So, if you learn my technique, you can also successfully fire silver on top of glass, have it sink into the glass.....and yep! NO silver stain!!! Rhonda made a couple of really fun pieces here:
She used mini punches for everything. Now, keep in mind, most of these are about the size of a quarter.
And she also made some gorgeous cabachons using 3 or 4 layers of mixed glass:
For this last one, she punched the hearts in a fairly new product - dichroic water slides. You punch them, soak them in water, slide them on to the glass (or between layers of glass as we did here) and fire them together.
What an unusual look, huh? Definitely one-of-a-kind:
I can't remember for sure, but I think she made about 15 pendants total in our 2 days of play - maybe more. What a great weekend! If you want to come play with glass and silver, just send me a note!
I just love a happy ending! I picked up all my glass from my class this week....and totally love the results. I truly love slumping!
And my first piece turned out perfect!!!
I had no intention of using this glass frame as a base for the slumped piece...but it turned out to be the perfect size for that....so I doubt this gets used as a frame!
And this is not dichroic glass...but a dichroic water slide that was fired between 2 layers of glass. Sure looks like dichroic!
We made these by mixing water and powder together, placing that in a mold, freezing it, then putting it on a kiln shelf, letting it dry out, then firing it. A perfectly awesome technique!!! Wonderful shaped glass!
This is painted glass with dichroc slide and a black & white slide on layers. Just amazing what you can do with tiny 2" pieces of glass - make your own collage!
Did a pretty good job of replicating dichroic glass using dichroic slides. I'm going to have to try a few more ideas on this one!
This was done with layers of fiber paper and frit. Again - amazing technique!
My goal for next week is to get the basement back into some kind of order so I can find a path to the kilns and start firing glass here. Can hardly wait to play...but gotta clean up the mess first!
I have been thinking lately about my poor Sunday School teachers when I was a kid. They must have just shuddered when they saw me walking into class armed with my Bible....and all my questions! I remember questioning one of them about the Lord's Prayer:
"Our Father, Which art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name.... Thy Kingdom come......on earth as it is in heaven."
Did you ever stop to think about that? He taught us to pray for His Kingdom to come to earth and be like it is in heaven. I remember asking, "where on earth is it going to be?" I remember they told me it was NOT going to be on earth....it was up in the skies because we were going to be "raptured" and taken there.
Well, with a little bit of Bible study, I haven't actually found the word "rapture" anywhere.....but rather than us flying off to someplace called heaven that is up in the skies.....I tend to think we might board an airplane and fly over to Jerusalem, where His kingdom will be set up on earth.....as it is in heaven. I know...I'm really giving you things to think about, huh? Is it too much? I don't ask that you agree.....just that you try to seriously think about what was written "then" vs what is going on in the world now.
If Jerusalem is to be where His kingdom will be on earth, then for that single reason, I stand with Israel. I stand with the Jews.
Where do you stand?
Hamas is a terrorist organization. I was in Israel in October 2005 just days before Israel withdrew from the Gaza strip. I have been following the news daily since then. I know that Hamas has continued to send missiles into Israel. And Israel has a right to defend her borders from attack. Waiting over 3 years...I believe they have been more than patient.
If you watch that video, simply ask yourself one question....."Have we already forgotten 911?" Have we forgotten what a terrorist is capable of doing? The shock of watching them take their own lives as the airplanes crashed into the twin towers? Have we become so apathetic that we do not care what terrorism is doing to Israel?
I stand with Israel. I stand with the Jews. And I am creating art that affirms my beliefs.
I love creating art with a purpose. OK, I can't tell you how much I am loving this! This collage started as a t-shirt that I cut up and stretched on a regular artist's canvas:
and then I used Radiant Rains to turn the white cotton to wonderful colors that shimmer! Yep....radiant rains on cotton - so cool! Then I put Glossy Accents over the letters. When that dried, I took my Ranger white pen and gave "shadows" to the letters. Used my cuttlebug embossing folder and embossed the candles in copper and then hand-cut them out. That's an EK Success Star of David embellishment that I painted with Dabbers, then Krylon copper pen on top.
At the top, another cuttlebug cut and emboss folder for the dove and leaf - with stickles over distress ink on that one. The Chai letters are cut from paper by Zsiage. I have always thought that the golden bear (Vail CO) looked like the Chai, so I took one that I don't use any more and added it here. Below that, a $20 shekel bill (is that what you call them?) and some coins from our trip to Israel.
This was kind of cool. The flag is printed on Jacquard's printable silk. and backed with paper. There are 2 other unbacked flags in the collage - do you see them? One of mom's watercolor roses and some silk flowers. More candles for a total of 8 - for 8 nights of lights. Diecut flourishes and swarovsky crystals.
A closeup of a piece of vellum that I hand cut, added alcohol ink, and then my white pen:
I think I posted this shekel before, but wanted a closeup here - it's Art Clay Silver over a coin. Just love it!
This is a complete experiment and I don't know if I like it or not, but it works on this collage. It's glass from Amaco and the Star of David is brass that I fired between 2 layers of glass. Look at all those air bubbles - extremely interesting, huh?
And finally, a close up view of the flag printed on silk, backed with paper. I used tiny mixing straws behind this to make the "waves" in the flag.
I have fallen in love with this collage. Wherever I stand, I stand with Israel. Where do you stand???
She used mini punches for everything. Now, keep in mind, most of these are about the size of a quarter.
I can't remember for sure, but I think she made about 15 pendants total in our 2 days of play - maybe more. What a great weekend! If you want to come play with glass and silver, just send me a note!
