lot of ways to expand what you do. Someday, I hope to add lampworking to my skill set too.

Laurel Daniel said...

Kathleen - this is SOOOOOOOOOO cool - I love seeing the whole process. Beautiful work and so nice to find you!!!

Kathleen Krucoff said...

Thanks Laurel. I'm glad I found you too...through Karen's blog.

Misa said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Misa said...

I can't believe, what it looks like at the beginning and then when the piece is done - it's really cool, that you're showing the steps in making...
To me it's like baking a complicated cake - I can't make even cookies!

Kathleen Krucoff said...

Thanks Misa. It's fun to do the works in progress. Maybe you can't bake cookies, but you sure can wire wrap...ever so beautifully too! :)