My first solo kiln run
My latest tricks…
I’ve spent some fun time in the studio recently, playing more with color and getting the accuracy of my glass cutting to be more precise. I’m actually really happy with my progress, its slow, but moving in the right direction. More incremental than revolutionary. I watch Herb, another guy in the studio, do strip cuts of glass at what seems like the speed of light and I’d very much like to do that. Time. I just need more time.
Most of the time that I’m in the studio I am by myself. That is great from the perspective of space and freedom to do what I want (play showtunes very loudly over the speakers and jive along) but it also means that I don’t have others around for support or questions. The first time I used the kiln, Herb was there to run me through it. The controls are not at all intuitive.
So, Tuesday night I worked at the studio by myself for almost 4 hours. I had 2 weeks worth of work to fuse in the kiln and there was no one else scheduled to use either of the big beasts for days. I decided to load up the larger of the two kilns and run a fuse cycle. So, I cleaned it out, I put down the ThinFire paper and arranged all my glass. I closed the cover. Beep beep beep, I poked at the buttons of the controller. I knew I had to use “Program 1”, but somehow, the controller wasn’t working the way I expected. Beep beep beep, I tried the sequence again, no luck. Beep beep beep, another option, then another, and another, but still I couldn’t make the kiln start up for the run. I was starting to feel like Mickey Mouse in “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” trying every incantation I could to make the magic start.
I gave up on that kiln, but thought maybe I could make his little brother work. I transferred the work to the smaller kiln. It was a tighter fit, but it all made it. Beep beep beep and I hear the click of the solenoid and the hum of electric current as the heating elements fired up. Okay, it was finally working!! I was very proud of myself as I thought that in 22 hours I would have my finished work. Of course, now I felt even more like Mickey Mouse, wondering if I had done something horribly wrong that I wouldn’t be able to control or stop. I was asking an oven to start baking a recipe for 22 hours that would reach temperatures (unsupervised) of nearly 1,500 degrees. I actually woke up in the middle of the night wondering if I burned the place down.
Of course I didn’t burn the place down. Daniel accompanied me back the next day to retrieve me work. The kiln ran its cycle and everything was fine. I pulled a total of 15 pieces out and was overall satisfied with the results. Whew! Here is the whole collection
Commentary:
The sunburst piece didn't turn out at all the way I had imagined. It was a good experiment, but it is more a lesson in what NOT to do rather than how to to it. It is Blue irridescent glass under clear. the rays are stringer and I cut a piece of opulescent orange for the sun. Its a nice concept, but you can see the stringer through the sun and the construction of the whole thing is visible through the back. I think I'm going to slump it into a mould just to see how it performs.
The four matching squares are made from a cobalt blue tile under a piece of clear striker. I didn't know exactly how the striker was going to fire, but obviously now it makes a cloudy white. Its actually kind of a cool effect. in the second picture I flipped one over just to demonstrate how intensely blue the first layer is.
In an early project, I made four square with different stripe colors and irridescent white. This time I put the irridescent under a clear layer to see the effect but kept a varied color stripe motif. I liked the outcome, but the irridescence never really comes through. The cuts, however, are nearly perfect and I like the look. They are 4" square.
I did another foru squares with white layers under a clear layer and some stringer over them. They are cute but not inspiring. On the positive side, they are super easy to make and perhaps someone would really like them.
Lastly, I made two 8" x 8" square pieces. The first, a blue on blue with citron accents, and another tangerine on lime with cobalt accents. The blue on blue came out okay, but the color contrast was far better before firing and the accent shapes didn't really work for me. The second one blew my socks off and I can't wait to do more with the combo. I definitely plan on slumping this piece into a cool little shape but then I plan to try more with this combo. Its a winner!!
I’ve spent some fun time in the studio recently, playing more with color and getting the accuracy of my glass cutting to be more precise. I’m actually really happy with my progress, its slow, but moving in the right direction. More incremental than revolutionary. I watch Herb, another guy in the studio, do strip cuts of glass at what seems like the speed of light and I’d very much like to do that. Time. I just need more time.
Most of the time that I’m in the studio I am by myself. That is great from the perspective of space and freedom to do what I want (play showtunes very loudly over the speakers and jive along) but it also means that I don’t have others around for support or questions. The first time I used the kiln, Herb was there to run me through it. The controls are not at all intuitive.
So, Tuesday night I worked at the studio by myself for almost 4 hours. I had 2 weeks worth of work to fuse in the kiln and there was no one else scheduled to use either of the big beasts for days. I decided to load up the larger of the two kilns and run a fuse cycle. So, I cleaned it out, I put down the ThinFire paper and arranged all my glass. I closed the cover. Beep beep beep, I poked at the buttons of the controller. I knew I had to use “Program 1”, but somehow, the controller wasn’t working the way I expected. Beep beep beep, I tried the sequence again, no luck. Beep beep beep, another option, then another, and another, but still I couldn’t make the kiln start up for the run. I was starting to feel like Mickey Mouse in “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” trying every incantation I could to make the magic start.
I gave up on that kiln, but thought maybe I could make his little brother work. I transferred the work to the smaller kiln. It was a tighter fit, but it all made it. Beep beep beep and I hear the click of the solenoid and the hum of electric current as the heating elements fired up. Okay, it was finally working!! I was very proud of myself as I thought that in 22 hours I would have my finished work. Of course, now I felt even more like Mickey Mouse, wondering if I had done something horribly wrong that I wouldn’t be able to control or stop. I was asking an oven to start baking a recipe for 22 hours that would reach temperatures (unsupervised) of nearly 1,500 degrees. I actually woke up in the middle of the night wondering if I burned the place down.
Of course I didn’t burn the place down. Daniel accompanied me back the next day to retrieve me work. The kiln ran its cycle and everything was fine. I pulled a total of 15 pieces out and was overall satisfied with the results. Whew! Here is the whole collection
Commentary:
The sunburst piece didn't turn out at all the way I had imagined. It was a good experiment, but it is more a lesson in what NOT to do rather than how to to it. It is Blue irridescent glass under clear. the rays are stringer and I cut a piece of opulescent orange for the sun. Its a nice concept, but you can see the stringer through the sun and the construction of the whole thing is visible through the back. I think I'm going to slump it into a mould just to see how it performs.
The four matching squares are made from a cobalt blue tile under a piece of clear striker. I didn't know exactly how the striker was going to fire, but obviously now it makes a cloudy white. Its actually kind of a cool effect. in the second picture I flipped one over just to demonstrate how intensely blue the first layer is.
In an early project, I made four square with different stripe colors and irridescent white. This time I put the irridescent under a clear layer to see the effect but kept a varied color stripe motif. I liked the outcome, but the irridescence never really comes through. The cuts, however, are nearly perfect and I like the look. They are 4" square.
I did another foru squares with white layers under a clear layer and some stringer over them. They are cute but not inspiring. On the positive side, they are super easy to make and perhaps someone would really like them.
Lastly, I made two 8" x 8" square pieces. The first, a blue on blue with citron accents, and another tangerine on lime with cobalt accents. The blue on blue came out okay, but the color contrast was far better before firing and the accent shapes didn't really work for me. The second one blew my socks off and I can't wait to do more with the combo. I definitely plan on slumping this piece into a cool little shape but then I plan to try more with this combo. Its a winner!!