As the title reflects, I think....I'm a huge Monty Python fan. Fits my sense of humor. And this piece is an experiment for me, so this fits...that it is something completely different.
I follow Cynthia Morgan's blog and I'm a huge fan of her work. A few weeks ago she posted something she was doing to use up scraps of glass. I really liked the concept and wanted to try it. Now my version is different, of course, and it actually evolved into something different than what I originally started out with. Cynthia's blog and website are in a transition phase right now, otherwise I'd post a link to the portion of her blog that inspired me to create this.
Right now I have not figured out why I am so enamored with strip construction, but I am. So that's part of the appeal of trying this. Another is I have never attempted anything like it and I just love exploring new ways of creating things in glass.
This is another opportunity to show the work in progress too. Part of the process is to use an existing mold and place glass strips in it to take on the shape. This will not be a full fuse, but a tack fuse. Part of the difference is that in a tack fuse, the glass does smooth somewhat and adheres together, but doesn't fully fuse together in that liquefied state that happens during full fusing temperatures.
I chose a mold that I really like, but in the past, it has proven problematic for me trying to slump a fused platen into it. However, I thought it would be very cool for the tack fuse approach, so that was my choice.
What I originally wanted to do was some lemons on a branch. As you can tell, this didn't come close! I had found a photo that I liked for its composition of lemons. When I tried to create my interpretation of this in strip glass construction, I realized that it wasn't the right concept for the bowl I had. I figured that was ok because I liked the yellow and my palette was going to be some of my favorite Bullseye streakies with marzipan and french vanilla. So why not change it up a bit more and just see how all this tack fusing stuff actually works before I invest too much time trying to figure out the whole lemon thing in glass strip construction.
Here is how I started. I put the bottom strips in place...that was the easy part. And I really didn't have a definite pattern in mind, I just went with the colors I had and put things together as I felt looked right.
As I got going with this, I wondered how the sides would 'hook up'? And then I thought, well, just go for it, there really isn't a right or wrong way for this. With each piece, it just looked right to me.
Then I thought it would be good to finish each side. Let the top be somewhat jagged. And that gave me the idea to finish the top edges with frit combination colors. I was going to take it further toward the edge of the mold, but once I got the sides done, that just didn't make any sense to me.
As you can see, it had quite an irregular edge when all the sides where done. And that just added confirmation to me to 'cap' the edges with matching frit.
When I was at this point, I was still contemplating extending the edges from the frit border. However, once I finished with the frit, it just looked finished to me.
And I had to share a photo of the edge detail once the frit was in place. I think it looks pretty cool and I'm very anxious to see how this looks once its tack fused.
As a footnote, I have also been doing coldworking with Jade (or as Dan likes to call her....Swamp Thing! you know, she's green and needs a lot of water!).
Coldworking is time consuming. I have two grinding stages done on 4 pieces now. They will require two more grinding stages with different grits and then the final polishing stage. My plan is to do some more grinding tonight, but I think I may run out of energy and do a little wire wrapping when I'm too tired to use the machine...oops, I mean Jade, or is she Swamp Thing? :)
Happy Creating all. And yes, Happy Easter!
Ever since I was a child, I have loved violets. Probably because of their lush purple colors. I remember there always was a batch out by my parents' garden and I took great delight picking some to give to my mom. She would put them in a small vase and we would enjoy them for a short time.
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 I got going with this, I wondered how the sides would 'hook up'? And then I thought, well, just go for it, there really isn't a right or wrong way for this. With each piece, it just looked right to me.
Then I thought it would be good to finish each side. Let the top be somewhat jagged. And that gave me the idea to finish the top edges with frit combination colors. I was going to take it further toward the edge of the mold, but once I got the sides done, that just didn't make any sense to me.
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).
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.
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.
