Lisa Vogt Art Adventure Blog: February 2019

One of the fastest and easiest ways to improve your fused glass art and dramatically expand your design style is to develop your glass cutting skills.

The beauty of working with fusing is the simplicity of the medium. Many people come to the craft with little or no glass cutting experience. But due to the ease of fabrication and wealth of readily available information, they’re successfully producing attractive pieces from the start.

But if you’re now tiring of the simple cut and assemble methods that got you started and longing to move in a more advanced direction, a small dose of technique is the jump start you need.

It may seem like a trivial topic to address, but your project complexity is in direct relation to your cutting confidence. In other words, the better you cut, the more likely you are to venture outside of your comfort zone and take on more challenging projects.
Here are some tips to get you started.

1 Consistent pressure. Contrary to popular belief, it doesn’t take a heavy hand to make a good score line on glass. What it takes is consistent, medium pressure from the very beginning to the very end of the score. The glass cutter should “sing” as it rolls over the surface of the glass. It’s a pleasant, consistent sound beginning to end. It’s not a cringing grinding noise. A good score is visible its entire length. But it’s not messy and littered with thin splinters. The grinding noise and splinters are signs you’re applying way too much pressure.

Many beginners start strong but let up the pressure as their hand moves farther away from their body. In this case, breakage tends to occur ¾ of the way down the score line. Beginners believe the score comes solely from the hand. A good score comes from making your wrist, elbow and shoulder one rigid tool. This combined strength and rigidity helps you apply consistent pressure the entire length of the score even at an awkward distance from your body.

When cutting an unusually long piece, I turn the glass so I can run my score right to left instead of away from my body. This way I can move my body along with my hand and more easily maintain the consistent pressure needed for a successful break.

2 Cut on the smoothest side of the glass. In some cases, I prefer the look, color or pattern on the textured side of a sheet of glass. I turn the glass over and cut on the smoother side and then simply turn the glass back over when I assemble my project. The glass cutter wheel will have better, more consistent, contact with the glass the entire length of the score if you cut on the smoothest side.

3 Beginning and end. Try to start your score as close to the leading edge of the glass as possible without falling backward off the glass. Apply consistent, medium pressure from the very start. End the score as close to the far edge as possible without falling off the glass. Repeatedly falling off the glass edge will damage the cutter wheel and could possibly cause the glass to shatter.

4 Use the right tool for the job. Use a strip cutter or circle cutter when applicable. Accuracy is key for professional quality artwork. These tools give your work consistency. Plus, they save material by reducing waste and breakage.

When cutting strips, I cut a few more than I need and select the best, straightest strips for my project. The extra pieces find their way into smaller projects, pot melts or free flows. Nothing goes to waste.

Whenever possible, I opt to use running pliers over grozing or breaking pliers to break glass away from a sheet. Running pliers give the most reliable results. They work best if the glass being removed is at least as wide as the rubber tipped plier jaw. When breaking narrow or small curved pieces away, I choose grozing plies because the narrow jaw fits in tight places and allows me to get close to the score line.

5 Don’t hesitate to cut around a paper pattern to include an intricate shape in your work. This is a terrific way to transition away from strictly geometric designs and into pieces with lively organic elements.

Glass wants to break in a straight line. To cut rounded shapes, we make a series or gradual curves and break the excess glass away in steps until we have a glass shape that closely resembles our pattern.

When cutting around a paper pattern piece, cut as close to the paper as possible without running into it. Beginners tend to cut a wide safety halo around the paper. It just postpones the inevitable. Be brave. Go for it. If the glass is going to break unfavorably the halo, no matter how heavenly, won’t prevent it.
Something to build on.

The more time and effort you put into each step makes the next step easier and the finished product that much better. Don’t rush a project just to get it in the kiln. Give it the time it needs and produce your best work, every time. If you have to ask, “Is this good enough,” it probably isn’t. Do yourself a favor, re-do that piece or step. You can thank me later when you’re doing the, my piece came out awesome, happy dance.

Go ahead. Cut it up!

Happy fusing!
Lisa

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Join me at Glass Craft and Bead Expo

Las Vegas, NV, April 3-7, 2019

https://www.glasscraftexpo.com/instructor-list.php?search=lisa%20vogt#7

There's still room is theses two classes!

