Sunday, August 25, 2013

The Art of Kiln Glass

I found an amazing video on the art of kiln glass.  I am so excited to share it with you.  This video shows examples of work by many different artists.  I want you to notice that many of the artists mentioned practice in other mediums besides glass.  Choose one of the artists from the video to research further and prepare a presentation for the class.

For some reason, the embed code is not working properly so you will need to follow this link in order to watch the video.

The Art of Kiln-glass from Bullseye Glass on Vimeo.

Slumping Fused Glass

Before I went on the trip across the state to visit glass making facilities, we had been learning about the art of fusing glass.  I would like to pick up now where we left off.

You watched a video about the process of fusing glass so that it forms a new piece that is flat.  Now I want to introduce you to how fused glass can be formed into vessels.  This is done through a process called slumping.  You begin by fusing a piece of glass in the kiln.  Then you place it over a mold and put it back in the kiln.  The heat will cause the glass to bend to the shape of the mold.

Watch the following video and answer the questions below.  This video not only shows you how slumping occurs but also shows you how certain types of glass can have reactions when they are heated  while touching each other.  It also shows you how to use stringer to create a linear design.



Linear Reaction Plate from Bullseye Glass on Vimeo.


Answer these questions in your journal:

1.  What tools were needed for using the stringers?
2.  Why did the stringer not change colors in some places?
3.  There were two different firing schedules in this video:  one for fusing and one for slumping.  What are the differences in the temperatures for these two processes?