A New Class! And New Exciting Toys!

I just wanted to let everyone know about a new class I've just added to my teaching schedule! I don't often teach night classes, but I've had so many requests for them, that I've added this one. 

Our New Front Door Sign! C'mon In!

Kiln Forming I

Learn the fundamental techniques required for functional fused glass art and sculpture. In this course students will be introduced to the working properties of glass including; compatibility, heating, design issues, and more. Students will work with sheet glass, rods, frit, stringer, enamels, and various inclusions to create a variety of projects. Students will gain knowledge of firing schedules and programming the kiln. Additionally, students will learn about cold working glass and related equipment. Student projects will include jewelry, plates, bowls, pendant lighting, glass wall prints, and cast glass sculptures.

In this course students will experience fusing, slumping, tack fusing, casting and weaving techniques. We’ll work with mold making techniques, drilling holes, and other cold working techniques to refine the work. We will also learn the basics of image transfer onto glass including; gel mediums, screen-printing with enamels, and so much more.

Here are the details:
The class will be 10 sessions and we'll cover A LOT! Workshop Fee $450, Materials Fee $175

Time: 6:30 pm - 9:30 pm 
Thursdays- 2/13, 2/20, 2/27, 3/13, 4/3, 4/10,4/17, 5/8Wednesday - 4/23Tuesday - 3/18

Here's the link to sign up for the fusing class. 

Link to Workshop Sign Up - Click Here

Link to Materials Kit Sign Up - Click Here

One of the links is the workshop, the other is the materials kit.

Looking forward to seeing you!  

Feel free to contact me with questions you might have!

I just wanted to share my excitement over my new toys! I ordered 3 new lap wheels in from Covington Engineering. They arrived a few weeks ago and I'm just getting around to hooking them up! Lisa and I are sharing an 18" wheel, and then I ordered a 12" wheel and a portable 8" wheel. Can't wait to use them!

The 12" Covington Lap wheel! I built a rolling stand for it so I can move it from place to place!

The 18" Covington Lap Wheel that Lisa and I are sharing!

Wicked Good Pattern Bars!!!

As my friend from Boston sometimes jokes, "Those are wicked good!" My pattern bar class was awesome!  Here are a few samples..... I'm excited to see the next step. And the saw was not clean all day!

Betsy's bookends! Tribal!

A progressive! Stone!

Another Bookend! This is very pacific northwest.

Art Deco Style Roman!

Another Progressive Bar. Hey Valentine!

Bookends!  Kind of Dutch!

Santa Fe Powder Printing Class

I had a wonderful trip to Bullseye Glass in Santa Fe! My buddy Lisa came with me and it was awesome. We had a fantastic meal at Luminaria at the Inn at Loretto. One of the best meals I've ever had in Santa Fe. Thanks to Perry for suggesting it, I should have been quick enough to invite him and Nancy to dinner with us!

Stacy Smith is a fantastic instructor. She made the class fun and inspirational! Erik Whittemore, the resident Studio Manager was the perfect host/TA/collaborator! A big thanks to Morgan and her team for their support. Bravo on my best Bullseye experience ever! In my humble opinion, Stacy is likely the best ambassador of the all the positives of the "Bullseye Spirit!" I hope they elevate her to the appropriate status she deserves. Enough gushing! (Seriously, I hope they'll let her come teach at Wired Designs Studios.....c'mon Jim!!!!)

My fellow students were great to hang with and gave me a wonderful perspective on all of the different ways to employ these techniques. We were all doing our own things, and they were all so great and different! Thanks everyone. I got to hang with Nancy Weisser, Perry and Colleen, and we had an awesome time.

Here are a few of my samples from the class. I'll be incorporating this technique into my Printmaking Techniques for Glass classes going forward.

This powder print was fired twice; once for the background at full fuse, and then once at a tack fuse for the foreground image. I'm using imagery from my Women's Roles and Identities series.

These were images that we were given to play with in order to learn the technique.The 2 on the left are full fuse on 6mm, the 2 on the right are tack fused on 3mm. Both have equal merit and use.

Very little distortion! Halftones work really well.

Part of my Women's Roles and Identities imagery. This is all powder.....no sheet glass. Cool huh?

This was all done in a single firing! Love the effect!

Yesterday I had a private Torch Fired Enamels workshop. My student is a wonderful lady who has seen and done it all! We worked on stenciled enamels, and component projects. I had done the centerpiece of this necklace previously, and just wasn't completely happy with it. So my student and I added some components and took it to the next level.