TH-08 - Painting with Frit

NEW SU-01 - Gallery Quality Fused Glass Made Easy

Upcoming Webinar

Fusing for the Adventurous Webinar

It’s LIVE! I come to YOU!

April 11, 2019

https://www.glasspatterns.com/en/glass-patterns-quarterly-store/product/1211-fusing-for-the-adventurous-with-lisa-vogt-april-11-2019.html

Get ready to push boundaries, challenge trusted techniques and enjoy the thrill of limitless possibilities. Join me in this comprehensive hands-on webinar and learn how easily you can put tried and true methods to use in unlikely, innovative ways to create original art.

You’ll learn how to successfully employ different techniques to produce dramatic effects and take your work to an exciting, new level of sophistication.

Beginner and advanced fusers alike will find inspiration, motivation and renewed artistic freedom from the combination of techniques shown. In addition, you’ll receive a detailed outline with project specific guidelines and Lisa’s custom firing guides.

Armed with your newfound skills, you’ll be eager to experiment and incorporate these techniques to turn your creative visions into reality. You’ll have the burning desire, and the cool confidence, to take your passion to greater heights.

Learn at home at your own pace. Instructional Videos are here!

Available here: http://www.lisavogt.net/shop.aspx?id=40

Check out my writer’s website.

Lisa J. Vogt

Frit is your friend!

Fusing glass is amazing. We fusers cut glass and super heat it to make cool designs all our own. Solid colors make bold projects, but once you start playing with frit and see all the new and exciting possibilities, you’ll be eager to add this small material to all your big projects.

Frit is crushed fusible glass. Oceanside 96 frit comes in 5 grain sizes: powder, fine, medium, course and mosaic. Each size is available in 8.5 oz. and 4 lb. jars. Each frit size has unique visual characteristics that you can push to ramp up your fused glass projects. Let’s go over the many possibilities one size at a time.

Powder

Powder has the silky consistency of confectioners’ sugar. It appears smooth and has uniform color coverage after fusing. Powders can be used as filler between cut glass pieces, to add shading, to add patterns and even as a repair tool. I use powder when I want super strong color saturation along with multiple color blends.

Shere Power is a great example. Wherever I wanted tight control over my line quality and solid color saturation, I used cut glass to represent the design. The cut glass was fixed to a clear base glass with fuser’s glue. The glue keeps the pieces from moving when applying the frit. Once the glue was dry, I poured powder frit between the pieces and blended the colors with a wide, dry paint brush and a palate knife. The blended powders give the art a beautiful painterly quality that dramatically contrasts the solid color fields surrounding it.

Other fun uses include using powder to add shadows to a solid base color. Apply medium and dark green powder on top of light green glass to add shading to your design. Or sift the powder over a stencil to add a crisp and intricate pattern to your project.

One of my favorite uses for powder is to fill inconvenient gaps between my cut glass pieces. Think of it like grouting tile. It’s easy and affective. Work a small amount of powder into the gaps with a narrow paint brush. For added pop, use a bright color that contrasts your design’s color palate.

Powder Pros: It’s fast and easy to create subtle or dramatic color blends that support your specific creative vision. Adding shading and pattern is a snap.

Powder Cons: Cleanup is time consuming. The powder requires meticulous cleanup to ensure the surrounding solid glass color isn’t muddied. After removing any excess power with a brush, I go over the surface of the glass with the corner of a damp towel or a damp Q-tip depending upon the size of the surface area being cleaned.

Tips for working with powder

· Don’t be skimpy when you use powder frit. For bright vivid colors, it’s necessary to fill the space between your cut glass pieces to the top edge, in effect making the frit 1/8 inch thick.

· Be daring and use high contrast colors, they display better in the finished piece.

· Opal glass colors tend to give a more dramatic effect than transparent colors.

· Know your glass colors. Powder frit specifically, looks lighter in the jar than the actual glass color. Light blue and dark blue look the same just as transparent light green and opal dark green look the same. If you’re not sure of the intensity or opacity of a powder, look at a larger size frit like, medium or course. Or find a piece of sheet glass with the same color code number, compare it to the frit and the frit color and shade will be obvious.

