Millefiori Madness

At last post I excitedly reported that I had purchased supplies to make millefiori pieces. I just love the look of millefiori. When I was in Venice, Italy in 2006 I was able to visit the furnaces on Murano island and watch glass blowing as well as these canes being made. I treated myself to several pieces of jewelry and a few small plates while I was there. My favourite is a pendant made up of black and white millefiori. One day I hope to be able to make a close approximation.

Here's a pic of the pendant that started my glass obsession:


I had so much fun making pendants using slices of murrine but it seems that I'm not the only one who loves the look of millefiori - almost all of the pieces I made have been sold! Thankfully I was able to place an order to be shipped (which saved me driving 1.5 after work, or 2.5 hours from home!) to replenish my stock.

I spend the weekend making dichoric pendants and earrings and houseware items - plates, bowls, magnets and 2 tic-tac-toe boards. I registered as a vendor in an outdoor craft and artisan market for a few Saturdays this summer so I needed to start building my inventory. Hopefully I'll get back to millefiori next weekend.

These pieces are made with only murrine slices. About 40 to 50 pieces of cane in each pendant and multiple firings were needed to achieve the desired effect:





More pendants. These were made using murrine pieces but have a base of clear, black or white glass.







For those that are interested in a little education: The millefiori technique involves the production of glass canes or rods, known as murrine, with multicolored patterns which are viewable only from the cut ends of the cane. To make the canes the glassmaker gathers molten glass on an iron rod called a pontil, then the heated glass is dipped into a mold (that shapes the glass). The glass is cooled and the process is repeated over and over again, until the design is completed and the cane consists of several layers of glass.

In the next step, the canes are reheated and an iron rod is attached to each end this time, instead of just one end. While the glass is still hot it has to be stretched and pulled. This requires two people, one on either end of the glass, each holding a iron rod. It is a bit like pulling taffy, but more precise.

One day I would like to try and make my own murrine canes but for now I'm quite happy buying them already made. Somehow I don't think I'll ever be able to get away with building a glass furnace in my house and they can't be made in a kiln.

Watching glass artisans at a furnace on Murano island:

pot melts = cool pendants

Since my last post I've been really busy fusing. I've done 3 more melts (all using a steel grid), made many pendants and earrings, bought new power tools and expanded my glass inventory.

Instead of slumping the melts I decided to cut them up and make them into pendants. I bought a wet saw which is just great at cutting through thick slabs of fused glass. The saw has a big blade so I ended up losing a bit of glass as I cut and it's definitely not the tool of choice for cutting anything other than straightish lines.

Here are 2 of the melts after firing. I also made a green melt but forgot to take a picture before I cut it up.



The new saw making it's first cut.


Practicing my skills. I was pretty impressed I could cut a heart (on my first try) but had no luck replicating it. Beginners luck i guess.


Blue melt pendants:





Pendants made from the purple melts:





Green melt:





Some exciting news (well, for me anyway because I am such a glass fusing nerd)! I finally found a store that stocks millefiori canes so I bought a bunch and spent the weekend experimenting with this glass (which is a different coe than I am used to; 104 coe). I've made a few pendants so far and LOVE how they turned out. I had to do multiple firings to get the proper effect but i think it was worth the effort. I'll get some pictures posted soon.