I scheduled a Fused Glass Ornament Class this month and 3 of my students came for the class. The question is did they make ornaments? Yes and no – 1 person made ornaments the other two students chose another project. It didn’t really bother me because they have all taken multiple classes with me. I always have my students sign liability forms; I know this is a surprise but glass cuts. I also give a free gift to every student, this time it’s fused glass stirrers.
Brenda made 5 fused glass angels and she did a fantastic job! I made her some examples to help her chose her favorite way to make her angels. Brenda used almost all of my equipment, circle cutter, saw, grinder, and flat lap. The red one had some issues, so I sandblasted and refired; perfect. They all turned out beautiful.
Christine wanted to make a business card holder. She did a wonderful job, lots of millefiori, vitrigraph, and frit.
Kayla made a night light and a votive; both are beautiful; lots of murrine and she used the lovely spirit glass.
Kayla is into ceramics, but some of the glaze went down and created a base. She asked me if I could cut off the base. I have a tile saw, but I must admit it’s a bit challenging to cut the base off especially the brown one. They aren’t perfect, but we grinded the bottom to make it more even. It’s a great feeling trying something new.
Additionally, Kayla and Christine are starting fuse on their own and had all kinds of questions about fusing. We discussed firing schedules, casting techniques, issues, and so much more. One of their questions why some of their pieces were hazy & sharp. We ground the edges and then refired; it turned out great. I did a test with the for different frits (powered, fine, medium, coarse) and sheet glass, to show them the difference.
They had questions about molds similar to the bottom two. They had the hummingbird mold, but had a question about how to layer it, like we did the hearts. I don’t have a picture of the one they did, but here is the one I made to show them. Additionally, the bigger mold (bit different than the one they had but same technique) I showed them how to prepare the mold to have a bit of detail.
Please let me know (elegantfusedglass@gmail.com) if you have any questions or would like to have a private fused glass class all you need is 3 people to create a class (maximum of 5).
If you would like to see more of my fused glass work, please refer to my website Elegant Fused Glass by Karen. If you get a chance, check out all my site and my Elegant Fused Glass by Karen YouTube. If you would like to stay abreast of what I’m up-to check out our newsletter. If you’d like to take a class, please check out the information on my site about my classes. It is published the last day of each month.
Karen
