Friday 30 March 2012

At last, some glass

It seems I start every post by apologising for not posting more often, which is a bit daft really.  But now I have a couple of weeks off for Easter so I can catch up with  all  some of the things I haven't had time to do lately.

So I thought you might like to see some pictures of what I've been working on at uni lately.  Our last module required us to produce a 'marketable product' within a certain price bracket and to research selling venues and produce marketing material and so on.  I rather enjoyed this module, I got to do some maths as well as some making.

My design idea was to produce a range of textured dishes on a textile related theme.  Opting to work with texture rather than colour was quite challenging as I had to hand make moulds for each of my designs but I really wanted to see whether I could do it quickly enough to produce something affordable.

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The textures are from some beautiful vintage Indian printing blocks I have.  Once I had made the moulds I started off working with float/window glass.  I like the way the green tint of the glass works with the texture, and it has the advantage of not being so horribly expensive that mistakes are a disaster.


This one was supposed to be the same rectangular shape as the other but due to a rather messy leak the plaster mould was too thin and snapped in half.  So I went ahead and used the broken half a mould and I think it works rather nicely as a square - this one was a happy accident!

Having proved that the moulds worked fine with float glass, I really really wanted to use coloured glass.  We're getting more expensive now!  Unfortunately the glass behaves quite differently from float glass and needs a completely different firing programme and although everyone had an idea, nobody really knew what programme I should be using.

Cue quite a few disasters (and remember we're using the expensive stuff...).  First we went too hot and ended up with sharp points on the edges, and pulled edges, and a hole where the glass had bubbled and burst.  Unfortunately there were 3 of these :(


Although,  some parts are really lovely so I am hoping to be able to cut away the dodgy bits and do something with the remainder.

Then we went too cold and had to try again... and when we did it was too hot again!

Finally, more by luck than judgement, we got it right...

Green glass dish

So now I know the firing programme to use for this particular glass provided I fire it at the right hand end of that particular kiln... don't ever let anyone tell you glass is an easy medium to work with!

But I am so pleased with the result it was definitely worth the ups and downs.  And more importantly, I developed an efficient and cost-effective method of making the moulds I need.

So, finally the acid test, I'll be listing some of the dishes in my etsy shop next week and I'll find out whether I really did come up with a marketable design!

15 comments:

  1. I've rarely seen slumped glass created with so much control, these are beautiful. x

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    1. Thank you Jill :D I'm not sure 'control' is quite the right word, I didn't feel in control! Maybe just a dogged refusal to be beaten. I'm hoping to get my own kiln in the summer and I will have to go through the whole process of finding the right firing programme again for the different kiln... at least I'll have some idea where to start this time though.

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  2. These are beautiful!!!!!! Well done on creating something like this by hand! I quite like the one with the hole in- it could be a really decadent artists pallet lol Going to check out your shop now.

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    1. Thank you Lianne! I love the idea of a decadent artist's palette - I'd have to smooth off all the sharp bits first though! The glass isn't in the shop yet, I'm still trying to get enough decent photos (why on earth did I choose glass? it's unpredictable to work with and a nightmare to photograph!!) but I'm aiming to get some in on Monday.

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  3. really gorgeous work. I like the one with the hole too, it seems to really add something.
    LH

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  4. Lovely work. I like the texture coming from another material and I too like the hole.

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  5. Thank you both :) I do wish I could somehow retrieve the blue dish and leave the hole (and I have a green one the same too) but it is too close to the edge, and the edges are so bad that there really is no way. Never mind, maybe I can do a series in the future with deliberate holes!

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  6. Helen they look great - well done. I wait to see the kiln!
    Katie

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    1. Well you know our garage Katie... P. did a fair bit of clearing over the Easter weekend but there is still a way to go to make space ;-) And everything stops now it's the cricket season!

      (Does anyone want a hamster cage or a fish tank or 3??)

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  7. very nice work :D the textured pattern works so well on the glass

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  8. Whilst browsing blogs came across yours. Love what you are doing with glass but wondering how you made the mould? I'm fairly new to fusing glass myself and self taught so far but would love to have a go at mould making. (signedbysam.blogspot.co.uk)

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    1. Thank you Sam :) How to make moulds could be a whole series of blogposts... I've written a bit about it here. You need to use a special plaster mix for moulds that will go in the kiln, I use equal parts by volume of plaster, water and quartz/silica. I hope that helps but I recommend you buy a book about it!

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    2. Thanks for your reply. Sounds really interesting and I really want to have a go, have looked on amazon & am now bewildered by all the books. Would you know any books to recommend by any chance?? thanks again

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    3. It's difficult for me to recommend a book as I have been taught the technique and only referred to the books to extend what I've learned. I think most books on kiln formed glass techniques have a section on mould making, if you are self taught you may already have a book like that? I do have Mould Making for Glass by Angela Thwaites which is very inspiring.

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  9. Helen! I L♥ve the colors and details you have here! :) Great job and way to persevere! :D Best, Dawn

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Helen Smith, artist and maker in glass, print and stitch.

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