A good friend of mine recently asked me to make her a fused glass pyramid. You may not know this but fused glass likes to be 6 mm or 1/4 inch thick. What I mean by that is when you put glass in the kiln at full temperatures (1450-1480) and it’s not dammed it will flow out to 6mm. If you only put 1 piece of glass in the kiln at the same temp the edges will thicken to 6mm.
The last time I made a thick piece was a 1/2 globe. Here is a picture and you can see it’s not as shiny.
Anyway I have a mold to make pyramid, BTW it’s difficult to make a thick piece with out bubbles so I used billet to help reduce them. I also used frit and sheet glass. Here is a picture of the mold I used.
The first time I fired it it stuck a bit but it turned out ok. The first row of pictures are before I coldworked it. It wasn’t as smooth as I wanted so I coldworked it (flat-lapped, belt sanded it, and sandblasted).
I liked it but wanted it shiny. This is the tricky part, to make it shiny it has to go back into the kiln. Again typically to make it shiny there is a risk to turn my pyramid into a puddle. But the firing schedule I used was great and it shined it up pretty well and I like it much more.
I made another one for my friend and added some dichroic. Again the sides were more textured and dull than I wanted (the 1st 4). So this time I just flat-lapped it. But again I want it shiny to show off the dichroic. I tweaked the fire polish schedule and now I love it I’m really happy with the way it looks. (2nd group). These pictures don’t come close to showing how shiny and beautiful this piece is.
One thing about my friend Ramona I want to tell you, we both served in the Air Force and have been friends for more than 20 years. Ramona was my CMSgt and she constantly encouraged me and mentored me to step outside my comfort zone while I was in the Air Force. It amazes me how she still mentors me. She is an artist in her own right one of her paintings is below. I also included a picture of Ramona and me the day I gave her the pyramid.
I think I’ll make some big fused glass hearts next. I’ll let you know how they turn out.
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 sites; my Art fire Store, my Etsy store, Elegant Fused Glass by Karen YouTube and my Pinterest, and. If you would like to stay abreast of what I’m up-to and learn a little more about jewelry, check out our newsletter. It is published the last day of each month.
Keeping my kiln warm,
Karen