I'm teaching this technique in Las Vegas at the Glass Craft Expo next year. It's called Glass on Metals!
I know that all my glassy friends will love doing this!!

This piece is copper enameled and riveted with silver connections.
I love acid green and turquoise together!

We were going for something Asian. These look really great on!

Finished the Climbing Piece

Here's the finished piece I referred to in yesterday's blog. The text behind the climber is a group of quotes from Ghandi. They are about inner growth and the betterment of spirit. The woman climbing represents our drive to become more evolved as people. It's something I'm really exploring right now. My work is constantly evolving, but much of my current work explores identity issues. 

This work, called The Climb, is 1" thick. 9" x 4.5".
Kilnformed glass and enamels.

Side view

i haven't determined the display vehicle yet. It could go into a light box of frame. Still thinking on that!

Volume and Movement Class - Part 2

After the initial firing, here's what we ended up with...

This was the stack platter! The final piece is 8.5" x 16"

 Meredith decided to make this stack platter into a wall piece. She sandblasted and then matte polished all of the blue squares. It looks really cool!

This is a very large pocket vase, also known as a jardinière .

Here's a view at the back with the hanger set up and some of the batting.

Here's another view.

I'll show you the final end product when they are finished!

STRINGER!

Omg! We got in A LOT of it!

The new class on volume control and movement

Today I had a volume control and movement class. We did several lay ups of movement and volume control exercises to allow gravity and flow to effect the glass. Here are a couple of shots.

The first shot is on the shelf that is elevated on one side. I'll show you the finished slab tomorrow. The second is a high fire movement piece. We also did a great stack piece. More pix to come.

R Rated Glass Cheese Trays

Yesterday I lamented my wine bootle slumping enchantment. Here is a peek at what the clients bottles ended up looking like.

So, who does one gift this too?

Everything is Different & More of the Same

Today started with a bang! I emptied the big kiln of 14 various and sundry bottles that someone paid me to slump, just to fill it back up with more of the same.  Then, just one more load tomorrow of the little buggers. It's not the most artistic endeavor I've got going, but it does pay the electric bill. 

'Tis the season for bottle slumping, and the festive jingle of glass cheese boards! This is what they're planning to make out of those recycled wine bottles. They look cute all dressed up like this!

When that was done, I got to start the next commission. I'm now contracted to do the Baptismal Bowl for the font at the Zion Lutheran Church here in San Antonio. It's a very old congregation, with a a beautiful light and airy sanctuary. I'm excited to tackle another one of these projects!

Here's what's firing in the kiln right now as I write. It will take about 24 hours for this firing cycle. It's 15 pounds of glass with gorgeous shards of light sky blue, light aqua tint rainbow irid, steel blue, neo lavender tint, clear, and true blue. I have high hopes. I'll post the pix of the finished flat disc when it comes out. It felt really good to put it together and get the kiln going. Between the hammer and glass tile nippers my hands were very busy this morning. 

Another project that has been fun to tackle is "Peggy's Bowl." This one I created with the client. Peggy picked all of the glass for the job, and then told me what she wanted and we put it together as a team. We both loved how the piece turned out. We slumped it into a specially made mold that made it look like crumpled fabric and it looked beautiful as a focal point on her wall. Then, suddenly a week after hanging it it somehow fell off the wall and broke into 9 pieces. Yikes!

Peggy brought all the pieces back and we set out to see what could be done. I felt terrible for her. She had tears in her eyes as she handed me her beloved creation. Give the state of affairs with the 9 pieces, I told her that I had no idea what could be done, but that I'd give it a try.

I know it's kind of hard to tell from this picture because of the glare, but I was able to put the pieces next to each other, add some frit and stringer and Wallah!  You can't even tell that this disc used to be 9 separate pieces! YEAH!!!!  It does look great if I say so myself. Stacey came in and asked me if I had re-made the piece from scratch!  Not bad... if it could fool someone who knows what to look for!  

Anyway... I'll be slumping this tomorrow into it's final shape. We'll used the same mold so it will have the crinkled paper look again. But, this time we're incorporating a stronger, more secure hanging system right into the slumping of the piece. I'll take a picture of that when it comes out of the kiln so you can see what we did. I think it should work out better this time. Fingers crossed!!

That's all until tomorrow! Ciao!