GLASSY EYED AND BUSHY TAILED

Two posts in as many days?  Batten down any hatches and break out the canned goods – we are clearly approaching the End Times, here.*

Actually, not really.∞  I'm just heading to New York tomorrow to experience a bit of proper autumn (planned activities include: picking apples and cooking stews and wearing sweaters and playing in the rain and tasting wine and eating at the best ice cream place in New York [according to USA Today, at least] and generally enjoying life outside of the parched oven that is Phx), and since the internet connection there is measured in double-digit kilobits/second, I probably won't be able to post much unless I leave it running overnight.˚

So, before I go, I thought I would actually talk about something that relates to the "craft" part of this humble blog's subheading.

As long-time readers know, I'm taking a glass fusion class at the Phoenix Center for Visual Arts.  Eventually we'll be doing things like working with glass powders and metals and etching, but right now all I know how to do is (a) cut glass, and (b) grind glass.  But that's enough to make a few things, which I thought I'd share (and to serve as a useful point of comparison for what will hopefully be vast improvement).

OK, first up:  a little glass physics.  The ideal thickness for glass is two layers; if you stack more than two pieces together, it will flatten down (and out) to two layers thick.  To illustrate this, we cut 1" x 1" squares, then stacked and fired them.

1, 2, 5!  Five pieces of glass!

From left to right, we have a stack of five glass pieces, counting down to a single square on the right.  A single piece of glass is the same size as two stacked pieces (going back to the whole "glass loves two layers" thing)^, and it expands from there.

Next are two examples comparing tac fusing with full fusing.  Tac fusing heats the glass just enough for pieces to stick together; full fusing melds the pieces together.

A contented sigh, in glass form

The A is tac fused, and the H is full fused.  Tac fusing creates texture and maintains the original shape better, while full fusion is sleek and shiny.¥

Of course, I tried to make an owl.

This owl has cleavage.

This is what happens when you don't properly balance/attach the cover glass and it slides off in the kiln.  I still love him, though.  He's...special.

See, my owl is scientifically accurate.

But!  I can rebuild him!  We have the technology!¶  Next week, I'll saw off the overhanging bit at the bottom, even out the edges with the grinder, and add some glass to fix the lumpiness.  I have another owl going into the kiln tonight; hopefully this one will be a bit more owly and a bit less, um, horrifically misshapen.

And that is Glass Fusion 101.  Next week I'm going to learn how to cut curved lines, which is terribly exciting.  However, we are getting closer and closer to the time when I have to go buy my own glass, which doesn't really excite me.  Ah, the life of an artist, I suppose.

If I'm not too busy jumping into leaf piles and having bonfires, I'll try to write up some of my adventures in Actual Seasons Land and send them to The Husband to post, if only to taunt those of you reading this in the desert.  And then, when it's 60ºF and sunny in January and I'm walking back from the farmers' market with just-picked oranges, I'll taunt the rest of you.

*Make sure you pay close attention to this post, because I might cover a lot of information and I don't want any of you left behind.
∞Hopefully.  Phx is all dry washes, so I can't be certain that rivers aren't running red with blood.
˚I recently learned that my hometown is technically part of Appalachia.  Our shoddy internet access makes more sense now.
^Science!  Again!
¥Tic-tac fusion leaves behind fresh breath with only one-and-a-half calories.
¶The Six-Billion-Dollar Owl (Adjusted for Inflation)!  This Fall, on Fox!