Latest Fused Glass Projects

So I've come to a big conclusion this week: Fusing glass has been great fun but I don't think it's for me. For one really big reason: It's too expensive. There is a reason handmade glass is expensive when you buy it- it always has been expensive. One I use up the glass I have, I'm done. Though Larry has been really kind in letting me nick different colours here and there. Thank you, Larry!

These three are still works in progress. The one that turned out the best is the clear one on the right. No flaws at all. But one curious thing happened- there is an air bubble at the junction of the leaves. On all of them! Weird! But consistent and cool. The blue one on the left wasn't dark enough in my opinion, so I've repainted it, along with the butterfly plate from long ago. so we will see how those turn out. The blue one on the left was fired tree-side-down (As an experiment) and picked up the texture of the shelf, so it's not completely smooth. it still needs to be slumped so I am hoping it might smooth out when it's face up. The dark red one always stayed pink! I still like it.

The two little skewed plates worked out fairly well.

I made two of these long plates. I think they would be good for sushi or a baguette!

The scooter coasters. The frit powder I used to make these was supposed to be black, but I don't mind them grey. I don't even mind that they aren't exactly the same. It just shows they are handmade. They kind of look like ink paintings to me. These are block printed glass, so the texture is hard to control. (So why control it?) But next time I do this (If there is a next time) I will screen them before they are fired because the glass is flatter. Once fired it tends to be a little lumpy. Not good for printing!

So this is the next experiment. I have one sheet of glass left. Do I made more plates or go to town making Istanbul inspired pendants out of Turkish postcards? This glass was fired at a full fused to make it smooth. I don't think it looks bad- the glass must be smaller than the silver plate. But I may make a few more and ask Larry to fire them at a half fuse to see if they hold their shape a little better.

So what do you think? More glass plates or do we move into pendants?

XXMelanie