Live Jury Experience

In my prior post, I mentioned part of the reason that I was creating new work besides just overall interest in the technique was for a live jury that I had this month.  Normally, jurying just involved submitting photographs but for this jury, each candidate had to select 8-12 pieces that they would set up on a 6' table.  The jurying took place at Fort Mason, San Francisco and all the artists had to be set up by 7:00 pm.  Then we had to clear the room (a waiting area was provided) and come back at 9:30 pm to pick up our work.  Fortunately, I live in Oakland, so it wasn't too difficult to travel back and forth.  However, some artists drove from Chico or Los Angeles and had to spend the night.

Here's what my table looked like:

While, its a little hard to see each item,  this give you an idea of my display and set up - symmetrical, on white, with lights behind the three main pieces, which was a nice effect as I didn't get the benefit of being in front of the window once the sun went down.

Unfortunately though, I was not accepted to be an exhibiting member.  The feedback was that while the judges appreciated the technique, they wanted to see a deeper exploration in terms of form.  I should mention that the jury was made up of ceramicists and glass artists, so for a ceramicist it's much easier to have different forms of bowls, vases...etc.  Their comment was that my shapes looked similar, which was actually my intent.  I make plates and platter in the same shape so that they can be mixed and matched.

However, they encouraged me to apply again (next jury will be in October; although jury members will be different).  So I guess in the meantime, I'll be playing around with some bowls and possibly draping to get a vase-like effect.  If you have any suggestions for other forms, please let me know.  And, when I get around to taking close-up photos to put on my website, I'll include them in a post so you can better see the designs (or include a link to my website).

Making Fused Glass Pattern Bars - Part 2: Design

My last post ended with me firing my second batch of pattern bars.  Unfortunately, the kiln failed and I needed to replace the relay, which delayed me for a little while.  For the second batch, I used longer glass pieces, which seemed to increase the height of the end product.

Once the bars come out, they may need to be ground around the edges to remove the glass burs as well as make them flat and smooth.  This will help as you lay them out since you want the cut glass to line up rather than have little areas that flare out.

After the bars are ground, they are cut up with a tile saw.  The slices are about 1/4" wide.  To help with cutting, it's good to have a fused piece of glass that you can put against the end of bar to avoid chipping as the blade runs through the end.  Also when the bar gets thin, I like to put a piece of glass underneath to steady the bar.

Here are the results from two firings of blue/green and multi-colored pattern bars.

The next step is to sandblast the bars to prevent devitrification.  After this, the bars are ready to be used in a design.  These were just loaded into the kiln today.

After they're fired, I'll coldwork the edges to make sure they are smooth.  Then, I'll fire them again, turning them over (so what you will see is the reverse of the photo).  And the last step will be to slump them so they can be shaped into plates and platters.  My goal is to have about 10-11 pieces done by 3/12 for a juried (in person) event.  In a later post, I'll show you my set-up for the jury and you can see the finished pieces.

This is a new effort for me.  These are already a favorite of my husband.  I like the result but find that I don't enjoy making these as much as some of the other things I've made.  Let me know what you think!

How To Make Fused Glass Platters Using Pot Melts

I've made a number of platters using the glass I create from "aperture pours" or "pot melts." I like these because they are one-of-a-kind pieces as the glass used is individually created.

At shows, I am often asked I make these. First, I start by making the pot melts. These are created from putting various colors of sheet glass into a pot with one or more holes at the bottom. The glass is heated to about 1625-1700 degrees until it is molten and starts to flow out of the pot onto the kiln shelf. Because the glass is liquid, I use a stainless steel ring lined with fiber paper to act as a dam to contain the glass, so it doesn't flow off the shelf onto my kiln floor.

Depending upon the height that you place the pot above the shelf, you can create different patterns in how the glass drops. The way you lay out the colors in the pot also effects the design.

As I wanted to have 3 different centers, I created a third pot melt similar to the one above, then refired all three to thin them out as the dam resulted in glass that was a little too thick. Next, I sandblast the back to get rid of any kilnwash (what keeps the glass from sticking to the shelf) that may be on the back before I cut them up into 3" squares for the center.

Then I cut up sheet glass to add a border.

I fuse this face or design side down so that the lines are tighter around the border. After it comes out of the kiln, I coldwork or grind the edges so they are smooth and refire with the design side facing up. The result is the platter shown at the beginning of the post. And, the remaining glass from the pot melts is also cut up and used for other platters.

While it's difficult to tell from the photos, the pot melt glass contains raised ripples that were created as the glass dripped - I love this! What do you think? And, if you'd like to see some additional platters I've made, click here.