Fused Glass Mermaids in the Ocean with Crackle Technique

Two mermaids swim and dive into an ocean of blues.  The sky turns a soft lavender as the day turns to dusk.

Fused Glass Mermaids Swimming at Dusk

The ocean on the base glass was created by stacking many shades of Bullseye transparent blue glass on a clear background.  The sky was created with a piece of iridescent glass rated curious by Bullseye.  A curious rating means that the glass does not perform as expected.  In this case it turned almost lavender after its second firing. 

Fused Glass Ocean Water Sky Background

The mermaids for this piece started as a rough sketch on graph paper.  I wanted them to be feel light and happy and fun.

Original Mermaid Sketch for Fused Glass

It is very difficult for me to cut glass on an inside curve.  To overcome this I could buy a Taurus Ring Saw or I could make the tail in pieces.  I chose the cheaper route.  Each tail was cut in pieces and then glued together.  I placed a small piece of clear kind of like one would use scotch tape.  I made extra tails just in case.  I planned on taking these pieced tails to a full fuse on fiber paper but thought why not also add texture.

Fused Glass Crackle Technique for Mermaid Tails

A tutorial on adding this crackle texture technique is available on Glass Fusing Made Easy and it was really easy.  Just sift some glass powder on to fiber paper and spritz with water.  Then let dry and gently move the fiber paper to create cracks.  Anything you place on top will pick up the cracked glass powder.  Very cool.

Fused Glass Mermaids before Firing to a Contour Fuse

After reshaping the tails on the grinder, I added hair in shades of brown and a bikini tops in lavender, even a little dichroic glass for earrings.

Fused Glass Mermaid Swimming in an Ocean of Blues

Underneath the ocean, the mermaids still swim.

Fused Glass Color Reaction Stacked Square Plates

Rows of irregularly stacked squares and rectangles of different heights fill a Bullseye glass opalescent Cobalt Blue base.  I love to make these little stacks, just looking at the photo of random organization makes me happy.

Stacked Squares of Bulleye Glass

A mixture of blues in an opaque and transparent palette react with the french vanilla in the design.  I tried to place the french vanilla to get the widest assortment of reactions between the copper in the blues and the sulfur in the vanilla.  Not all the blues react, the Bullseye reactive potential chart is available at their education website. 

Bullseye Glass That Should Have a Color Reaction

Here is the before and after of my stacks.  This plate was heated to a full fuse in my Jen Ken kiln to 1475 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 minutes. Each glass rectangle seems to ooze and spread but only to a certain point and the color reactions are so varied.  When heated, the french vanilla stacked on top of transparent turquoise creates a strong outline and a deep shadow while transparent turquoise stacked on french vanilla creates an almost midnight blue with brown hues.

Stacked Square Plate Color Reaction Before Firing

Stacked Square Plate Color Reaction After Firing

These plates will make the perfect gift set coupled with a bread mix that was on sale at Hallmark.  Maybe I should create some stacked square plate sets to place for sale in My Etsy Store store!

Dichroic Scarab Beetle Iridescent Green Pot Melt Fused Glass Tile Plate Disk

A scarab beetle dressed in a metallic green and blue dichroic shell.  His pink gold body sits atop a glass round of flowing shades of green with a hint of white.

Fused Glass Dichroic Scarab Beetle

The beetle's rainbow iridescence shifts as the angle of light changes creating a variety of colors within.

Fused Glass Dichroic Scarab Beetle Color Shift

To create the art glass base for the beetle, I filled a terra cotta planter from Home Depot with scrap transparent and opaque shades of green and white Bullseye glass.  The pot is balanced on strips cut from a kiln shelf.  When the glass scrap is heated to 1700 degrees Fahrenheit, the glass flows out of the pot's drainage hole and spreads to fill the terra cotter saucer.

Bullseye Fused Glass Single Hole Pot Melt

I love pot melts.  It is an amazing way to incorporate movement and flow into a piece.  Each finished glass round is completely unique and full swirling color.

Finished Fused Glass Pot Melts in a Rainbow of Colors