Glass sculpture and murrini; practicing old Makes New.

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to the RSS feed or have it sent to you by email!. Don't miss a thing!

I have been looking back at all my old posts here at Watch Me Create and thinking about what is next for me. The end of the year thoughts. What did I do last year, and what do I want for next year. When I get trapped in all these real life plans, I find myself sticking with what I know, and just re-creating different pieces. I find new ideas this way. There is always another way something can be done.

This earth Goddess bead is inspired by a bead I made last year (I wrote about the first one here at WMC). I am fascinated with the reactions we get when silver sheets are incorporated into the glass. The blue night sky with metallic shimmer. This outer space look is one of my favorite. It seems appropriate to make a little earth marble and place it above the figure. She is protecting the environment, as we could imagine an Earth Goddess would. Her body is sculpted in such a way, meant to reference her soul. An Angelic response to a very important job.

Capturing a moment that is comforting, and imaginary is really what I am after. We can only imagine. And glass makes these moments so beautiful.

In the past I have made numerous murrini (“Murrini” is a chip of a millefiori rod of glass. Traditionally these were made in Italy to decorate beads, vessels, and sculpture. Millefiori can be made with big pots of molten glass, or on a smaller scale with a torch.). I have made the simple millefiories, to the more complicated mosaic canes.

From time to time I have wrote about them here, or at my Art blog. My friend Portia (from the Gathering Place outside of Chicago) described millefiori by comparing it to a big cinomon roll. When you slice it up, you geta bunch of the same image; each slice would be a murrini.

Recently, I decided to make some millefiori with stripes on the outside. Usually it is a big bummer when your murrini keeps imploding into itself, and the image gets screwed up. Aside from being a bother, it really can be a beautiful thing if it is all planned out.

I made this radial murrini with red, yellow and orange circles so it would pop! And it worked! With this bead, I covered the face of the murrini with clear glass, and allowed just the edges to implode. I was really happy with the turn out. The star around the radial pattern really centered itself nicely. This dark red bead with this murrini is one of my favorites!

I am also taking the same murrini and imploding it into crystal clear glass. I am making pendants, marbles, and paper weights. (Some day I know I will blog these.) The murrini itself is art, and then we can make so much with it. I am really enjoying just playing with the ideas, and seeing where that takes me right now.

The process of making murrini is full of surprises. Just like the ceramic glazes I’ve mixed; A new glass color makes everything different. Some colors dominate over others. There is many reactions to be witnessed in the flame. Experimenting is a very important part of the process. Can’t wait to see what happens next!

Sheila Morley blogs from her home Office in Southeast, Michigan. Sheila has an on line shop at Etsy with finished pieces and murrini supplies for the glass Lampworker. Custom art pieces can be purchased through the shop at Etsy, or her website.