What Would Happen If I did……..THIS….?
An experiment with glass powder
One of the best pieces of advice I could give new glass artists (and it also applies to the rest of us) is to make some small samples AND TAKE REALLY GOOD NOTES whenever you do a glass project and especially if you make any changes to an existing process or firing schedule! Also, it doesn’t help to take good notes if next year when you want to try something again, you can’t find them! I know this too well!
When we first start out in glass most of it seems somewhat simple and logical and sometimes changes in processes or firing seem minor when going off in a different direction. THAT is the problem! After a while, especially if you like experimenting and trying all kinds of ways to use glass, you can’t remember those specific minor changes in the process that sometimes create rather large differences in your outcomes.
Classes are wonderful in that they make you try something new. And they get you started in the right direction. But think about it, most of what you learn is just taking basic glass principles and trying different ways of doing things. In other words, you can play, experiment, fire higher, lower, faster, slower, with opal AND/OR transparents, different thicknesses and types of applications, and you can’t help but learn A LOT! Taking what you already know and expanding on it is so much fun. But you will want a way to remember what you did that turned out well (and hopefully also remember some things to NOT do again).
What you do will change over time (for most of us). Even for things you did a lot of at one time, it can be hard to remember those little details later that can make a difference in how well something turns out. Like how striking colors or reactive colors really work. What temps make that striker strike? Does it have pretty “in-between” tones you’d like get on purpose? What reactions do you like, or don’t like, so you can avoid those? How many different ways of applying powders or frits and using sheet glass can you try to see a huge number of design and texture possibilities in just in one color alone, or with reactivity? Experiment, experiment, experiment! Also remember that tack fuse and full fuse create two rather specific results, but what about all the possibilities in between those two? Different results can come from even small variances in temperature and/or time in the kiln! Remember to use extra left over space in your kiln to do those little experiments.
Have you tried playing with the 6mm rule? Stacking and making things sink and spread, having thin things shrink up on purpose (like how you make nice little balls). Intermix colored opals or transparents with clear, then stack and spread, or fire with support to get a thicker shape you can saw into slices. Once you start playing, the processes are almost limitless, but take good notes on the things you enjoy because each new process opens doors to learning even more and you will not only want to be able to repeat things but mix up the way you do things and still maintain control. Find some things you really enjoy and then you will also get more out of classes as a way to really understand what you are doing and expand your capabilities.
another experiment with powder
A test of progressively more firings on strikers
I highly recommend doing quick tests! Make them small enough you can store them easily but mark what you did on them plus the colors and be sure to take readable notes. It is really good to see the actual colors you get when you fire things, and also how they intermix. You don’t want any bad surprises in the middle of a beautiful piece, so know what colors do together. Try using both opals and transparents on some projects too, especially if you tend to usually go all one way or the other. Try comparing how different size frits melt at different temperatures.
I’ve taken a photo of several tests I have done. They don’t have to be perfect, sometimes a mistake will tell you a lot too! The red and yellow photo is of simple powder tests: comparing opal and transparents plus the red striker so it changes color at different stages of firing.
I fired the whole piece once – not real high – and then cut the top row off. I fired the rest again at the same temperature, so still not full fuse, but there is a change in the coloring and transparency. The bottom row will be used for a third firing at the same temp again, just to see how the added firings compare at the same temperature. Next I will do the same powder color in single firings at different higher temps and just compare all of them. It just increases the knowledge I have to control what I’m doing. Time and temp balances just take practice. Every project may be a bit different but you will develop a good feel for what the glass does in your kiln by running tests and experimenting. ALSO, put similar small pieces in different parts of your kiln in one firing to see if your kiln is firing evenly!
You may also put some colors together that you would not normally think to use and see how you like the results. Try some transparents over some opals and get some new colors and tones! The next two photos were samples I did some time ago just testing actual colors and I was thinking about sunrises or sunsets and seeing what might go together well. I also wanted to test if they might have a reaction I would not want.
The last test is one where I wasn’t paying attention and grabbed some opals when I was meaning to just do transparents, but even so I got some interesting results that would be perfectly fine in the right project! We all have scrap glass, especially clear, so save some squares and rectangles and make some quick easy samples to check actual colors or combos. Use other scrap to play with textures or stencils and see what happens. Small tests are both very affordable and fun. Most things can be used somewhere in a landscape or floral to add color and interest! Anyway, take time to play, be brave and experiment! You will enjoy it and you will LEARN more about glass and firing. And always remember to take good notes. It takes a few minutes but will pay off well in the long run! –Greta Schneider
