A Fun And Easy Glass Play Day!
From Greta Schneider
A number of you wanted to participate in our Powder Challenge last winter but it went on almost daily for a month and several people had to drop out because of other commitments.
A shorter version of our powder challenge would make a perfect Play Day! The exercises are quick and fun….you can choose which ones you want to try. Start with several 5 minute challenges! Since most of them get tossed anyway, you can even do it on paper….with black or colored powder. You can take a photo to keep for reference…..or if you want…do them on smaller pieces of glass and if you really like something, you can fire it.

Starting a fence

The point of the exercises is not to create works of art….but to have fun, experiment and learn how to move powders around to create shadows, highlights, and shading. You may never work just in powder but you might get some great ideas how to incorporate them into frit painting or other fused glass pieces, to add nice shadows and depth. You can also add powder to specific places and with specific shapes by making quick stencils from thick paper or light cardboard.

How to drag an outline

Put a light coating of powder down…with some light and dark areas. Take a business card or I also like to use cut up cereal boxes…the cardboard is easy to cut into shapes and has some give to it. As shown in these photos…scrape around and make a ball, an egg, or a piece of fruit….whatever you want….see how the lighter and darker areas give it the feeling of shape and depth. The edge of the card will also produce a hard darker line…. thick or thinner depending on how much powder you drag and what angle you hold it at.

A fence sounds like it should be really complicated, right? Look how easy it was with the side of a piece of cardboard. And it even creates a shadow on the side of each board! Then cut two notches sticking out from the cardboard and drag in the cross boards. You can use this to create buildings and walls, etc. This could be the base to which you add larger, brighter frit for more texture. It could give you a good base design on which to add enamels to add color and details. It is a fun way to play with floral designs.

The nice thing is that for the most part…you can just have fun…. if it doesn’t work quite right….tip the powder off, wipe it clean and try again. Each time you do it you will get better at handling the powders and various tools. Try things with different edges and surfaces….pull a fork through it….play with toothpicks, brushes, scrapers, feathers, spoons, textured tools, etc. Everyone try a tree, also try a tree upside down, some fruit, a flower with leaves, and then compare what each of you came up with and what worked best. Remember you could do a base design this way, fire it, then come back and safely play with more colors, shadows, or textures.

You could also do a Play Day with very basic quick things to try. Then do have another play day where you do more complicated designs, like a face, something you are scared of: (like a snake, a spider, a shark… ), or something in nature, a bird, your pet, etc. Also try the same basic design once by making the item dark on a light background and once scraping a light shape out of a dark background.

This is an easy Play Day that requires relatively few materials or space. Do the piece, take a photo, then dump it! It is just for fun and to learn!