bad with the good

Okay - the new kiln and the old kiln proved to be challenging recently.

I fused blanks in each of them and experienced huge bubbles. Double yuck and ruined glass.
I am not sure if the bubble problem was my schedule - which I changed, or the fact that I moved my old kiln when the new kiln arrived and I may need to do some better leveling.

Discouraging.

My next fire in the new big kiln was just a recycled glass blank for a bowl slump. It turned out fine. I'll post pics after the slump tonight.

My small kiln did a great job with a new glass quilt.

Glass quilt on table.

Glass quilt in window.

It always amazes me how the glass colors change depending on how a piece is lit. I wanted to see if glass quilts are too heavy to hang in a window. I drilled holes and threaded a ribbon for hanging. I really like to see the depth of glass and hanging a piece in a window with bright sunlight shining through it is a great way to show off a piece. (I will try it in a carpeted room in case it falls.)

~ Julz

Glass Quilt

I really like the concept of creating a glass quilt. 

The finished product not only looks cool w/ the sun shining through it, it also is very tactile and I find myself drawn to touching it often.

I want to repeat this project w/ a bit more color and texture planning.

I placed a new glass and tools order last night.

It should get here in the next few days. 

:-)

I can't wait.

Spring, is not here. 

It was cold and cloudy on this Monday.

A very difficult day to stay optimistic and moving in a positive direction.

I really want to work outside and plant some things in the garden.

Even my spring bulbs are not blooming yet.

Working with glass helps.

A project in the works - 

My goal is to etch John Lennon's 'Imagine' lyrics into a glass panel. 

I will then rub black glass powder suspended in oil into the etched letters - 

removing any extra black glass.

After firing, the words should stand out 

and the panel should be able to be displayed on a wall or in a window.

I hope my plan works. 

I started etching the lyrics and then I thought. . . 

I better move a bit slower.

I created a one word test.

'Imagine' on a scrap of glass is in the kiln tonight.

Determining if this is going to work prior to putting in many etching hours.

This is the choice I made for tonight.

My 'Imagine' test fit in the kiln along side my first fuse of a white bowl with red dots.

~ Julz

Black Dish

Black dish w/ multi-colored stripe and yellow back - -

front

back

On display - 

New work in the kiln - a bit of experimenting. . . 

This is a project that I have wanted to try ever since reading about it on Cynthia Morgan's blog.

Here is my pre-fire picture of my 1st attempt at a glass quilt.

:-)

~ Julz