Pattern Bar

My first attempt at pattern bars with color was actually scrounging to find scrapes of glass I didn't have plans for that would be color-compatible......learned a lot and would do a lot differently the next time.

Below you will see two slices of a green/blue/yellow pattern bar embedded in clear glass. The process for creating these pieces reminds me of the process used to turn Fimo Clay into beads and repeating-pattern jewelry.  At the beginning of the assembly process, the clay is  tremendously more maleable and getting rounded corners and circles is very easy. 

In addition to the assemble process being very similar, the next steps are also.  With clay, the artist makes a cane, or long roll of a planned color pattern.  Continuing to roll the "cane," compresses the pattern, but if done correctly, maintains the integrity of the image.

When making a long "roll" using glass, the diameter create is the diameter that remains - compression does not significantly reduce the image size.  Glass is not maleable when cold.  It is possible to purchase  15"- 16" long "stringers" of glass in .5 mm, 1mm, and 2mm diameters and "rods" in 3mm and 5mm diameters.  If these are aligned, like spagetti, then fused, they become a glass cane.   Sheet glass and frit can also be combined to form canes.  All glass canes have to be dammed with fired to hold their diameter.

Using the cane patterns means cutting slices from the large cane just as you would slice a refridgerator cookie roll for baking, or slice sausage to create patties.

As you can imagine, cutting the clay canes takes less pressure and a sharp blade to retain the pattern of each slice.  Cutting slices of the glass cane requires a wet saw.

Above are two of the slices from a larger "cane" that was about 5 inches long.  In theory
 this cane would have produced 20 slices (remember, glass always wants to be 1/4" in thickness.) 

Award Anyone?????

Large, clear glass "chunks" with something engraved on them, or something embedded in them, are sometimes seen at awards ceremonies and retirement celebrations.  It matches a metal trophy for "need to dust," and is probably similar in weight.

Fused layers of 2mm glass and other glass elements, dammed, then cold worked, to form 5" X 7 " X 1.25" block.

When dropped, both can break your toes, but unlike a trophy that dents when dropped, glass can shatter into thousands of pieces.  I am not sure if this increases its' value as an award, but somehow that seems unlikely.

Fused layers of 2mm glass and other glass elements, dammed, then cold worked, to form 5" X 7 " X 1.25" block.

My biggest challenge in casting this particular chunk was trying to omit the air bubbles.  I was not very successful.

Fused layers of 2mm glass and other glass elements, dammed, then cold worked, to form 5" X 7 " X 1.25" block; emphasis on embedded aqua and white streaky rectangle

The two largest air bubbles are locate to the upper right of each of the embedded chevronesque features.  The layer that contained the chevrons had many pieces of glass put together in somewhat of a puzzle fashion.  These seams must have trapped enough air in the central portion of the piece, that it could not all escape when molten. 

Fused layers of 2mm glass and other glass elements, dammed, then cold worked, to form 5" X 7 " X 1.25" block; emphasis on embedded chevrons.

The aqua and white streaky rectangle, that is placed at a different layer in the block, appears to have missed the air bubble challenge despite the fact that pieces are placed around it, as well. 

Fused layers of 2mm glass and other glass elements, dammed, then cold worked, to form 5" X 7 " X 1.25" block.

I am glad I learned how to do this, but will think about using complex patterns with color that can be formed into block like this, then sliced apart with a power saw.  I will share an example of this type of work tomorrow - it is currently a "trending" use of glass in visual art! 

Approaching Pattern Bars

Glass has a few interesting properties.  One of them is that when molten, it will flow to a thickness of 1/4 inch.  If a platter, for example, has one spot that is thicker than 1/4" because of creator embellishments, that spot will flow to 1/4 inch and deform the edge of the platter - which will also be 1/4 inch thick. 

Full fused layers of 2mm glass as a result of damming.

There are a couple of ways "around" this.  One of them is to "tack fuse" your piece instead of "full fuse."  Tack fusing means that when fired, the temperature inside the kiln gets hot enough to begin to melt the glass.  Pieces of glass touching one another will bond to form a unified surface, thus "tacking" them together.  While edges of glass will round slightly, exterior edges do not fully round and edges of layered glass remain elevated.  The glass does not become fluid and level out to 1/4".   Areas that are a depth greater than 1/4 inch are determined by the designer and not by the kiln.

Full fused layers of 2mm glass as a result of damming.

Another way "around" the 1/4" property rule is to limit the space in which the molten glass is able to flow.  Just like with water in a river, this is called "damming."

Full fused layers of 2mm glass as a result of damming.  Notice that a portion of one layer is NOT clear.

