NO NEED TO CUT THE GLASS!

 

  

Thank GOODNESS I have taught myself how to create glass items without the need to cut any glass at all.

Glass comes in crushed form....powder, or "frit" which is glass crushed into various sized pieces - fine (like sand), medium (coarse sand) and large (like small stones) frit can be purchased, or created.

Then, items of glass can be made using either powder or frit, which means there is no need to haul large sheets of glass out of units and onto tables, to be cut.  Sheet glass is very heavy, and if, like me, you have problems with mobility, balance and strength, it can be exhausting to lug around.  Also, I have problems with "shaky hands" (getting older is not for the faint-hearted) and my ability to cut,  draw or paint is now severely limited.

BUT I can sit at a table, fill a mould with either powder or frit, and "cast" my glass pieces, which is the term used for certain methods. Then, the piece goes into the kiln, my silent partner.   

In the past artists have used this technique to create wonderful pieces, via a process called Pate de Verre -but it is long and complicated.  It is still used today by some marvellous glass artists .   Here you see students in a class being taught how to line a plaster cast with powder: 

This picture shows students creating and then filling their own plaster moulds.  Making a plaster mould is a very messy, tricky, time-consuming process.  Filling is not much better!  sometimes a process called "lost wax" is involved, which means creating a model from wax, pouring plaster over and around the model, and then melting the wax away so that glass can then replace the wax.............need I say more.  Only for the very patient.  That is not me. 

   

Here is a finished, modern piece:

Often, the plaster is "broken" away from the glass and cannot be re-used.

But for those with limited energy and stamina, there are more simple approaches to casting glass pieces. These simpler methods are personally giving me a new lease of life!  I have previously shown some of the pieces I have produced, and here are  more to show you.   I really want to say that I am writing this mostly to encourage artists who find themselves struggling with problems following surgeries, like me ....it might encourage you to know that there may be less taxing approaches worth trying.

The bowl at the top of this page is a good case in point.  Hard to believe this is just made from the crushed glass below it, isn't it! Red Frit and black powder were placed into a ceramic mould, and fired to a specific temperature which allows the glass to melt, reharden and soften into this beautiful form.  That mould can be reused many times.

This lovely glass dragonfly is made entirely from "frit", some of the frit is transparent, some opaque.  

These little mermaids and octopuses (octopi? octopusses?) are created entirely using glass powder and water, packed carefully into silicone moulds.  Again, these moulds can be reused.  They are generally created for other purposes - icing for cakes is one - resin is another - but they can be used for glass too.   It is not good to get powder in the lungs, so I have to work wearing a mask, which is hilarious when people pop their heads into my studio, and jump out of their skins when they see me.  The silicone cannot go into a kiln, so they go into a freezer first...and the demoulded pieces are then fired.

This framed heart is made from glass butterflies, made from a mix of powder and water!   It took a while to make so many...each one had to be frozen first to form the shape, using moulds...then removed from the mould and fired.  Then they were secured to the glass in the frame.

This piece was made from fine and medium frit, cast in a ceramic mould, cleverly made just for this purpose.  The detail of the veins on the leaves can be seen as the glass is semi-transparent. 

Here is a glass powder piece.  I plan to secure it to a circle of glass, drill a hole in that for a wire or ribbon, to hang in a window as a light-catcher. 

Finally, here is a picture frame made for my daughter's wedding to come.   I did have to create the frame from sheet glass - cutting the glass required quite an effort and firing to create the frame without corner seams was not simple.... but I made the decorative pieces for it from powdered glass.  I think they give the piece a unique and special look.

Without these marvellous, comparatively simple methods of working with powdered or crushed glass, I would be watching a LOT more tv!!!

Jackie Simmonds