HELLO SEPTEMBER! What better way to usher in Autumn and welcome the bountiful harvest of Fall than with a spicy pumpkin bowl? And this tasty treat is so fast and easy to bake you’ll be tempted to fuse up an entire field full. Don’t let the subtle shading and intricate details of this piece fool you into thinking this project is time consuming. The beauty of this seasonal bowl is the speed and ease at which you can bring a rich combination of materials together to make a striking arrangement.
To make this elegant pumpkin bowl draw a 10 ½ inch circle on paper. Give your pumpkin shape be adding a few curves to the top and bottom of the circle. Using the pattern as a guide, cut layer 1 out of Marigold. Cut a second piece of glass, for layer 2 the same shape and size out of Yellow patterned glass. Cut a stem shape out of opal green glass for layer 3. Grind the cut pieces and test the fit for accuracy. After grinding, be sure to clean and dry all the ground glass pieces. I use plain water and a cotton towel. A single edge razor blade works well to remove any stubborn glue or paint-based marker.
Create lush shadows and contours with frit.
Use a sifter to apply an even layer of red powder frit on top of the marigold layer. Concentrate the frit and make gradual curved lines that accentuate the plump roundness of a vine ripened pumpkin. Use a small, dry paint brush to perfect your curves. Stack the yellow pattern glass on the frit coated marigold base. Add the green stem and fuse. Slump the fused glass in a shallow mold.
Note: The finished size of this delightful pumpkin bowl is 10 inch. The fused glass is slumped into a shallow 11-inch ceramic mold. You can make the pumpkin larger or smaller to fit any size or shape mold you have.
Watch How to make a pumpkin bowl on my YouTube Channel below!
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What better way to keep the warm, carefree days of summer flowing than with a fancy tropical fish plate. The cool thing about this brightly colored reef dweller is it combines easy cutting techniques along with a freestyle approach to assembly that make it fast, easy and fun to make.
Here’s how
Fish Plate How-To 12” x 9”
Using the pattern as a guide cut a base out of clear glass. Cut as much as possible by hand. Use a wet saw to cut the deep inside curves. If you don’t have access to a saw, the base can be made up of pieces. Grind the base to remove sharp edges and improve the shape.
Cut ¼” wide strips of color glass for the fish body. I used both opal and transparent glass. Spread the glass out to create an interesting color arrangement.
Use the pattern as a guide to cut the head and tail out of opal glass. Cut the fins out of transparent glass. Grind the glass as needed.
Arrange the strips on the paper pattern between the head and tail pieces. Include a few pieces of twisted cane between the glass strips for a trendy detail. Mark the glass strips and cut them to size.
Bend stringer in a candle for a fun wavy pattern.
Stack the head, tail and fins on the base layer. Glue the cut glass to the base with fuser’s glue. Add the eye and side fin.
Detail the fish with an assortment of black and clear dichroic scrap and wavy stingers.
Fire the fish to a full fuse temperature.
Slump the fish into a shallow mold.
Enjoy!
Fish Plate Pattern
Fusing Guide
Segment 1: Ramp 300 F/hr to 1300 and hold 30 min.
Segment 2: Ramp 500 F/hr to 1465 and hold 10 min.
Segment 3: Ramp 9999(AFAP*) to 960 and hold 40 min.
Segment 4: Cool to room temperature.
*As fast as possible
Slumping Guide
Segment 1: Ramp 300 F/hr to 1265 and hold 10 min.
Segment 2: Ramp 9999(AFAP*) to 960 and hold 40 min.
Segment 3: Cool to room temperature.
*As fast as possible.
NOTE: Kilns fire differently. Test fire these guides in your kiln and then make adjustments as needed.
Fish Plate as seen in my Fun and Fanciful Fusing video.
Fun and Fanciful Fusingwith Lisa Vogt. “I LOVE the creative projects and use of color in this video. So inspiring!” This exciting video is all about having fun! It’s about working with vibrant glass colors, making new project shapes, and getting excited about glass fusing again!
Happy Fusing!
Lisa & Niki
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Raise a glass! Let’s celebrate all that we have to be thankful for. I enjoy drinking wine and the warm, relaxed atmosphere it creates. Therefore, it was natural to include a wine glass in my collection of designs in my video, Simple Pleasures.
My design process.
Once I decide on the subject matter for a specific project, in this case a simple wine glass, I then consider the background space. I say to myself, “What can I do in the background to enhance my focal point?” Then I take it step farther and ask. “How can I create a setting that reflects the mood I want to portray?” Wine makes me think of rolling green hills and booming vineyards. I’ve only been to a vineyard once. So, I researched winery images online where I found a lot of inspiration. I wanted the background to add to, but not overpower the wine glass. I decided to create a sense of place with a rural landscape complete with distant hills and the illusion of rows of grape vines.
