I enjoy making things, especially using the magic of heat to change the basic materials I use: Clay and Glass.
Every time a piece comes out of the kiln there is a moment of anticipation and excitement. You can see the changes from the beginning to the end of the making process, made permanent by the heat.
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
Fused Beach Glass
These are some beach glass pendants I fused. I have been making these for almost two years and its still fun to open the kiln and see what happened to the glass after firing. I love to beachcomb, and find pieces of glass along with the mandatory shells. The glass is from every imaginable source; old coke, beer, and wine bottles, old household glass items, mason jars, decorative glass, and any place you can think of. About half of what I fuse comes out ugly or cracked because I have no way to tell if one piece of glass is compatible with another. It can get to be disappointing at times when the results are not what I hoped for or expected. The happy surprises come when I get an unexpected and unusual color and the pendant doesn't crack. Each one has its own unique beauty and no two come out exactly the same. It is also a form of recycling. Guess I just hated to not find a use for all the glass I collect. Hope you enjoy looking!
UPDATE: Now I AM beginning my life again. I lost my home and everything to Hurricane Ike. After previous damage from Rita, I'm done with the beach. The years we spent there were wonderful, and we'll miss it the rest of our lives.
I WAS a potter who lost my studio/garage in Hurricane Rita. We were lucky to have a home to come back to. I decided to make the best of it and work smaller...so I started making jewelry.
I grew up in Ohio, majored in Ceramic Art at O.S.U., and have made pottery for many years. Porcelain has been one of my favorites to work in, maybe because of the brilliance of the glaze colors against the white clay body. I became interested in beach glass, picking up pieces on my morning walks. I "recycled" the glass by fusing it in my kiln. Some of the results were pleasing, but it was also frustrating because half of the pieces cracked. This is because of the unknown COE of each found piece of glass. But it was a lot of fun doing it, and each piece was unique.
1 comment:
i love the shell under/inside the green glass. like looking thru shallow water and seeing a shell on the beach just under the water.
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