Let the glass leed the way

I like to set up my glass like it is my paint; in some kind of harmonious way.  Many times the colors I choose will dictate what I make.

Color has always been a difficult thing for me to select.  I would not say I have a natural “eye for color”. I definitely borrow those ideas from the word around me. Magazines, photographs, and during my hour drive to and from work, I watch the landscape change.

I buy my glass in many different diameters.  I purchase 1/4″ round glass for my base beads, and I purchase 1/8″ round rods to make materials, and sculpt forms on the glass.

I purchase 3/4″ round rods of clear glass that I pre-heat in the kiln, and then I pull them out of the kiln at 950 degrees, and peel the surface of the glass off.   It is a skill that takes a little time to get down.  You have to get only the surface of the glass melted; the center of the glass stays hard. After the surface is peeled off; that is the Glass I like to use for my mandrel implosions. The end result is a bead with NO air bubbles. Only crystal clear glass around an explosion of color.
This implosion here was made with my standard effetre glass. It is not peeled as well as I would like. Unfortunately, I am out of the big rods of glass, that I would prefer to encase these colors with. See those bubbles in there?  That is because it was not peeled well.

A burst of color.  Inspired by the rainbow.  Each bead is made by slowly melting the colors into the glass. Patience, balance, and a little meditation.

This year is taking off pretty slow. The temperatures are way low, and the gas bill tripled this month.  It is too cold to heat my studio. Or, really, it is too expensive.

I am anxiously waiting for a Sunny day. I can open all of the curtains in the house, crack some of the windows upstairs, shut the furnace off,turn the exhaust on full blast, and have a heated studio when it is 40 degrees outside.   It is an anxious feeling when I have not had a day like that in a while.

I am planning some production bead making for the early part of the winter into spring.  I have re-discovered raku glass, and presses.  It is a business move.  I am hoping to create less expensive beads for “this economies” sake. I want my beads to still be  high quality; I just want to increase quantity, and lower costs for the consumers. It is going to be another challenge for me.

So far, I have three different raku frit sets I am working on. I have decided to keep with letting the glass I am choosing inspire the end results. I have an entire bag of this beautiful raku frit to use up. And, I am not stopping until it is gone. (Whenever I can get the studio heated again.)

Sheila Morley blogs from her home studio.