I then decided that frit would give me the stylized feel I wanted for the background. With frit I had control and the flexibility to create a setting that’s both easily recognizable and impressionistic at the same time. I selected high contrast frit colors. I used fine size frit to give me soft lines that would be consistent with a distant view.
As you can see, a lot of planning and forethought goes into my designs. All of my decisions are intentional. Working this way takes time, but the increase in visual potency is always worth the effort. When you start a project, give it your full attention. Think beyond cutting the glass and stacking it in the kiln. Consider ways you can create a greater visual impact by adding detail.
How to make the Wine Glass.
This 8 inch x 8 inch project is made with 2 layers of glass. The base layer is white glass. The design layer is made up of cut glass and frit.
Cut a ½ inch wide border out of purple glass. Cut the wine glass out of dichroic or iridized glass. Glue the border and wine glass pieces to the base layer. Let the glue dry so the pieces don’t move when you apply the frit.
Apply a thick layer of medium green, fine size frit to the bottom of the space. Use a small paint brush to shape the green into a nice, graceful curve. Use a spoon to apply dark green, fine size frit on top of the medium frit to represent the grape vine rows.
Tip: Pile the frit up to the thickness of the cut glass around it for strong color saturation and even coverage.
Moving up apply light green, fine size frit to create a distant hill. Detail the hill with medium green, fine size frit for the distant grape vine rows. Continue building the landscape with a brown hill followed by a tan hill.
I used fine size, sky blue frit for the upper portion of the background. I then blended fine size, medium blue into the sky blue to create movement in the sky.
Tip: Be meticulous about your clean up. Carefully brush any excess frit off the wine glass and border. The more time and effort you put into every step, the higher the quality of your finished artwork. Always do your best work.
Fire the assembled project to a full fuse temperature using the firing guide below.
My wine glass panel measures 8 inch x 8 inch. You can make it in a different size and get the same beautiful results.
Wine Glass as seen in my Simple Pleasures video. This is only one of 12 fun projects in my full length video. Download it now at www.LisaJVogt.com
Fusing Guide
Segment 1: Ramp 300 F/hr to 1300 and hold 30 min.
Segment 2: Ramp 500 F/hr to 1465 and hold 10 min.
Segment 3: Ramp 9999(AFAP*) to 960 and hold 40 min.
Segment 4: Cool to room temperature.
*As fast as possible
NOTE: Kilns fire differently. Test fire these guides in your kiln and then make adjustments as needed. Raise a glass. Let’s celebrate!
It’s much easier to clean a single square piece of glass than it is to clean a bunch of small pieces. You’ll also do a better job because you can see any dust or hint of glue from the manufacturer’s stickers more easily on the larger surface area. I avoid using chemicals or cleaners that might introduce potential contaminants to my fused glass. I use plain water and clean cotton towels to clean and dry my glass.
2. Improve your accuracy by using the right tool for the job.
When cutting glass strips or circles for my projects I use certain tools to help improve the fit of my pieces. The benefits of using strip cutters and circle cutters are they reduce waste and scrap glass. Plus, their ease of use makes the project assembly faster, easier and more precise.
Wet saws are great for cutting intricate shapes that otherwise would have to be done in multiple pieces. This time and material saving approach also enables you to make more elaborate designs.
Mosaic nippers are handy to quickly and efficiently produce irregular pieces for playful patterns and whimsical designs.
3. Pick a color pallet and stick with it.
Being selective about the colors you use increases the strength of your artwork. It shows the purposeful design direction of the artist and at the same time establishes the mood of the piece. Use multiple shades of the same colors to create depth and greater visual interest. Select both transparent and opal glass in your color pallet to increase design depth.
4. Use high contrast colors.
Be bold! Combine striking colors to bring your design to life. Using high contrast colors enhances the linear details of your design. It’s an easy way to increase the impact and overall attractiveness of your glass art.
5. Include a focal point.
A focal point gets the viewer’s attention, engages them and makes your art memorable. Focal points can be literal like a leaf, a bird or a wave. Easily recognizable images are relatable and endearing. While abstract designs also benefit from having a focal point too. You can include an unexpected shape or pop of color to make your art more engaging.
6. Do your best work.
Be meticulous with every step. The time and effort you put into each step makes the next step faster, easier and more professional looking. Make sure your glass pieces fit well. If you ask yourself, is this good enough? It likely isn’t your best work. Redo that piece, re-cut the glass, do whatever it takes to make sure you’ll be proud of your finished work.
7. Build your projects with two full layers of glass to make them visually attractive and structurally durable.
This method of assembly produces beautiful smooth edge quality and a uniform thickness throughout your finished piece of art. These characteristics elevate your work to a professional quality that’s consistent with high end, gallery worthy artwork.
