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.

pretty purple pot melt

Ever since I read A Beginner's Guide to Kiln-Formed Glass by Brenda Griffith I've been dying to try a pot melt.

It looked to be so easy - cut up a bunch of glass and heat it way past the full-fuse temperature until the glass becomes a liquid and flows out of it's container onto a prepared shelf/basin on the kiln floor. After researching the topic a little further it seemed that there are 2 main ways of doing a pot melt: either by using a terra cotta pot to hold the glass (and enlarging the drainage holes in the sides of the pot so the glass has enough space to flow out of) or by using a stainless steel grid. Both methods result in a very different look because of the pattern that is formed by the flowing glass.

After several weeks of scouring local stores it became evident that I was not going to be able to collect all the items I needed for either method on my own. I ended up buying a pot melt kit from Slumpy's that would enable me to do the grid style of pot melt.

Step 1:

Preparing the kiln: Fiber paper was placed on the kiln floor and a 9" round stainless steel casting ring was set atop the paper. After cutting the grid to size, it was placed on top the ring.


Step 2:

Preparing the glass: I chose a combination of opalescent and cathedral (transparent) glass in clear, white, gray and purple. A second casting ring was set atop the grid and was filled with glass. A melt firing schedule was programmed into the kiln and away she went!


Step 3:

Wait a really long time for the firing schedule to finish and for the kiln to return to room temperature before opening. Here is the melt still inside the kiln after the top casting ring and grid was removed.


Step 4:

Clean and sand rough edges. Remaining fiber paper was scrubbed away and a diamond hand pad was used to sand down any rough edges.


Step 5:

Slump into shape. After finishing the edges I slumped the piece into a bowl mold. Unfortunately the edges of the piece didn't smooth and shine up like they usually do. This piece will require an additional firing (a fire polish) before it's finished.


I did a second pot melt, which I'll post about later. I used less glass in the second attempt, but this time I used too little glass and I wasn't able to get a full circle. Of course I neglected to record how much glass I used in both of these projects so it'll be tough to figure out a happy medium for my next attempt. Sigh.

Once I've finished the second grid melt I need to do some more shopping so I can try a melt using a terra cotta flower pot. The cover of Brenda Griffith's book shows a pot melt done with a orchid pot. So cool! I'd also like to get a few different shapes and sizes of stainless steel casting rings, which forms the flowing glass.

donations to a good cause

A friend of mine is a board member for METRAC, The Metropolitan Action Committee on Violence Against Women and Children, which is a not-for-profit, community-based organization that works to prevent and end violence against diverse women, youth, and children.

She asked if I would consider making some glass pieces to be auctioned off at an upcoming charity event and I agreed. This past weekend I made the items and dropped them off at her place. I hear the goods were delivered to the organization's office this morning and is creating quite a stir! The fundraising event takes place this Wednesday in celebration of International Women's Day.

I was also asked to provide some business cards to be given out, so aside from being able to donate to a good cause, I'm also going to get some free advertising at the event. I finally listed some of my jewelry on Etsy so at least I had a web address to direct people to. Check me out at: www.themadkilner.etsy.com. I still have a bunch more items to photograph and list so be sure to check back soon!

Made especially for METRAC:

Dichroic pendant and earring set. Set on a black base is a patterned gold dichroic that reflects green and blue.


This is the translucent red glass (with swirls of clear and deeper red within it) that you've seen before. Anything I've made with this glass has been a big hit - I'm hoping it'll get some oooohsaaahhhs at the event.


More dichroic! This dichroic looks to have a lot of blue and silver (hard to capture in the photos) but reflects a beautiful purple colour with gold edges.


And a set for the more modern tastes. I really like the eclipse of black that surrounds the turquoise in the earrings.


Jewelry trays (using iridescent glass)


And finally, a set of coasters

sampling new glass

I needed to get some black powdered glass, so off I went to my local glass supply store. As per usual, once there I found several items I "needed" and walked out with 2 pizza boxes full of new glass!

I got right to work and made a bunch of (soon to be) pendants with this glass but found it tended to devitrify when full fused. I wasn't up to going back to the store and spending a bunch of money on a special spray that is supposed to prevent devitrification but I found a recipe on the net to make my own overspray. After a trip to the grocey store for Borax, I made some more pendants with a light coating of overspray and fired them. But again the glass devitrified (albeit less so than the first batch). I then decided to cap the new glass (which is untested and may not be capability with my fusing glass) with 96 coe clear and found success! A few more bubbles formed within the glass layers than I normally see but I think the pendants turned out quite nice.

Here are a few made with the new glass:









I had some extra space in the kiln during one of the firing so I added a few other pieces. Here are some pendants made with various kinds of dichroic.


And a few made with mosiac tiles

happy birthday to you

When I made my first bowl (the transparent red swirly glass) and posted pictures of it, I immediately got feedback from my sister - who loved the glass, the organic look of the slightly uneven circle and wondered if I could make some for her. Well, I tried to avoid her requests for a custom order and busied myself making pieces for her birthday.

We finally had the family get together last night and I was able to give the set to my sister. I've already posted about the first bowl I made and the first side plate but decided to make a second bowl, a second side plate and a small oval platter -which allowed me to use one of the new molds for slumping.

The first bowl is the one in the upper right. My second attempt resulted in a much better circle - it was quite difficult to score and break out but I tried to do extensive sanding before I fused the layers of glass together.


A closer look at the glass. It's transparent but heavily patterned with swirls of lighter and darker red. This glass is quite a hit. I've had several requests for pendants and earrings made of this.

The last piece in this set was an oval platter. I purchased a mold in this shape to slump into and have been dying to use it since it arrived. I finally had the chance!! Unfortunately it was a difficult shape to hand cut so the oval is a little uneven but I'm sure this will improve with practice. My sister loves handmade things that look handmade so she liked this imperfection.

Like I mentioned in my previous post, I need to adjust my firing schedule with this mold as the glass didn't fully slump into the bottom.

I was pretty sure my sister was expecting pieces made from the red glass she loves so I wanted to make another piece she wouldn't be expecting. She recently took up painting as a hobby and made each family member their own painting for Christmas. She seemed to have a particular attachment to one of the pieces that was given away. I tried to replicate the main image of the painting onto a platter for her. I used a transparent orange glass and the darkest glass powder I had (which was blue - I've since bought black and really wish I had it at that time). Her original painting had a background that was a cool sunset of yellow, orange and red. In the foreground were tree branches reaching across the 2 canvas' with 2 birds sitting on one of the branches.

So far, each time I've used powdered glass to 'paint' with I've gotten a patchy effect. Although it looks like I've applied a thick coat and let the glass compound fully dry before firing, I think I will add a second coat the next time I try this. And get a glass grinder so the oval (or other shapes) look more uniform.