By constructing a defined and confined space in which to place the "cold-worked" glass, the shape of the final produce is limited only by the boundaries created.  Not as easy as it sounds when the temperature inside the kiln is raised to a level that turns the glass molten (1500+ degrees F), but a means to a "greater than 1/4 inch end," when done successfully. 

Full fused layers of 2mm glass as a result of damming.

 

At the current time, it seems as though the majority of the time, pre-existing kiln posts and shelves are being re-purposed to create small dams.  I have recently seen a mold designed to result in a thicker end-produce.  Until now, the only molds I have seen resulting in a 1/2" to 3/4" product were small and designed for pendant jewelry.  These ovals, "donuts," and hearts would span a diameter of 1 to 2 1/2 inches.  The growing interest in glass creations with actual depth, complex patterns, and variations in thickness appear to be driving creative " work-arounds." 

Birdbath

Although I had anticipated a different result, the glass portion of the birdbath bowl has created an appealing effect.  It has a little watery wave and starry night mix.  The unpredictability of the reaction of the stars, regardless of their proximity to reactive glasses, adds to to complexity of the image. 

Birdbath glass bowl using silver foil stars, cyan, royal blue and French vanilla frit on a Tetka circle.

If I make a similar patter in the future I will not place French vanilla next to a blue, since these react to form the rather unappealing dirty brown.

Birdbath glass bowl using silver foil stars, cyan, royal blue and French vanilla frit on a Tetka circle.

Combining the slumped bowl with the holder helps a lot of light move through the pattern and adds to its appeal.  As you can see from the side view below, there are actually many "almost transparent" swoops that increase the amount of light able to travel through the pattern and not just reflect off of the surface glass.

Birdbath glass bowl in holder - using silver foil stars, cyan, royal blue and French vanilla frit on a Tetka circle.

Even though I have called this a "birdbath," I am not now sure I will put it to use on the deck for bird use.  For one thing, it is NOT as stable as I assumed it would be - afterall, it is glass.

Birdbath glass bowl in holder - using silver foil stars, cyan, royal blue and French vanilla frit on a Tetka circle.

Secondly, it is MUCH shallower than the mold it was slumped into, so will hold only enough water for a hummingbird or petite sparrow.  The "gunboat" robins that tend to hog all bird-centered locations in our yard, would topple this over with the first wallow to splash water.

Birdbath glass bowl in holder - using silver foil stars, cyan, royal blue and French vanilla frit on a Tetka circle.

Currently, the "birdbath" has become a garage door and key holding vessel.  It is large enough to hold several items, shallow enough so that all items are easily sorted, and rowdy keys and openers are not likely to send the holder, with bowl, flying.

Birdbath glass bowl in holder - using silver foil stars, cyan, royal blue and French vanilla frit on a Tetka circle.

In addition, the sentry fish above, seem to enjoy their new guarding responsibilities and feel comfortable and compatible with the colors.

Birdbath glass bowl in holder - using silver foil stars, cyan, royal blue and French vanilla frit on a Tetka circle.

I think the birds are out of luck!

Silver Reaction????

Doing more experimentation with silver foil, French vanilla and cyan or light turquoise did not turn out quite the way I expected.  I decided to use frits, and cut out silver stars on a clear base.   Below you car see a cobalt frit (the darkest blue, French vanilla frit, lite cyan and silver stars.

French vanilla, cyan and cobalt frit with silver stars on clear, Tetka plate.

 The plate example above uses only three colors of frit.  All of the stars are cut from the same material and are exactly the same size.  The first stars that are very visible look like they are dark gray and outlined with brown or charcoal gray.  These silver stars have reacted to the French vanilla they are resting on top of.

French vanilla, cyan and cobalt frit with silver stars on clear, Tetka plate.

The five stars that are the most visible in the image above all appear to have reacted the same way and turned a translucent gold.  Surprisingly, these stars are resting on three different colors of frit.  I expected all stars on top of French vanilla frit to react by turning dark and revealing a clear reaction boundary line like the first image.....hmmmmm.

French vanilla, cyan and cobalt frit with silver stars on clear, Tetka plate.

This portion of the plate shows all three colors of frit, reactions between the French vanilla and cyan (which looks sandy brown where it has reacted,) and stars that have both reacted and turned brown AND reacted and turned translucent gold.  So, what is the magic combination - GOOD QUESTION???

French vanilla, cyan and cobalt frit with silver stars on clear, Tetka plate.

French vanilla, cyan and cobalt frit with silver stars on clear, Tetka plate.

