All that glitters...

I don't work too much with dichroic glass. It's not because I don't like it, I think it's stunning. I just get involved more in experimentation with other glasses and techniques. But every once in a while, the shiny, sparkly glass will catch my eye, and I will sit for hours playing with it.

Sunday, I got caught up layering transparent dichroic with different shades of transparent glass. I tend to like things simple and clean when it comes to dichroic glass, kind of a "less is more" philosophy. I got some interesting results...some good, and some okay, but all glittery.

A kiln full ready to fire.

Blazing hot and fully fused

Shimmery dichroic capping transparent aqua glass

Silver dichroic under clear glass

Golden dichroic capped with brown transparent glass

Iridescent circles over transparent blue

Sunrise stripes over light blue glass

 

 

 

To tack or not to tack...

Saturday, I was straightening up my work area and ran across some transparent glass that I had purchased a while ago. I sat down and started experimenting with the colors - layering blues and greens, yellows and browns. I pieced together a few small pendants and prepared to fire them.

I had to decide if I would fully fuse them or tack fuse them. I went the tack route, although, I put a few aside because I really want to see what happens to the transparent glass when the pieces fully fuse together.

Tack fusing occurs at a lower temperature than full fuse. For me, it's between 1300 and 1400 degrees. Basically, it's fusing the separate pieces together, but stopping before the pieces lose their actual shapes. It gives you a kind of layered look. I keep a close eye on the pieces in the kiln and stop the process when the desired look is achieved.

Here are the pieces from the weekend.