Hand picked pendants

I worked on a few new hand painted pendants over the past few days. I had forgotten how much I love using the Glassline paint to create these little floral pendants. As you can see, I had a little help while I was photographing them to post here. 

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Classic Case of Burnout

I've never really understood the term "burnout" until recently. I was working really hard during the fall and early winter to keep up with the various shows and festivals I had scheduled. When May came, I kind of just stopped working for a while, and a while became longer than I originally thought it would be. I was distracted by all the end of the year activities at my real job, and so I thought as soon as May was over I would get back to it. May ended, and I just wasn't feeling it. That's when I realized I had a classic case of burnout. I looked at the glass stacked around my garage and my heart just wasn't in it. I kept waiting to get inspired, and it didn't happen.

In the mean time, I picked up sketching on the iPad. A fun diversion, but the glass still waited. I didn't schedule any shows in June or July - lots of time to recover the glass groove. My next show isn't until late August, I have a pretty large inventory and I'm still coasting along.

I've decided that I will just muddle through the burnout. I will take baby steps and see if inspiration returns. I willed myself to get started this past week when I was off for the holiday. I moved my ring saw out of my very hot garage and into the dining room. I gradually started and began to enjoy working. Still, I crave something fresh, a new way of working, something new to try...but at least I'm working again.

My mind is working on new ideas. I have a few things percolating that I want to try, a few experiments to get to. I wish I could say I'm truly motivated, but at least I see a little spark. In the meantime, I will keep working. I want some new, fresh pieces for my upcoming festivals.

Below are a few of the pendants I created last week. Overall, I'm pleased with most of them. When working with the ring saw, you have to carefully clean each cut piece before firing. For some reason, even though I washed the pieces a few of them still had the debris on them - this was only apparent after firing...so I lost a few in the process.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A Little Rusty

It seems forever since I was able to work on anything new. May is always so hectic because of my job with the school district. I try to keep my schedule clear of festivals and other events that require me to work on glass. So, when I pulled out my glass this past weekend, I didn't really know where to start. I felt out of sorts and rusty, so, I just willed myself to begin simply.

Almost all of my cut floral pendants are gone, so I decided to work on a simple group of those. I enjoy wearing and get lots of compliments on my daisy with the lime green center, so I created three of those. I did a few other color variations and used some scraps to created a red and black piece. It was good to get back up and running!

 

 

 

 

Patchwork

Last week on Spring Break, I had a chance to visit my favorite glass store. I picked up a huge sheet of black glass. It's like a staple for me...the base that anchors the colors I enjoy playing with. I also came away with a few vibrant sheets as well.

 

 

 

Firing and Finishing

A weekend of work ready for firing.

Loading the kiln

The kiln heats up. A full fuse occurs around 1550 degrees. Although in this big kiln, it seem to fuse at about 1450 degrees.

Fusing complete. The pendants appear to be pools of red hot liquid at full fuse. The original color of the glass will come back as they cool. When you reach the fused look you want, it's important to flash cool the kiln by opening it slightly. You want to get the kiln temp down to around 950 degrees. In this range, the glass anneals (controlled cooling that allows the inside of the glass to cool at a similar rate to the outside of the glass).

The next step in finishing the pendants is attaching the pendant bail. I use a small file to lightly file down any rough spots or edges and then "rough up" the area where I plan to put the bail. I then apply a small dab of E6000 to the bail and press it down on the back of the piece. I let a little bit seep over the edges and then use a finger to clean up any excess glue. It's important to let the freshly glued bail sit for about 24 hours before wearing.

A few of the finished pendants from this batch

 

March 1, 2012...81 degrees

I know I keep going on about how Springy it is outside. Yesterday it was the rainy spring day, and today it's just skipped to sunny summer.

Here's a quick snapshot of my car stereo temp, time and date. It's really unusual for it to be this warm on March 1st, even in sunny South Carolina.

I just had to grab a happy, warm flower pendant this morning before leaving home. I think I may have to lose the corduroy jacket though!

 

 

Close of a Winter Day

Autumn arrives in early morning, but spring at the close of a winter day. - Elizabeth Bowen

I know it's not really spring. I know we are in for more cold days, but it been so very spring-like lately that it's impossible not to feel like spring is near. About a week ago, I even noticed the first daffodils peeking out.

Of course, the weather in Greenville is entirely unpredictable. It may be 70 one day and snowing the next. Still, I can't help but gravitate toward the greenest sheets of glass...the yellows and the aqua blues. My glass work tends take on colors of the approaching season.

Today was a rainy warm leap day.

Blooming right outside the office.

A sunflower from last night's batch.