fused glass

We made glass light-catchers yesterday at a glass ‘taster’ workshop with Paul Floyd at the Ruskin Glass Centre in Stourbridge. I’d been looking forward to it, but I was surprised just how absorbing and enjoyable the session was. Paul taught us the basics of fusing, where pieces of glass are melted until they run together. He has some beautiful examples in his studio.

After practicing cutting out shapes in thin, clear glass, we each chose a pattern, coloured it in as a guide, and cut shapes of coloured glass to match. Not surprisingly, the narrow curving shapes proved the hardest, and although it was hard to know how much of a gap to leave between each piece, the inaccuracy of my cutting meant that my attempts at precision weren’t successful. Still, it was fun trying, and I’d like to practice more.

Each piece had to be cleaned to remove fingerprints and any lines we’d drawn in pen as a guide to cutting, then we stuck them down on a circular sheet of clear glass. We both chose to add some frits – small pieces of glass or  powder – for further decoration.

We now have to wait for Paul to fire our pieces and post them to us. I’ll post a photograph when it arrives. Paul is starting some evening classes soon, which I’d love to go to – it’s just a shame that  Stourbridge is too far away for that to be practical.

Tags: glass