As clear as glass

Well at last I have completed my first glass fusing projects. After about a year of trying to get into a course, and two years of owning a kiln, I finally managed to connect with four others and go last Saturday to the Australian Stained Glass workshop in Leichardt. Very lucky to be taught my Dagmar Ackerman who is very knowledgeable, patient and talented. You can see her work at http://www.glassbydagmarackerman.com/


It was an absolutely fabulous day and now I am hooked. Looks like it will be an expensive hobby or most likely another way to earn an income. Cutting glass is easy once practiced and the assembly is straightforward. It is creating the original design and firing in the kiln where the magic happens. Glass seems such a fragile medium but is remarkably robust to work with. Of course you can't drop it on the bench or floor but it can be ground into frit or paste (pate de verre) and cut into an almost infinite number of shapes.

I made three fused plates, 25 cm square or in diameter, from cut Bullseye glass that were slumped into a plate shaped ceramic mould. One is a circular geometric design (above) that was really to experiment with colour, opacity and cutting curved lines. The other two are representational of the landscape at the farm; one is the German's Pinch hill to the north of our property over the Tarlo River and the other is a white ghost gum in a storm or bush fire. Our soil is obviously not red but that glass colour was too hard to resist; just gorgeous.

Now I have to figure out how to programme the controller on my kiln and start experimenting and documenting firing schedules so that I can begin to create a range of glass products for sale and display. Some things will be functional plates, bowls and dishes but others will be pure art and sculpture and still others will be jewellery and eye catchers. Limited only by my imagination because anything is possible.


Ciao.