I Made Mushrooms

 I do love fused glass - it's one of the first things I see when I walk through my front door.

As the walls of my house fill with stuff I've made over the years...

I'm increasingly drawn to create artwork for the garden - so a fused glass mushroom workshop by The Glass Needle sounded right up my street.   Susan Petrie is the glass artist who's been creating jewellery and homeware gifts for eight years as The Glass Needle.  Prior to discovering a passion for glass art, sewing was Susan's crafting first love, hence the name of her successful one-woman business.

 

Held at H1 in Aberdeen, the same venue as the jesmonite class I attended early last year, the art-space was set up for all four participants and was bright and welcoming.  We could  admire Susan's fused glass mushroom samples in person for the first time, complete with the copper pipe stems she hand crafts.  Safety is always paramount whilst working with glass and Susan helped us navigate the tools and materials supplied in order to stay safe. 

We all practised a straight line cut before Susan demonstrated how to shape our glass into a circle.  Quite daunting.  Though I've been cutting glass regularly when I make mosaics, I tend to cut mostly straight lines then use the grinder to shape the glass into curves.  With Susan's clear explanation of curve cutting, I'll be more confident to try this in future.

In any case, I was pretty pleased with the two reasonably round circles I managed to make as the bases for my mushrooms.  

Susan then showed us how the coloured glass powders might react once fired before we approached the tantalising selection of powder pots arrayed before us.  The colour wheel also helped identify how the numbered powders might look and Susan's beautiful glass bowls served as examples of the hues we could expect for our mushrooms, post firing.

It will surprise no-one that I chose Teal and Spring Green for my first mushroom!

Powder is gently sprinkled through a tea-strainer onto the glass base then sprayed with water to intensify the colour and fix the powder in place.

These little nuggets are called glass frits and they create nubs of intense colour following a visit to the kiln.  

Veering out of my colour comfort zone for mushroom two, I combined orange and two blue powders with glass frit accents in tangerine. 

With the mushrooms completed to this stage, the workshop was over and a very pleasant couple of hours drew to a close.  It's so enriching to spend time with like minded souls learning something new.

The mushroom tops headed home with Susan for firing and shaping.  She sent me this picture of them in her kiln, all set to be fused.

A couple of days later, they were ready to collect.  I was excited to see them after the kiln had worked its magic and I was not disappointed!

It just remained to see where they should go in the garden.  I tried out a few positions.

Before settling on these pots on the approach to my front door.

To find out more about Susan's workshops, check out her Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/TheGlassNeedle.shop

Follow this link to purchase from her Folksy shop:

https://folksy.com/shops/theglassneedle

Instagram will show you more beautiful glass creations by Susan (and students like me!)

https://www.instagram.com/theglassneedleshop/?hl=en

An Obsession With Soap Dishes

Is two an obsession?  

The Jesmonite soap dish I made in January and blogged about here.  Soap by Essentially You

If I've never made a soap dish in my life, then I make two in two months, you might be well within your rights to ask what's going on?

Last November I signed up to a soap making course taking place this month - that's what!

So, at Christmas, I hinted to Santa that I'd like this fused glass soap dish kit from Molten Wonky.

The kit contains all you need with the exception of a kiln to fuse the glass!  That's why Katie of Molten Wonky includes an envelope so you can send your creation back to her so she can fuse it for you at her studio and send it back to you.  There's very comprehensive instructions provided in the accompanying booklet, as well as on her website.

Look at the contents of that wee bag of jewel-like glass pieces.  I couldn't wait to get cracking.

My crafty partner in crime, Carol, also received a fused glass kit as a gift so we arranged a girl's night to enable us to make our pieces together.  

Here's my initial layout with Carol working away on her design in the background.

Once I was happy with my design, I glued the coloured glass pieces onto the transparent glass base using the PVA glue provided.  It becomes clear as it dries so appears to disappear!

My initial intention was to use only the bigger bits of glass but, as I was finishing, I sprinkled the tiny fragments into the gaps - and I'm really glad I did.

Prior to posting my design back to  Katie at Molten Wonky I filled in as many of the gaps as I could.

I used the robust box containing my kit to send my design back to the Molten Wonky studio then it was  used again to return my fused glass soap dish back to me.  The thoughtfully provided post-paid envelope included in the kit meant all I had to do was some careful wrapping and take a trip to the letter box.

Then wait for the postie to bring me my finished soap dish.

I couldn't have been more delighted with it!  See how the tiny bits look like sprinkled confetti.

Now I can't wait for that soap making course so I can use my soap dishes with my very own soap!

Fusing (not con-fusing)

It's no secret that I like coloured glass.  This wee selection is on display in the bedroom and I've blogged here about the stained glass piece I made last year which hangs in our hall.  There's a rainbow sun catcher in the lounge window and other decorative glass bits and bobs around the house.

When the opportunity to take a fused glass workshop with renowned Aberdeen glass artist Shelagh Swanson arose, I jumped at the chance.  Shelagh has produced beautiful artwork for Aberdeen's Duthie Park and I was able to see first hand her commission for The Silver Darling Restaurant on a recent lunch date.  Check out the photos of her glass herring shoal sweeping majestically up the spiral staircase in Shelagh's own blog - my pictures just didn't do it justice.

 

So, on the evening of the workshop, Shelagh welcomed me to her bright studio in Market Street in Aberdeen which overlooks the quay with its ever-changing array of colourful harbour traffic - and the occasional window ledge seagull!  

I took my pal Carol with me - she's a dab hand at stained glass so I knew this'd be right up her street.  Three other experienced glass workers joined us in the studio making our two hour workshop a sociable and creative experience.

 

First we had the opportunity to explore the studio and look at finished pieces to see what might be achieved.  We'd the choice of making four coasters or one larger panel of fused glass, and both chose to make the latter. For a little extra, the panel could be moulded to make a tea light holder but we both chose to create a flat piece for our first attempt.

Shelagh made sure everyone was working safely with the tools and materials as we got to grips with the cutting equipment and special glass.  This has to be able to withstand the high kiln temperatures required for fusing.  There's some crossover with the skills required to make stained glass so I felt reasonably confident handling the glass cutter and nippers.  However, the fusing powders and granular frits were quite new to me as were the tiny glass rods called stringers.
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I made a rough pencil sketch of the landscape I hoped to create and then got on with cutting my pieces and assembling my 'sandwich' of coloured bullseye glass, frits, powder and stringers.
   

Meanwhile, across the table, Carol was creating these lovely daisies.

Our precious panels had to be very carefully carried to the kiln once completed as most of the glass bits aren't stuck down or attached in any way.  No one sneeze please!  

With our very enjoyable evening at an end, we thanked Shelagh and left her to contact us once our panels had been fused in her kiln.

I was pretty excited when Carol told me she'd been to collect them.



Carol sent me these pictures so I could see how they looked and what mine looked like at her window with the light behind it.  Once I had my own panel home, I tried hanging it in several places before I was happy with its permanent spot.  This skinny end wall faces our inner front door so it's one of the first things you see on entering our house.



I'm really pleased with my first ever attempt to make something using the fused glass technique.

And it won't be my last as I'm going back this week to have another go!