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Modeling Glass Tips and Tricks
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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
.
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I was thrilled to be invited to write an article for Glass Patterns Quarterly. The Summer issue just came out in June, and my Flaming Flamingo project is in there. This bird went through several iterations as I worked out how to make an image that has the appearance of stained glass (raised black linework separating fields of color), but was all fused glass.
I'm not going to give away the step-by-step instructions here (you'll have to buy the magazine for those). But I will say that the background was made mostly from cut sheet glass, the flamingo body was powder work, and the linework was done as a single pre-fused lattice. It's a complicated project, but you learn a ton about how to work with Modeling Glass and the unique qualities it has for making images. You even learn how to make rounded fused eyeballs with MG!
You can order your copy of Glass Patterns Quarterly
here.
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Right: Here I'm lifting out of the kiln a tack-fused "lattice" that will be the linework for the flamingo panel. Yes, it was all done in one piece, made with rolled coils. It's fragile at this point, but is stronger than it looks.
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UNDER THE SEA: MORE FUN WITH SILICONE MOLDS
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Next Month: the beautiful effects you can get with FuseMaster enamels and Modeling Glass!
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In the April issue I talked about silicone molds. Because I'm still having so much fun combining Modeling Glass with silicone fondant and soap molds, I wanted to include this shot of some pieces I made recently with an ocean theme. The amount of detail in the mermaid was really fantastic, and Modeling Glass held nearly all of it. At the schedule below, Modeling Glass fires bright white...I used Opaque White here. Pieces are dried in the mold at 200 degrees F for 20 minutes to 2 hours, or longer if needed (it depends on the thickness of the piece), then popped out and dried further if needed. Do not fire pieces in the silicone molds! I occasionally get comments from artists who complain that their pieces aren't firing to true white. I suspect that in many cases this is because trapped moisture in the shapes is not allowing the colors to mature fully. If you use the schedule below and you are still getting gray tones and dull colors, you need to dry your pieces longer before you fire.
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FIRING SCHEDULE:
300/1000/:02
600/1325/:30
999/900/1:00
150/700/:01
999/70/:00
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Sculpting with Modeling Glass, July 26-28
I'll be at
The Glass Underground in New Jersey in July. Students will learn how to make a realistic, great horned owl feather using pure powdered glass and my Modeling Glass product, 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 combining it with enamels in a sgraffito technique, and sculpting with it to make a summer garden.
Learn more here.
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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. This is a 6" x 9" panel, all Modeling Glass with powder work on the background.
Learn more here.
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Additional Workshop Opportunities
Lois has a full schedule of workshops across the country as well as Canada and the UK. See the schedule
here
.
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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.
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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!
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