Modeling Glass Tips and Tricks
|
|
Every month I'll be writing about how to use Modeling Glass in your work, and hopefully answering some questions that will help you get the results you want. There's always a learning curve with a new product, and there are considerations working with frit and powder that you don't have when firing sheet glass.
There is a full set of FAQs on the Modeling Glass website at
www.modelingglass.com
. You can also find back issues of all my e-newsletters there!
|
|
LAND OF ENCHANTMENT: ENAMELS WITH MODELING GLASS
In the
June eNews, I started to share my explorations into how enamels can be used with Modeling Glass. I have not encountered any enamel that doesn't work, but I haven't tried them all.
I am fortunate to live in New Mexico, also known as the Land of Enchantment. In late summer we have our annual monsoon season...unlike tropical countries where the monsoon results in widespread flooding and chaos, in the desert it means pleasant afternoon thunderstorms that cool the air and make everything grow verdant. A summer monsoon sky was my inspiration for this landscape, painted with Fuse Master high-fire enamels on a dry, unfired panel of Modeling Glass. The results are very exciting. This image is the finished 6" x 6" piece, mounted on a brushed metal panel. The process is described below.
|
|
Here are the steps I use to make a New Mexico landscape:
I roll out a square of Modeling Glass on a silicone baking mat to about 3mm thick, and cut out the shape I want. The whole thing goest into the oven or kiln at 200 degrees F. until dry. At that point I draw my design on it with a pencil, which doesn't show through the paint and sgraffito.
I then apply enamels...in this case I'm using Fuse Master high-fire paint. Because at this point Modeling Glass is absorbent, the colors go on as if you were painting on watercolor paper. It's easy to get solid intense fields of color, unlike painting on sheet glass. It dries within a few minutes. Sometimes I use a heat gun to speed it up.
|
|
Once I have painted my design, I start to carve into the surface using a ceramic tool (left). This is the sgraffito technique, which is a subtractive way to draw, exposing the white surface underneath to create highlights. Then I fire the piece to a tack fuse to eliminate the 15% shrinkage before I position it on my base glass. The tack schedule is below. At right is the fused piece. At this point the white Modeling Glass base has a grey cast because of trapped air and it hasn't matured to white, which happens during the higher contour fuse.
|
|
|
|
TACK FUSE FIRING SCHEDULE:
300/1275/:10
999/900/1:00
150/700/:01
999/70/:00
The next step is to go back in with enamels and add more white highlights to the clouds, and add the rain curtains below the storm. Then I placed the panel on top of two layers of 3mm glass, Bullseye Tekta clear on the bottom and then a piece of clear with nifty stringer details. This then was fused at the schedule below. Instead of full fusing, I wanted to mature the white but still hold as much detail as possible.:
CONTOUR FUSE FIRING SCHEDULE:
300/1000/:10
600/1380/:10
999/900/1:00
150/700/:01
999/70/:00
|
|
A NOTE ON FIRING: Modeling Glass is made from powdered glass, which means it's more sensitive than sheet glass to heat variations between different kilns. My peak temperatures are only suggestions; your kiln may fire much hotter or cooler than my Paragon 19" kiln I use for testing. Do some test pieces to see what Modeling Glass does in your kiln before committing to a large piece!
|
|
Summer Garden with Modeling Glass, August 9
Ed Hoy's International in Warrenville, Illinois is having their annual Customer Appreciation Weekend August 9-11. I will be offering two short workshops on using Modeling Glass to make a Summer Garden panel. These are sold out, but there are many other great opportunities to learn, shop, and enjoy at the event. The photo at right is an example of what you can make with Modeling Glass components on sheet glass.
Learn more here.
|
|
Feathers and More, September 18-20
I'll be at
D&L Art Glass in Denver, Colorado for the first time teaching glass artists how to make realistic great horned owl feathers using Modeling Glass. We start with feathers, but the activities go way beyond that. I'll go over many interesting ways of working with Modeling Glass, and we will do other projects, like sculpting with it to make a summer garden.
Learn more here.
|
|
|
|
Feathers and More, September 27-29
'll be at
Hollander Fusing Center in Houston, Texas for the first time teaching glass artists how to make realistic great horned owl feathers using Modeling Glass. We start with feathers, but the activities go way beyond that. I'll go over many interesting ways of working with Modeling Glass, and we will do other projects, like sculpting with it to make a summer garden.
Learn more here.
|
|
Additional Workshop Opportunities
Lois has a full schedule of workshops across the country as well as Canada and the UK. See the schedule
here
.
|
|
Modeling Glass
This new product was developed by Lois Manno of Glass Bird Studios. It is a two-part system made of a powdered binder and liquid medium that, mixed with frit or powders along with a little water, turns the powder into a material that can be sculpted like clay. It is featured in the workshops she teaches.
|
|
Want to purchase Modeling Glass? A list of retailers is available on the website. The list keeps growing, so check back. Ask your glass retailer to add Modeling Glass to their stock if they don't have it!
|
|
Dear glass artist: you're receiving this message because you have expressed interest in Modeling Glass or Glass Bird Studios. If you would like to continue receiving occasional emails about Modeling glass, workshops, and user tips, there is no action for you to take. If you wish to unsubscribe from the list, you can do so at the bottom of this message. Thanks for your interest in Modeling Glass!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
