What do we call this?

We call this, "Catastrophic Project Failure." See photo 1. Ooops.

But the story isn't so sad. Simple creative challenges are a tool I'm using to move my work forward. I chose a color pallete (photo 2), picked a mold, and went about creating a simple result, not getting overly wrapped up in, "Will this be the coolest thing ever produced?" which is what often happens that results in me not doing an actual piece.

I played with the four colors, cutting four sets of pieces, and creating different arranagements (photo 3). The results were some which I liked, some less so. Starting with the less liked combo, I fused, then slumped. Or, I should say, I successfully fused, but a number of things went wrong during the slump.

My kiln is too small for a project like this. If I want to do it, ramp up needs to be painfully slow, not aggressive (as I tend to run).  The piece cracked in half while ramping up to the full slump temp. So by the time it draped, it was already broken, and the sides slid down to the bottom. Luckily, there's enough kiln wash plashed all over my kiln that nothing stuck. The soak temp was too high, too close to the devit zone which likely caused the grey shift in the blue and the caramel in the marzipan color. The soak time at slump temp was also too long; slump gave way to a much more fluid result. Given it was only 12 minutes, that surprised me.

This mold makes a simple arced piece with a depression; perfect for a simple votive holder, an altar piece, an interesting serving dish, or a spot on a nightstand to place jewelry and other precious things so they won't get lost. When it works, anyway.

On to the next least attractive color combo. By the time I get to the last one I should have it right; that will be iteration #4.  ☺

The little ugly lump of glass lives.

It's a turtle alright. And an ugly little bugger to boot! A simple project with lots learned, though.

1 - The spray method of coating with kiln wash ROCKS. I didn't think it was enough, and really worried after "brushing it off," but it was certainly enough.

2 - I have too heavy of a hand when mixing a color with a clear. I wanted speckled, and got... light green... due to the prevalence of the mix. And I only used... less than 10% of the green. I have much to learn about that.

3 - This mold needs about 145g of glass to fill it up, not 125g. 

I'm going to take a few tiles I've made and slump them into bowls for the Boutique at Petwerks, and will then get to making more pendants. And then... I'm going to slump a candle holder. That's going to really push the little size of my kiln because the initial fuse has to be just about as wide as the kiln is.

I've been lusting over this kiln for years. I hope to generate enough need and income to buy it this year.

First casting assembled; and now we wait.

Heavy components of solid glass thrill me. My first fusing projects were heavy stacks made with dams and bricks to hold 1-2" of glass together. Something about the weight, the heft. My fusing is always deliberate, stark and simple. I can't yet call myself an artist, but rather a studier of techniques; over time my own voice will emerge, so for now I'm satisfied to explore.

A mold casting is fairly simple, something anyone could do, so I'm not worried too much about the outcome. I'm using a reusable mold from Colour de Verre. After spraying a few layers of kiln wash on with a spray bottle, the mold was fired to 500 for an hour, then cooled. The directions made me nervous; it said using a moderate bristled brush, remove the "extra" kiln wash. Is there such a thing as extra? That worried me, but it's a $6 mold I picked up at the winter Glass Fusions sale. I'll take the risk in following the directions.

The molds come with a weight designation telling you how much glass to mound into it. As I measured out 126 grams of frit, it didn't look like enough to fill it. But, it did. I used Bullseye in Juniper Blue with a scattering of finer Emerald Green to give the resulting turtle a little speckled look. Pulling it all away from the edge to insure a nice flow into the far reaches of the mold, it's in the kiln for a simple firing program:

To 1000 at 500/hr;
AFAP to 1425, soak for 25;
AFAP (w/o vent) to 960, soak for 60;
Shut kiln off for cool down w/o vent.

Tune in tomorrow for, hopefully, the finished result!

Edit: the 25 minute soak at full fuse wasn't enough. So back up for another 30 minutes. We'll see! And the glass settled a huge amount. I'd put in about 10% more next time.