· Powder in high concentration, like in a casting mold, looks milky after fusing. If you want to use powder in a mold, layer it with clear in medium, course or mosaic size frit. Using this technique will improve the transparency of the cast glass project.

Fine Frit

Fine frit has the consistency of granulated sugar. It appears grainy, like small uniform dots after fusing. Like powder, fine can be used to fill gaps between cut pieces of glass. The larger grain size makes it faster and easier to clean up than powder. Fine is also great for shading when you want a slight textural look to the shadows.

Fine Pros: Cleanup is fast and easy. In the same application, it takes less material to do the same job with fine than it does with powder. Fine is a great filler to use between larger frit. It gives you complete color coverage and prevents the base glass from peeking through.

Fine Cons: Color blends within this same size have a grainy appearance after fusing.

Tips for working with Fine

· Use both transparent and opal glasses together for greater visual depth and to create shading.

· Use fine frit together with other frit sizes to produce visual textures.

Medium Frit

Medium frit has the texture of course sand. When fused, medium frit retains the sand-like visual appearance. I use this size frit when I want to fill in larger areas with strong color quickly. It can also be used to create shading and color blends provided you welcome variations in the coverage as provided by how much frit or how little frit is applied.

Medium Pros: Medium frit provides you with quick, easy coverage of large areas with strong color saturation.

Medium Cons: This frit has a grainy look and the base glass may peek through the frit unless your layer is thick.

Tips for working with Medium

· Use both transparent and opal glasses in combination for greater visual depth and to create shading.

· Use medium and fine frit together for new color blends and to add visual texture.

Course Frit

Course frit has the consistency of small pebbles. The pebble look remains after fusing. This frit is great for filling large areas where you want visual texture to contrast solid fields elsewhere in the project.

Course Pros: Course frit covers a lot of area fast and it leaves an appealing pattern behind after firing.

Course Cons: The base glass will be visible between this larger size grain. I fill in around course with both medium and fine frit to intensify the color and hide the base.

Tips for working with Course

· Use both transparent and opal glasses in combination for greater visual depth and to create shading.

· Use fine and medium frit together with course to produce pleasing textures.

Mosaic Frit

Mosaic has a wide variety of glass shapes and sizes within the jar. This frit leaves a vein-like impression after fusing. I use mosaic when I have a lot of space to fill and when I want to create an organic pattern.

Tips for working with Mosaic

· Clear glass layered on top of a color dilutes the color below. It’s like adding water to paint. I like to put clear mosaic pieces on top of select elements in my work to create subtle, lighter variations in the original glass color.

· During assembly, glue the mosaic pieces down with fusers glue so they don’t move when you fill in the spaces in between.

· Use both transparent and opal glasses in combination for greater visual depth and to build interest.

· Use fine, medium and course frit to fill gaps and produce interesting color combinations and exciting textures.

Put it all Together

Frit is a terrific medium for making landscapes or other images where you want to create an engaging depth of field. In nature, objects in the distance are lighter in color, and they visually have less detail. When making landscapes, I use the different frit sizes to emphasize those subtle differences.

I use powder to render the sky because I can get smooth, gradual color changes. I use fine frit to create the tree line and other filler foliage in the distance. The grain size stands out in front of the powder and yet doesn’t compete with the foreground. Medium frit works well for the mid-range elements that require more intricate detail, like bushes or flowers. Course frit is well suited for objects in the foreground, such as flowering plants or sweeping trees.

These design elements carry more visual weight and tie the design together. Mosaic frit is great for specific up-close subject matter like a path or bridge. Such solid, recognizable focal points lure the viewer into the design.

Oceanside 96 frit comes packed in 8.5 oz. and 4 lb. jars. For the larger sizes like course and mosaic you may consider crushing your own frit. The advantage to working from the jars though, is you have uniform sizes within the jars and one single color throughout. Plus, there’s no risk of contaminants like dirt or metal shavings that are present when you crush your own glass. Personally, I prefer to jump right into the design and fabrication phases rather than spend time swinging a hammer and sifting glass.

I hope this round-up entices you to start incorporating frit in your new work. It’s such a versatile and easy to apply material. You’ll love the creative flexibility if affords.