How the Blue and Yellow Glass Vase was Made

Refer to the glass vase in my last blog post, because I am going to write a little bit of how I made it.

Sorry I didn’t get to describing this glass vase until now, but the holidays kept me very busy.

Since the glass vase is 10″ high, I needed to fuse five layers of glass together.  I fused two layers of Spectrum 96 Dark Blue Glass and three layers of clear glass.  I also added various pieces of yellow scraps.

Next, I set up the drop out ring mold by propping it up 10″ and then placed the fused glass on top of the mold.   Since the glass was so thick, I needed a firing schedule that went very, very slow.   Previously, I did a lot of experimenting starting with vases that were shorter and moving my way up to 10″.

When the glass was getting close to reaching the kiln shelf, I watched it very closely.  I needed to stop the glass from falling when it was how I wanted it.  If left to fall farther,  a bulge will develop, which can be a great design, too, but not what I wanted this time.

I fused three layers of glass together to make a base for the glass vase.  After the vase had cooled, I tack fused the base to the vase.  And, voila, my glass vase was finished!

Christine — Glass Artist

 

Click here to see more of my Glass Vases:

http://www.mastersglassart.com/catalog286826.html

Blue and Yellow Glass Vase

I made this glass vase a couple of months ago.  It took a lot of steps to make it, so it probably took a couple of months to make it.  I made a purple glass vase a few months before I made this blue glass vase.  I think I wrote a post about it, but didn’t have a picture of it yet.  I still don’t, but I finally took a picture of this blue glass vase.

I will talk more about this glass vase tomorrow.

Christine — Glass Artist

 

Click here to see more of my glass vases:

http://www.mastersglassart.com/catalog286826.html

An Amazing Fused Glass Installation, Part 2

As I was checking out other blogs, I found a blog post about Doug and Mark Starn’s Fused Glass Art Installation.  I just thought I would mention it, in case you wanted to learn a little more about it.  There are some great pictures there, too.  The link is: http://visualingual.wordpress.com/2008/12/20/see-it-split-see-it-change-by-doug-and-mike-starn/#comment-716.

Christine — Glass Artist

 

Click here to see my Fused Glass Art:

http://www.mastersglassart.com/products289162.html

An Amazing Fused Glass Installation!

I am doing a different kind of post today.  I wanted to share this amazing fused glass installation!

This is an interesting article about a fused glass installation I read in the New York Times in the Arts Section, click here to read the entire article.

 

Making Artistic Connections at a Subway Station

In the grays of winter, the last stop on any subway line can have a lonely, ominous feel. But when the new $530 million South Ferry station, the terminus of the No. 1 train, opens in January, it will have some added luminosity, thanks to a site-specific installation by the artists Doug and Mike Starn. Commissioned by the Arts for Transit program of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the installation, “See It Split, See It Change,” includes curved floor-to-ceiling glass walls laced with silhouettes of trees, a marble mosaic of a vintage topographic map of Manhattan, and other imagery drawn from nearby Battery Park.

Jennifer S. Altman for The New York Times

The Starn twins, Doug, left, and Mike, at the new South Ferry station, with their installation “See It Split, See It Change.”

 

Jennifer S. Altman for The New York Times

The curved, floor-to-ceiling glass walls, with their silhouettes of trees, were made using a new fused-glass technique.

Jennifer S. Altman for The New York Times

A view of Doug and Mike Starn’s installation at South Ferry shows the topographic map and a decomposing leaf.

 

The following are some excerpts from the article:

“When the Starns were first approached by the Arts for Transit program in fall 2004, they were busy with other projects and not particularly interested in participating, Doug said. But the brothers came up with a proposal at the last minute and won the commission the next year. Ms. Bloodworth said the Starns’ proposal was chosen on the strength of its imagery, its melding of high technology and organic and urban history, and its sturdy materials. ”

“The main part of the installation, the curved walls that hug the station, was made using a new and unusual fused-glass technique, like laser printing but with glass powder instead of ink. It gives the panels a layered quality: against a background of cream and celadon— the colors of a winter dawn — the black branches seem to echo one another. For inspiration, the brothers photographed trees in Battery Park; they said they didn’t know what kind. “We just go out and shoot good-looking trees,” Mike said.”

“The fused glass was the project’s biggest challenge. Even the fabricator, Franz Mayer of Munich, a 160-year-old firm known for its expertise in architectural glass and mosaics, “didn’t really know how to work with it,” Mike said. “And we didn’t know how to work with it. It was trial-and-error, and one year of testing.” Still, they did not consider scaling back to a more traditional industrial technique. The tiny bubbles, striations and other imperfections in the finished panels are part of their charm, Doug said. “It feels more alive.”

To read the rest of the article, click here.

 

Christine — Glass Artist

 

Click here to see my Glass Art:

http://www.mastersglassart.com/products289162.html

Fused Large Budweiser Bottle with Embossed Lettering

This Large Budweiser Bottle is about 18″ high.  I fused it with the goal of preserving the embossed lettering.  Someone gave me this bottle at my last Craft Fair and wanted me to fuse it flat and see what happened.

 

Here is a close-up of the “Budweiser” lettering.  I am very happy with how it turned out!  The “Budweiser” lettering did not melt into the rest of the bottle and it fused flat very nicely.

 

I have another Craft Fair this weekend and I will be giving this bottle to the lady who gave it to me.  She has a booth at the Craft Fair, too.  I hope she likes it!

She told me she is bringing some more bottles for me to keep and do whatever I want with them.  I can’t wait to see what she is going to give me!!

Christine — Glass Artist

 

Click here to see more of my Fused Alcohol Bottles:

http://www.mastersglassart.com/catalog359387.html

Blue and Green Glass Pendant

I bought a new piece of dichroic glass and this is one of the glass pendants I made with it.  I like making glass pendants and glass earrings with the dichroic stripes patterns.  There are some pretty color combinations. 

Christine — Glass Artist

 

Click here to see more of my Glass Pendants:

http://www.mastersglassart.com/catalog278597.html