Thus began our lesson in fusing glass. Said kiln heats to 1400 degrees, but since our friends Will and Robert's basement was like a meat locker, I still managed to lean up against it for warmth. Go figure.
The lesson was their generous birthday gift for Floyd and it began with cutting the glass, something for which we had neither the talent nor the skill:
Then we laid it out:
Then we baked it (and by we I mean they), adding the vaguely obscene-sounding "frit balls" for texture. Then baked it again slumped over a mold, a process called--get this--"slumping."
Here's the final product, of which we are absurdly, disproportionately proud.
You'd think we'd gone to the beach and ground the sand into glass ourselves. That said, neither of us have any inclination to do it again. Cross it off the list. Done. Moving on...
10 comments:
Wow, absolutely beautiful. You should be proud :)
That is just beautiful! Totally amazing.
I work at a glassblowing factory where they do slumping, so I'm familiar with very hot ovens, but none of our products are nearly as colorful or pretty!
Delurking to say "WOW!"
What an amazing piece!
Nice work! A unique piece of art -- neat!
Gorgeous! Worth every chill and blister for many years. What an awesome birthday present!
That's really wonderful!
I'm still wigged about about contacts fusing to the eyeball. Sort of like when I open my oven and get an unwelcomed blast of hot air.
The glass work is really nice.
Cool experience! Just wanted to thank you for your blog--you've inspired me! I started my "one new experence a day" project after stumbling upon your blog a few weeks ago. I'm happy to report that I have had more new experiences this month than I had during most of last year. Thanks for the inspiration!!
Absolutely gorgeous! The whole design is stunning! I have experienced slumping glass -- it IS fun.
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