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!

Porcelain pendants and necklaces I made

Here are a few pictures of my work. Taking pictures with my new digital camera is a lot more difficult than I thought it would be. I have a lot of practicing ahead of me to get better quality photos. Years ago I used my old trusty Minolta SLR to take film photos of my pottery, but since digital is the way to go today, I'm giving it a try.
The cockatoo is cone 6 porcelain, fired to maturity, painted with acrylics and sealed, as are the cross, the fish, and the seahorse/starfish pendants. I usually augment each necklace I make with a couple of handmade porcelain beads, to achieve a better balance and look. These pendants are formed in press molds I made from a hand sculpted original. The dolphin is hand sculpted, no press molds used, so each one comes out a little different. I make lots of other styles of beads and pendants, and will get to those later on. I'm really enjoying the process of jewelry and beadmaking; although I do miss making pottery. On my next post, I'll show you some of my fused beach glass pendants.

Thanks for your interest !!!