Meteor Showers

The thickest fused glass bowl I have made to date, Meteor Showers, is done. It definitely helps to have the right equipment to get the job done. With my new table top lap machine, I've been able to complete things that have been waiting in the wings, like Meteor Showers.

I took a couple of views of it tonight and will ask Dan to take the portfolio pictures of it for me. In the meantime, I wanted to post this latest completed work.

I am a member of the Glass Artist Fellowship and we will be having an exhibit at CoArt Gallery in Denver from May 12th through May 23rd. The opening reception will be Friday, May 15th. Click here for more details on the event.

I have two other pieces I am entering in this exhibit...one is Neptune Embellished, and another is a pendant/earring set that is currently in the works. I'll post a picture of the set in the next day or two.

Polishing

I thought it would be fun to show a view of me working with Jade, polishing the edge of Meteor Showers. Dan obliged me, taking this photo. I cropped it to show a better look at me dressed in a vinyl apron with rubber gloves. I'm more comfortable staying dry during the process, although I must admit that Jade doesn't really throw that much water as we're working. What this picture shows is I'm holding Meteor Showers, letting it rest on the grinding/polishing disc. Water is fed up through a hole in the center of the disc to keep things cool. Otherwise, thermal shock in the glass could occur due to heat build up and it could/would break. I rotate the piece and go back and forth from the center of the disc to the outside edge as I work my way around the edge. A video of the process would show this much better and I haven't worked out those details...I'll have to ask Dan to shoot a small video at some point so I can post it.

This photo shows how the edge looks after two of the different grinding stages as I'm smoothing out the scratches. I've revealed a few of the trapped air bubbles, but I've been told that's part of the unique hand made process.

As of yesterday, I finished 4 phases of the grinding (largest grit disc to smallest grit) and started to work on the final polish last night. In the final polish I use cerium oxide slurry, that I put on the buffing disc, to create the shiney edge.

It will take a few days to get that nice optical polished edged. I'm sure as I get better at it, the process will go faster. Once that is done, then I can do the final firing to slump each of the four pieces I've been working on, in their respective molds.

It's Alive!

Let me introduce you to "Jade", my new ASW Table Top Machine. She is set up and working now.... and I literally did think "It's Alive!", as if I was Dr Frankenstein bringing this tool to 'life'. It was quite the process and involved more trips to Home Depot than I would have ever thought!

Since I had to set this up in my studio and when we built out house I didn't think I needed a direct water line to the studio (that was wrong), I needed to use a water circulating system to operate the machine. This is a photo of what that circulating system looks like. That involves using a pond pump, flower pot, a rather large rubber trash can, series of tubes and connectors. Initially I was following the directions supplied by the manufacturer. Unfortunately, they didn't contain specs on the type of pump to purchase, so I bought one that was too small. Course, now I can use that to create a bubbling vase out in my flower garden come June as right now the flower garden is covered in about 2' of snow (but that's another story).

Then there was the challenge of connecting the intake and outtake lines, getting the proper connections. Fortunately, the folks as ASW are very nice and helpful. I called and was given the actually make and model of the pond pump to use, which simplified the connection problem and the water output problem. The nice gentlemen at ASW thought all of this should be put out on their website for folks like me and was going to talk to the inventor of this system to have them put it out there. That would be great!

Unfortunately, using this type of system means that I will have to empty the water by hand. Course, even if I had a direct hook up to a water line, I would still have to empty the 'waste' water into a bucket like I've shown here because you can't dump this water down your drain as it would eventually clog with glass particle residue. I can use this water on my plants and things outside, no problem.

I picked Jade up on Monday of this past week and have been putting things in place for her use and Friday afternoon I finally got it up and running! Yesterday I started work on the 4 pieces that were waiting for the coldworking process. Oh my goodness, what a difference this machine has made in my ability to quickly (key word quickly) get down to the finishing process.

She came with a set of 6 finished discs, varying diamond grits (another key word here, diamond!). The discs are pictured here. They have magnetic backings so they fit securely on the disc that rotates. Let me tell you, it is quite the job getting these discs off the platen....I'm sure I'll figure out the technique, but right now it's a challenge. So I worked on "Hues of Nature", "Meteor Showers", "Eclipse of the Black Moon", and "Growing Love". I only got the first grinding phase done and now I need to empty the water and start fresh as I move to the next grit level.

With a circulating system like this, because I'm grinding off the most glass in this first phase, the water has LOTS of ground glass particles. Now most will sink to the bottom of the main bucket, but there still are plenty floating in the water that is being circulated back up to the grinding disc. And those tiny glass particles are ok for this phase of work, but I need to clear them out as I move on in the finishing process so they won't scratch what I'm working on for the next phase.

I find it hard to believe that I took my first coldworking class at D & L last May and I was seriously intimidated by this type of a machine. Then I took Kent Lauer's class in September and Patty Gray's in November. By then I knew that I couldn't do the work I wanted without one of these beauties. So Jade has quickly taken her place in my arsenal of tools and I am in awe of what she can provide to help me with my glass work.

Investment in the business....ok, new toy... wait, it's BOTH!

I have finally taken the leap and purchased a real piece of coldworking equipment. With some of my latest thick pieces, this is just a necessity.

Part of the impetus for this purchase was D & L had/has a screaming price on this particular machine after their Kent Lauer classes earlier this month. They will have extra machines for Kent's dichroic sculpture classes (which I took last fall) and then offer them at a discount. Their discount this go round was too good to pass up.

I pick up this jewel next Friday, along with some other items. Now, it may not look real pretty to most of you, but it is a real beauty to me. Another work horse tool to add to my arsenal. I love tools!

The machine I currently use is more for a 'hobbyist' and was a temporary measure until I could justify a professional model. Well, I'm to a point where I need this industrial machine. Unfortunately, I doubt I'll be able to finish Meteor Shower in time for the submission deadline. :(

I really need a machine with the capabilities of this new one I'm getting in order to complete the cold work in time. That's ok, things happen for a reason, so maybe there's another...possibly better venue for Meteor Showers. I'll keep all of you posted.

And thanks so much to all the people who follow and comment on my blog. I enjoy the interactions and friendships a great deal.

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.