Growing up in the Midwest, I have a fondness for thunderstorms. I think there is a real beauty in the lightening shows they produce. And then there is that moment as the stormy skies are clearing and the sunlight emerges. That moment is what I tried to capture in this piece, which I call Clearing Skies.
Working on the pieces in my Sky-Scape Series has its challenges. Trying to combine the right glass colors, create the effect I'm hoping for once the pieces fuse together. The picture below is this piece as it's ready to go into the kiln. The glass at the top and bottom is one of Bullseye's Blue Steel that shifts from the deep blue you see in this picture to a silver when fused at a certain temperature. You can see this color shift in the finished bowl pictured at the top of this post.
When I took this to full fuse temp, around 1525 degrees Fahrenheit, it remained that deep blue shade you see in the pre-fuse picture. After I completed the coldworking phase to finish the edge, I put it back in the kiln to slump into its final shape. That slumping temperature I used took it to about 1125 degrees and that is when the color shift to that silver took place. Fascinating! I truly love opening my kiln and seeing what awaits.
That's exactly what I wanted and thanks to that shift, it created the stormy sky clearing effect I wanted. Dark stormy grey/silver edges with the clouds dissipating after the storm and the light shining through.
If you'd like to see this one in person, it will be part of my exhibit at the Boulder Arts & Crafts Gallery in August. Stay tuned for more details on that show.
Until next time, aspire to be more as an artist and a person.
