Thursday, June 27, 2013

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 mermaid crackle technique ocean water flutterbyfoto flutterbybutterfly
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 mermaid ocean water sea full fuse background flutterbyfoto flutterbybutterfly
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.

fused glass mermaid drawing sketch original flutterbyfoto flutterbybutterfly
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 mermaid crackle technique tail fish scale construction how to tutorial
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 mermaid crackle tail fish scale assembled before firing
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 crackle tail swimming ocean water sea flutterbyfoto flutterbybutterfly
Fused Glass Mermaid Swimming in an Ocean of Blues

Underneath the ocean, the mermaids still swim.

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