4th October 2010

Blimey . . is it really that long since my last blog post??

Well . . yeah it is! It's been quite a busy year here at Chez Gloria, what with the dicho-findings business, glass art work and kiln problems!
Since I last posted I have made a few more "Flower" bowls, using some of the design elements in the original white one and tweaking some of the others. Here are some of the results:

. . And just as I was about to continue this series of bowls . . my kiln crashed! Well . . not crashed exactly . . the insulation material in the lid started to degrade and fall into the glass when it was hot! Not a great thing to happen when you spend tens of hours making something beautiful! It took 10 weeks of hard emailing, persuading, cajoling and threatening to get a refund on the kiln . . almost the whole summer! I've ordered a new replacement kiln . . and needless to say I haven't ordered one from the same company! The new kiln will be here in around 2 weeks time! An FK4, up-specced, from Kilncare . . a British Kiln Manufacturer!

It's 1000mm x 500mm inside, so it will allow me to make much bigger architectural and glass art pieces, as well as make two flower bowls at the same time! I'm really quite looking forward to getting the kiln and am so excited at the new posibilities that it will open up for me . . even if the dichro-findings does take up a lot of time! . . and I fully intend to document my progress here on the Cooking With Glass Blog!

11TH FEBRUARY 2010

9TH FEBRUARY 2010

28TH JANUARY 2010

26TH JANUARY 2010

25TH JANUARY 2010

21ST JANUARY 2010

17TH JANUARY 2010

16TH JANUARY 2010

Flower Bowl Update . . I thought I might have gotten more done on Thursday evening . . unfortunately all I managed to do was cut and shape the white "petals" for the bowl. So . . had a good day in the studio today . . got everything ready for the first firing in the kiln to fuse the glass . . and went for it this evening!

White petals cut, trimmed and shaped. Centre circle marked out and centre circle cut. I did remove all the marker marks before assembling the pieces for fusing.

French Vanilla Petals cut and shaped and positioned over white Petals on the underside. Centre circle positioned. As you can see, the French Vanilla petals have been set slightly shorter than the white ones. This is so that when the glass fuses the FV will drop short of the edge of the white and react with it to produce a grey outline . . she says . . hopefully!

All on the kiln shelf and in the kiln ready for the first firing - a full fuse at 1500F / 815C - around 8 - 12 hours total time . . and and should be cool enough by mid-day on Sunday to start adding the decoration layers and fusing those into the design.

13th JANUARY 2010

New Project finally underway . . a Flower Bowl . . having chosen the design by a friends, family, colleagues and fellow Crafteroo . . er's vote - design No.1! Need to get a move on with this piece now . . it has to be finished by Friday morning 22nd Jan as it's going to be a Birthday Present!

Made a start on glass cutting for the bowl by cutting 3 glass circles and then splitting two of them for the flower "petals". The third circle is the main "base" of the bowl upon which the petals will be set.

So . . the next job is sizing, shaping and positioning the "petals" on the base for it's first full fuse firing. Then after that the design will be applied in layers with a full fuse firing between each one and then finally a slump firing to give the bowl it's final shape. I'll keep you posted on progress :o)

1ST JANUARY 2010

I've been working on this one all over Christmas and it came out of the kiln for the final time on New Years morning - 15 inch diameter by 4 inch deep.

24 DECEMBER 2009

After 6 days and 5 nights of labouring over sharp glass and a hot kiln I finally finished this bowl at 5.00 am on 24th December . . just in time to wrap it up and give it to a very good friend for Christmas!! Snapped the photogs at work before last minute wrapping!

New Basket Bowl - Rescued!!!

Remember my failure with the Coral Orange Basket Bowl earlier this month???
Well . . I set it aside for a week or so . . couldn't bring myself to chuck it in the scrap bin! Then I had a bright idea . . I get about 1 a month! :o) . . so I got back to work on it and managed to rescue the bowl . . fused it up some more, deep slumped it, polished it and finally etched it!
I'm dead chuffed! . . its turned out fine! See my Flickr photostream for some pics of it!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cooking-with-glass/

Today's Tip

Don't buy expensive Mullite dams for containing your work whilst firing! Consider buying a small kiln shelf and cutting it into strips using the guide fence on your diamond bladed ring saw or tile saw! Approx 3.5 cm wide strips are great for most work pieces. When set on edge during firing they are 3.5 cm high.
A small 6" x 6" kiln shelf will cost you around £7.50 and give 5 strips (thats £1.50 per strip/dam), whereas a set of four 6" mullite dams (Hot Damz) will cost you around £13.00 and thats £3.25 per dam . . more than twice the price!

New Basket Bowl On It's Way?? Total Failure!!

Total failure isn't the word for for it really . . it's completely buggered! Several of the glass "tines" or "spokes" have cracked and broken off and the centre area has cracked. It's just not repairable/recoverable . . so I'll have to post it up to "experience", put the glass in my scrap bin and give it another go!
On a brighter note, my new piece of kit finally arrived on Saturday . . so I'll be setting it up today and getting on with making good use of it!

New Bit of Kit!

Well . . after all that beer on Friday night it took me a couple of days to get over it! :o)
Not really! . . Just a very relaxing weekend watching the motor racing! Still a petrol head . . despite it's current price!!!
I've just bought a new piece of kit . . a diamond bladed band saw . . for cutting glass and glass shapes and for shaping my bowls. With a bit of luck it will be here tomorrow and I can get a slightly off-shape, 12" x 9" deep bowl, re-shaped and ready for display!
Off up to the studio now to continue making my new basket bowl. I'll be publishing photo's later this week when it is completed.

Beer Cheaper Than Gas?? Where??

A friend sent this to me today by email! Very good of her I thought . . only she didn't say where! :o)

Still . . its sounds good to me!

Off to the pub then . . by Shanks's Pony (to save on fuel!) . . to save some money . . on beer!

Digging Holes!

Nothing to say?? . . Say nothing! :o) . . otherwise those holes you dig with your mouth might open up and swallow you!!!

No Glass Work Today!

Well . . the title says it all! Unfortunately, like a lot of artists these days, I have to go to work to pay the bills and subsidise the glass art work!!! . . Ah well . . nobody said it would be easy! :o)
On the plus side . . its a lovely day . . and I shall be outside for most of it! . . Mmmmm! Must remember to put some sun cream on! . . and take my sandwiches with me!
Have Fun Y'all . . I'll be back tomorrow . . hopefully with some witticisms from today to relate to you!

Another Basket Bowl on It's Way!

Had to get up early today . . plumber coming to fix the boiler!! £400! . . so . . could someone out there please buy one of my more expensive pieces! :o)
Started up in the studio after making the plumber . . and his mate . . a cuppa and leaving them to it!
Working on a basket bowl! Spent all morning cutting circles for the base and strips of glass for the weave and drawing out the project on Thinfire Shelf Paper. Have now cut the 1st layer strips of the weave . . Oh! . . and my thumb as well! Will now have to wash all the glass . . and my jeans!:o) . . and the colour? . . well . . clear and a light coral . . the Coral will look like this:

The plumber has gone now . . with a cheery wave and a "The Bill will be in the post!" . . £400! No wonder his wave was cheery! I'm in the wrong job! £65 an hour, plus VAT, plus Parts!
Having a cuppa myself . .to recover from having had to spend the money on the boiler!
Off back to the studio this afternoon . . more cutting! . . and hopefully not me this time! :o)