Fused Glass Modern Flower Dish with a Retro Daisy Sunburst

Fused Glass Retro Mod Daisy with a Sunburst

After a watching more than a few episodes of Mad Men, I was inspired to create these happy little flowers with soft blue starbursts radiating from lime green centers.  To create the base of this plate, I layered transparent green over opaque yellow glass.  The yellow is just barely visible around the edge of the plate, but mostly it adds a warm golden hue to the green base.

Handmade Clay Molds for Slumping

For this project I wanted to build clay molds to shape my glass plates.  I started by rolling the clay out into a mostly even slab with my dollar store rolling pin.  I then molded the clay around each plate and trimmed.  Once the clay was dryish I removed the original plate and let the clay dry completely.  These molds were fired to cone 6 and then kiln washed so my glass didn't stick.

Cece Created Little Clay Houses with Chimneys

While I was making boring clay molds, my daughter was creating tiny little houses with windows and chimneys.

Fused Glass Color Reaction Flower Petals

Each petal was created from a stack of yellow, turquoise and white opaque Bullseye glass.  I hoped to get a reaction between the copper in the turquoise and the sulfur in the yellow glass.  A list of reactions is available at the Bullseye Glass education website, the reactive potential chart .  I fired these glass stacks to a full fuse in my Jen Ken kiln to 1475 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 minutes.  Each stack spread and smoothed out to form unique oval petals with nested circles.

Fused Glass Dish with a Retro Modern Flower and Starburst

Fused Glass Watercolor Jellyfish Jellies Tentacle Tendril Hanging Panel

A Fused Glass Jellyfish of Diluted Watercolors

Fused glass jellyfish created from translucent shades of diluted color float on a sea of glass.  These jellies float freely as their curling tentacles flow behind and candy cane twists of blue glass reach like arms from below.

Fused Glass Jellyfish Floating on a Sea of Glass

This art glass panel started as a photo taken at the Mystic Aquarium in 2003.  This picture caught my eye as the computer monitor went to sleep and the photo slideshow screensaver came up.  When a panel begins with a memory, the project seems to take on the feelings of that moment.

Watching Jellyfish at the Mystic Aquarium

Here is the original sketch created from the jellyfish photo.  I tried to capture the arced pattern created as the jellies seemed to move gently around.

Jellyfish Sketch for Fused Glass

After reading the ebook Tricks with Transparency by Helios Kiln Glass Studio, I created these fused glass cabochons.  I layered and stacked and layered again and then fired them to 1500 degrees F for 15 minutes - twice.  That's a lot of time in the kiln, but I love the depth of color and gradation of shades.  

Fused Glass Cabochon - Layers of Transparent Glass

Next, I wanted to create the glass stringer for the trailing tendrils of tentacles.  Starting with pieces of transparent Bullseye scrap in coordinating colors, I heated and pulled these strips using my Mega Minor torch.  Each stem was pulled individually.  I then pulled and twisted the candy cane striped twists in shades of blue, white and clear.

Hand Pulled Stringer From Bullseye Scrap Transparent Glass

After shaping each cabochon into a jellyfish, I placed each tentacle so they seemed to flow in an almost circular motion around the glass.  I added liquid glass in a powder blue to add another element and layer of depth.  After firing it will be just a hint of added detail.

Fused Glass Jellyfish with Stringer Before Firing

The completed fused glass panel was taken to a contour fuse of 1425 degrees F to give the final piece texture.  The clear base ripples as the smooth bodies of the jellyfish almost seem to move gently above.

Fused Glass Jellyfish Taken to a Contour Fuse

Mermaid Sea Creature Fused Glass Sgraffito Frit Painting

A fused glass mermaid stares out to the blue horizon where the ocean meets the sky.

Fused Glass Mermaid Sgraffito Frit Painting

This sketch was originally completed during my freshman year at USMMA, the Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, New York.  I drew this mermaid for a mural to show class spirit.  When I look at her I remember how I felt more than twenty years ago.  I return to that time and place, almost watching as I painted the mural on cream colored concrete block walls with an edge dressing brush.

A Mermaid Sketch

After all this time I decided to create the mermaid in a sgraffito technique.  Watching the Bullseye Glass education videos on working with powders and drawing on glass were a good place to start.  I tried the techniques presented in the videos but finally settled on doing it my own way.  I used CMC gum to trace the image and then sifted the the black powder onto the glass.  Using a wax carver's set my father-in-law sent, I proceeded to spend many hours moving tiny granules of glass back and forth.

Mermaid Sgrafitto Frit Painting with Tools

After firing, I thought the mermaid looked kind of plain so I added a clear glass frame and lots more glass powder.  I started by adding more pattern and movement to the water and some depth to the sky.  Next came, highlights to the hair and sparkle to her tail.  Lastly, I built up the sky and finished off with a sifting of clear frit.  I stopped including photos because the image becomes completely obscured by the glass powders.  She is built upside down with the final layer becoming the back. 

Fused Glass Mermaid Creation

The mermaid tail is my favorite part of the whole piece.  The Bullseye aventurine green glass frit sparkles against the jade and almost disappears as it enters the water.

Fused Glass Mermaid Tail

My finished mermaid.  She will always be tied to the memory of when I drew her originally.

Finished