Crystal Reliquary
Pate de Verre ("paste of glass") is a complex and pains taking technique. First, a model of the piece is created in wax. Then a mold of the piece is made, using a special plaster, and the wax is melted and steamed out of the mold. Using powdered and crushed colored glass (frit), a paste of glass is made by mixing it with diluted glue. This paste is then packed into the cavities in the mold. This packiing can take as much as 12-19 hours on a piece like this Raspberry Bowl. The piece is fired in a kiln to about 1540 degrees, then slowly cooled (annealed). The Raspberry Bowl took 54 hours in the kiln. When cooled, the plaster is chipped away and the piece is "cold worked", using grinding stones and diamond lap pads to remove rough edges and to put a finishing polish on the piece.
Raspberry Bowl
Thin (2mm) rods ("stringers") of glass are laid side by side to form a circle. The rods are fused to form a disk. The disk is then slumped over a stainless steel cylinder. The magic of heat and gravity creates the complex folds.
Shades 2nd Place, 2018 Art at the Lake, Lake Havasu City, AZ
Recycled art may come from a dumpster but it doesn't have to look like it came from a dumpster!
These pieces are made of shattered tempered glass (which I refer to as nugget glass), and non tempered discarded sheet glass. Steel display stands are also made with discarded scraps.
Fractured Dream SOLD
Organics are made by using real leaves or other organic items. Frit is applied to the leaf, which is then laid on the kiln shelf, covered with a piece of clear glass, then fired. The frit fuses to the clear glass and the leaf is burned away, leaving a colored glass image of the leaf.
Foxtail
This gallery is for an assortment of techniques including fusing and slumping, inclusions, and other fun stuff.