Lisa Vogt Art Adventure Blog: 6 New Things I learned About Fusing Last Month

This is one of the fun new projects in my new video.

I’ve been busy designing and building all new projects for two new videos that will be released in April 2019! During the project development phase I learned several new things about glass fusing. I’ll share them with you.

I’ve been working with glass for more than 30 years! It’s difficult to believe there’s more to learn. I love this medium for its versatility. And also, because it always welcomes the adventurous artist with new opportunities to be creative.

February was my month to dig in deep, risk failure and come out at the end of the month with renewed excitement for working with glass. I started by drawing a bunch of rough sketches. Then I planned how to make the projects and took off running. I let my natural curiosity guide me. The concentrated study yielded unexpected and amazing results.

Once I got out of my own way and stopped trying to control everything, the real journey of discovery began. The rewards for taking a leap of faith were many. The new techniques that sprung from my imagination coupled with reckless abandonment yielded unique pieces of art that would otherwise never have been developed. Plus, the experimental process brought unexpected surprises that will lead to the next generation of techniques.

Here are some of the things I learned.

1 You can fire polish thick glass.

In the past, I avoided reheating pieces thicker than ¼ inch above the slumping temperature of 1265 degrees for fear I’d lose the square edge and the thickness I worked hard to achieve. But I wanted to give a new, freeform project a shinny edge. The random shape was cut with a saw. It had a smooth, but glazed finish. The abstract shape couldn’t be polished on a flat grinder/polisher. I did test firings with cutoffs. At 1345 degrees with a 5 minute hold the glass edge was shinny and smooth. But I lost a little thickness, the shape definition wasn’t optimal, and the square edge softened. I fired a second cutoff to 1300 and held it for 5 minutes. At this temperature, I liked the polished edge, I maintained the thickness and the square edge was intact. Yay!

Here's a teaser photo of what's to come in my new video.

2 You can achieve a polished edge on thick glass without a grinder/polisher.

Before firing.

Confession time. I lack the patience it takes to polish thick glass on a grinder/polisher. The first few grinding steps are not a problem. I can remove material and level the edge with ease. It’s the polish step that makes me crazy. When I get to the felt wheel, I feel like I’m stuck in the mud and getting nowhere. I put in the time. But my results are always the same. I have cloudy corners. It’s frustrating. I made several 4 inch x 4 inch x ¾ inch thick clear glass bases to display my new sculptural pieces of art. I ground the edge with a 100 grit wheel to level the edge. I put off the polishing steps as long as I could. Then it occurred to me to apply the same fire polish technique to the glass bases that I used on the cutoffs. I fired them to 1300 degrees and held them there for 5 minutes. It worked! I retained the desired thickness and attractive square profile. Another yay!

After firing to 1300 degrees with a 5 minute hold.

3 You can un-slump something you hate.

I was super excited about two projects. But after the initial slump I didn’t know what to do with them. They went from prospective award winners to chunky, awkward bricks in one slump. I let them sit on the table for weeks. I tried different ways to display them. I tired to figure out how to capitalize on their unique characteristics, colors and patterns.

In the end, I decide to risk breaking them in order to make them into the real dynamic pieces that they were intended to be. At the risk of having them crumble into wet dish cloth shapes I placed them on primed ceramic kiln shelves and reheated them to a low slump to flatten them out.

I was sure the river rock piece would buckle and be rippled after the firing. I worried the ribbon piece would break due to its size and weight. But they surprised me and fell beautifully onto the shelf without any hint of stress or distortion.

I used a conservative slumping program. I fired them at 300 degrees per hour to 1200 degrees and held them there for 20 minutes. I believe the low heat and slow hold were the secret to my success. I later slumped the two pieces over different molds and now am in love with them again. The take away is this, if you hate it don’t settle, reshape it.

4 You can slump and tack in the same firing.

I envisioned a gently shaped Dogwood tree flower with bright white petals and spring green leaves. I wanted to create the curvy shape and tack fuse the glass pieces in one firing. It was a little tricky to layer the glass and prop it on the rolled up fiber paper. But the extra effort was rewarded. I’m happy with the resulting shape and gradual curvature of the glass petals and leaves. Another winner.

5 Powder size frit still fools me even after all these years.

I love frit, all of the sizes and all of the colors. I use it to fill in gaps, add visual texture and add intricate patterns to my work. I like to use powder size frit to make delicate patterns on my projects. I choose powder size when I want gradual color transitions and clean, sharp edges.

But working with power size frit is tricky. It looks lighter in the jar than it actually is, so it’s difficult to tell how strong the color really is. If I’m unsure of depth of the color, I look at the same color in sheet form or in a larger frit grain size for confirmation.

The other thing about power is it looks strong in thickness and in color when you pour it on your project. But is sometimes disappears after firing, taking the design with it, and that’s disappointing.

I applied white power to a palm leaf tray to add veins. I thought I applied it thick enough to show. After firing the pattern was gone. I wasn’t going to let that stop me. I added powder frit to the palm leaf again. But this time I used medium opal blue powder. I re-fired the glass and was happy to see the pattern was visible after the second firing.

I later used that same medium blue opal powder on a purple glass flower. I thought, it worked on the green opal glass, it should work on purple. Nope. I was wrong. It disappeared. So much for experience.

I didn’t add more frit this time though. I decided after the flower was draped, the frit would barely show on the wavy shape.

I learned you can’t trust powder size frit to give you the look you want. If I were to offer advice, I’d suggest using a darker color powder frit, that is an opal glass color, on a lighter color opal or wispy type sheet glass. That combination appears to deliver more reliable results.

6 Even with 30 years of experience you cannot always predict the firing outcome.

Surprises make this medium so exciting. I was sure that I would love these little butterfly bodies. But they came out short and stubby instead of thin and delicate like I wanted. I layered thin clear on thin dichroic glass and fired them to a full fuse temperature. The results were disappointing. Oh well. They’ll show up as something else in a new project in the future. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s this. Every mistake is an opportunity to make something new.

You can reignite your passion for glass and increase the complexity of your work. To achieve a higher level of artistic freedom and growth believe in yourself. Trust your instincts and never stop learning. Wherever you are in your artistic journey, you’re doing great. Keep trying and challenging yourself, new ideas are on the horizon.

These techniques, plus many more are highlighted in detail in my two new videos due to be released in April 2019.

I experiment so you don’t have to.

Happy fusing!
Lisa

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I Hope to See YOU in Las Vegas!

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 time to register for these two classes!

TH-08 - Painting with Frit

NEW SU-01 - Gallery Quality Fused Glass Made Easy

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.