The presence of the brown reactive French vanilla and cyan appears to have a reactive effective on the silver stars a LOT of the time, BUT not ALL of the time!  

Happy Spring!

A large serving platter occasionally comes in handy,  so I decided to make one using a specialty glass.  Because of the complexity and uniqueness of cascade and infusion glass, I decided to do very little cold working and just let the glass make its own statement.

Serving platter using French vanilla and light turquoise cascade and inclusion specialty glass from Bullseye.

This particular piece of  glass is made at the factory by combining two colors of glass:  light turquoise and French vanilla.  So, where does that other brownish color come from, you ask?  Let's take a look.

Serving platter using French vanilla and light turquoise cascade and inclusion specialty glass from Bullseye - focus on light turquoise.

Light Turquoise is a copper bearing color.  In fact, all of the glass colors that fall in the aqua, cyan, turquoise, and even emerald green and teal green are bluish because of copper.

Serving platter using French vanilla and light turquoise cascade and inclusion specialty glass from Bullseye

 - focus on French vanilla.

French vanilla (the creamy, whitish color,) is a sulfur/selenium bearing color.  Glasses in the yellows, golds, and red ranges, such as medium amber, marigold yellow, cinnabar opal, pumpkin orange, and tomato red, contain sulfur/selenium to create their color.

Serving platter using French vanilla and light turquoise cascade and inclusion specialty glass from Bullseye - focus on location in glass where the two colors mixed in the manufacturing process.

Where these to colors of glass mix, a reaction takes place, resulting, in this case, in the range of brown colors, as seen in the close-up above.

(Many glasses containing sulfur/selenium can also be stained if fired with silver.)

Serving platter using French vanilla and light turquoise cascade and inclusion specialty glass from Bullseye - emphasis on cascading effect and gravitational pull in the manufacturing process.

When these sheets of glass are created, the molten Light turquoise and French vanilla come out of separate crucibles and flow downward (or cascade,) covering the rolling sheet.  Where the touch and begin to mix (infusion), the reaction occurs.  Think of the image above as a flow of hot, molten glasses flowing together just prior to cooling to a solid state.

Serving platter using French vanilla and light turquoise cascade and inclusion specialty glass from Bullseye.

I cut this piece of cascade and infused glass to form this large serving bowl, then fused it with a sheet of clear 2mm glass.  For the second firing, the combined glasses were slumped into the bowl shape.

The set of coasters sited in yesterday's post contains the scraps (mostly French vanilla,) remaining from this larger piece.

Functional and Colorful #2 (3, 4, 5)

I only had one small piece of cyan scrap, but had a larger piece of "cascade and infusion" French vanilla, and light turquoise cascade - 3" x 12" of the cascade, in fact, left over from a large bowl.  I cut four 3" x 3" squares for the central portion each coaster, then cut 16 border pieces from the streaker pieces. 

Trivit on top

I was concerned about what the reaction would be on all of the edges of the French vanilla sitting next to the light turquoise.  On 15 of the edges, there is only a fine line defining these edges. 

Coasters, with French vanilla cascade in the middle and the turquoise/white streaker around the edges.  The French vanilla and turquoise will react and did, as you can see on the edges bordering the central square. 

Coasters, with French vanilla cascade in the middle and the turquoise/white streaker around the edges.  The French vanilla and turquoise will react and did, as you can see on the edges bordering the central square. 

Where there was a large blob of turquoise in the French vanilla cascade, the turquoise turned brown.  The 16th edge is much more clearly defined as a result of this cascade mix of reactive glasses at the time of forming the sheet.

Coasters, with French vanilla cascade in the middle and the turquoise/white streaker around the edges.  The French vanilla and turquoise will react and did, as you can see on the edges bordering the central square. 

As with the trivit, I added four bumper buttons to the bottom of each coaster to protect both the coaster AND the surface it will be sitting upon. 

Coaster stack with bumper protectors on each piece - French vanilla cascade in the middle and the turquoise/white streaker around the edges.  The French vanilla and turquoise will react and did, as you can see on the edges bordering the central square. 

Cascade and Infusion is a type of glass created by glass manufacturers, such as Bullseye.  Each large sheet of glass is unique.  All appear as though two or three colors of molten glass are poured into an "anchor" color of glass and allowed to flow vertically downward like a torrent river pushing water and silt south.  In the majority of these pieces, the added colors are located in the middle of the large sheet, however with cutting, many of the added colors look as if they divide and smaller piece of glass down the middle (i.e. large sheet cut in quarters.)  I'll share an example of this product, fired, tomorrow.  It is actually the other piece of the smaller French vanilla pieces in the coasters above.