I’m back with a quick post that glass crafting friends might find interesting.
I love the challenge of incorporating vintage or recycled glass in a stained glass piece. When a client who collects Jadeite glass asked me to design a cross for her, I was all in.
My mind went right away to jewels, texture and dimension.
I had jewels but needed Jadeite pieces before I could plan a design. I found a couple of inexpensive saucers on Ebay that had a beautiful texture, then started cutting and making pieces to play around with.
First, globs ….
A bandsaw was used to do some cutting.
The excess from the petal pieces were turned floral side up and kiln fired to flatten.
Pieces were played around with until a pattern was decided on then they were shaped and ground to foil.
When soldering, 20 gauge wire was intertwined in and around the pieces for reinforcing and strength. A large jump ring hanger was added to the back where it couldn’t be seen from the front. Black patina, waxed and buffed.
It was time to do something with a small bucket of AirWick bottles I had saved. I was tempted to toss them, but couldn’t do it without at least experimenting with a few in the kiln.
I’ve only had time to play with two, but I like what’s happening so far. I thought it would be fun to share just in case it could spur imagination or interest with other warm glass or recycled glass friends out there somewhere.
I like to do my experimenting in a small tabletop kiln with a window in the lid. It’s not digital. It has a dial with high, medium, and low, so there is no firing schedule; I just go slow. I use the same type of kiln for all my Christmas ornaments too.
I didn’t expect anything earth shattering, but wanted to see how the bottle flattened before doing anything else. A high temp wire hanger was propped in the opening of the bottle before firing it to about 1600 degrees, just in case it would miraculously round up as a nice glob and the wording melted away. It didn’t, lol. I flipped it over and fired it again the same way and the wording was still there.
The wording finally disappeared after I flipped and fired it a third time. Surprising, it ended up as an uneven clear glob that I plan to use in a rustic Christmas decoration later.
The second bottle was cut into slices with a glass saw to see what could be arranged with them.
Several pieces were laid out to resemble a flower. I thought the bottle opening slice was too tall for the flower center, so it was sliced again.
Wanting to maintain its shape and texture, I watched it closely and shut the kiln off at about 1650 – 1700 degrees. I did a quick flash to 1100 degrees, then let it cool completely.
So, what do you think? You can be honest, I have thick skin, lol.
It’s a bit unusual, thin, fragile, and almost weightless, but I like the results. I think it has great possibilities for mixed media or wall art projects. Add some wire, color with glass paints, or even use it as a base and layer over it. I better make a couple more just to be prepared if an idea strikes me. You never know.
I’ll keep experimenting though, there’s extra pieces and more bottles. Stay Well and Be Happy Friends!