8. Make your pieces a little smaller than your slumping molds to ensure they slump evenly.
If you intend to slump your fused glass project measure the slumping mold you plan to use in advance of laying out your design. Make your project ½-inch smaller than the mold to accommodate any potential growth and to ensure the glass slumps evenly. When the glass is larger than the mold, or if it sits on the top edge of the mold, the glass may slip to one side and slump unevenly.
9. Fire projects with other pieces with similar construction style.
It’s good practice to fire projects built with two layers together and fire projects made with one layer separately to ensure you have the best results possible for each type of construction. Large projects can be fired alongside small projects. Fire the kiln at a rate that’s appropriate for the largest project in the kiln.
10. If in doubt fire slower.
If you’re concerned about your firing rate it’s okay to fire your kiln more slowly and add more time to the annealing segment hold. This small change often improves your consistency and results in greater success.
11. Re-prime your kiln shelf and slumping molds before use if they show signs of wear.
I clean and prime my kilns shelves every time in use them. Then I’m sure my glass won’t stick to the shelf. I prime my slumping molds when they show signs of wear. Wear includes: the primer looks thin or it’s pealing. This routine maintenance enables me to fuse and slump with confidence.
12. Allow your kiln and the glass inside to cool to room temperature before opening the kiln.
Be patient! I know it’s hard to resist opening the kiln. If I’m tempted to open my kiln, I ask myself what’s more important to me in six weeks from now? Is it that I get to see the project a few hours early OR that the project is cooled properly and stable? This idea gives me strength to be patient.
Bonus 13. Take before and after pictures and take notes.
Pictures and notes help you gain confidence in your kiln work. They document your progress and are glowing examples of your artistic growth. They’re also useful for trouble shooting unexpected results. Pictures and notes help you reproduce your successes and learn from your failures.
Artists are the most generous people I know. We love to share our passion. We all want to make a more dramatic and memorable impression with our art. One of the bests ways to accomplish this is to go bigger and make large scale pieces that stand out from the crowd.
But going bigger can be scary. You have to invest more time and material. And there are more design decisions to make. It’s a huge commitment and you want guarantees that the finished piece will exceed your expectations. Following are some fundamental tips that’ll greatly increase your success with all your fused glass artwork.
1 Measuring the Slumping Mold
It seems trivial, but this is where most craftsman go wrong. Everyone wants to make the largest fused glass disc possible. They then measure the mold from the outer rim to the outer rim and cut their glass circles accordingly. They wrongly assume the glass that rests on the top rim of the mold will follow the center of the fused glass disc as it slumps into the mold. The problem is the glass on the flat rim drags.
Therefore, it does not fall into the mold evenly. The result is a bowl with uneven height in the side walls. A lopsided bowl can be avoided simply by measuring across the inside of the mold and then cutting the glass ¼ to ½ inch smaller than that measurement. Yes, the bowl is slightly smaller. No one will notice. They’ll be too busy admiring your beautifully crafted, uniform bowl with even side walls all the way around.
2 Durability is in the Design
When going larger it’s important to design your art in such a way that the glass thickness is uniform throughout the entire piece of art. If you design the round disc with two glass layers on one side and four glass layers on the opposite side, you’ll have unbalanced mass. This can cause the finished piece of art to break due to the stress of supporting its own weight. Instead, plan your design execution in advance to ensure you have the same number of glass layers across the entire disc. Small accents pieces decorating the top aren’t a concern, provided they’re added in moderation.
3 Let it Shine
The beauty of glass is its transparency, and the attraction of glass fusing is our ability to mix transparent and opal materials, to create various color combinations and an infinite number of intricate patterns. The wonderful thing about going large is the extended size of the creative canvas. With more room, you have more opportunity to expand your design ideas and make a dynamic statement. So rather than fumble through, take time to plan a well thought out design. Consider including pre-tacked or fused glass components for added interest. Mix both transparent and opal glass to increase visible depth. The possibilities are endless.
4 Do Your Best Work
Don’t cut corners. No excuses. If you think to ask, “Should I recut or redo this?” My answer is, “Yes.” The more time and effort you put into each step will greatly improve the overall quality of your finished pieces. Fabrication and execution are equally as important as design esthetics. If you implement this approach, every piece you produce will be a masterpiece.
5 Fusing and Slumping
Slow it down. Larger usually also means thicker. You’ll dramatically increase your firing success rate by slowing down both the fusing schedule and the slumping schedule. I fire my large pieces at 300 degrees per hour and hold several times on the way up to 1465 degrees to fuse, and 1220 degrees to slump. I anneal the glass at 960 degrees for 180 minutes, for both fusing and slumping, and then slowly drop the temperature down to room temperature. By being conservative with the firing schedules, I achieve consistently beautiful results every time. You can too!
Happy Fusing!
Lisa & Niki
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