Opening the Kiln

www.carolingrammoore.com ~ www.artisansofthegap.com www.facebook.com/CarolIngramMoore

 After I opened the kiln for the second time after slumping two four inch glass plates, I decided to take photos of the back as well as the front of each of the two plates. The first plate is embedded with butterflies I had thought to turn into a necklace with earrings to match. Decided that they might look like butterflies in flight with the sky blue glass. This is the back side of the plate.

                        This is the front side of the plate. The butterflies really shimmer in the light.

 Plate two has dichroic glass turned different ways. The top of this plate is the reverse of the dichroic and you can see below the effect on the back side of the plate. The orange is from a piece of glass called a stringer. It is thinner than a pick up stick and lays nicely between the pieces of glass.

 This was a real surprise. There were 21 blossoms on the Daktura plant today. The moths must have had a great time last night.

Baby Birds, Butterflies, and Art Glass

www.carolingrammoore.com ~ www.artisansofthegap.com www.facebook.com/CarolIngramMoore

 Mama robin has been patiently sitting on her eggs. This week, I saw for the first time baby robins. The nest in in a butterfly bush right outside the studio door. The nest is the center of butterfly, bee, and hummingbird moth activity. She has grown used to us and I was able to take this photo as she guarded her babies.

 There are so many butterflies in the yard. The hummingbirds enjoy the nectar from the butterfly bush and fly out as soon as I come near. The butterflies don't seem to pay much attention to me.

 This tiger swallowtail butterfly was moving all around the flower. Isn't it beautiful!!!!!

 Mama robin was away when I came around to the front of the house. I took advantage of her absence to take a photo of the nest. Well, she didn't like that at all. She was swooping at me.

One little robin poking its beak up. They have just a bit of bird fuzz and when they are awake they make their own little bird noises.

Three fused glass bottle stoppers are looking for a home. They are twenty dollars plus shipping and handling. Imagine them on bottles of wine or sparkling cider, art is great for everything!

Sharing Glass Art

www.carolingrammoore.com ~ www.artisansofthegap.com www.facebook.com/CarolIngramMoore

 Seems like it has been awhile since I have shared some of my fused art glass with you. The cat looking up at the night sky is a  four inch plate. The center of the plate shines like the night sky with the help of the gemstone aventurine embedded in the Bullseye 90 COE glass.

 This is one of four new bracelets I have made. I found the base metal bracelets at a store last week. I added  fused glass to create a unique one of a kind bracelet. This blue is as blue as the sea and the greens are as lush as the mountains with all our rain.

 Around the holidays, I was using a lot of red and greens. The green is embedded with aventurine and really sparkles. The first photo of the bracelet is straight on. The one below is a side view.

 If you look closely, you can actually see the camera in this photo. The bracelet has a copper butterfly amid the deep blue violet art glass.

I will be taking these letter openers to the Norton Farmer's Market tomorrow. Doesn't everything look better with art glass?

If you are interested in any of these pieces, just let me know.

Bunny Plate

 Each time I open the kiln, it is like a surprise. I never know what to expect when the heat fuses the glass.
This is an especially pretty blue green plate, or the beginnings of a small plate. I had cut out all the little copper blades of grass to put around the bunny. The bubbles seem like little butterflies embedded in the glass. The snow has melted, well almost all of it.

A few of the new pieces from the previous blog post. They now have bails on them and are ready for black satin cords or silver necklace. The rainbow just happened to be dancing around the computer table. Seemed like just the right place to take a photo.






www.carolingrammoore.com ~ www.artisansofthegap.com www.facebook.com/CarolIngramMoore

Fusing Glass

. On this snowy day,  Sandy left behind several inches of snow in the mountains.Today became a perfect day to spend in the studio creating.  A friend had asked me to share how I fuse glass. Inspired by the snow, I decided to make a snowflake plate with clear glass. Here is how I started the plate. I never know about how things really turn out until I open the kiln.
The first photo is a picture of a box of glass. This box holds eight pieces of 12 x 12 inch clear glass.

 Once the box is opened, there is a lot of padded paper. The box itself comes within a larger packing box filled with recyclable pellets. Opening the paper, the sheets of glass are padded between more sheets of paper.

A sheet of clear glass sitting upon a padded sheet of paper. 

 My glass cutter, the glass grid, and the piece of 12 x 12 inch clear glass ready to be scored.

 I have made a pattern of the plate I am making. I put the pattern on top of the glass sheet. I also use a ruler to give me a very straight edge for making a cut all along the edge of the glass. This is called scoring. If you look closely, you can see the line right under the glass cutter.

 Once the glass is scored, I use running pliers at the base of the score line on the glass. The glass then breaks evenly upon the score line. Using the plate pattern, I cut two pieces of glass to fit the pattern. The pattern is for a plate.

 This is a sheet of copper foil for glass. I use a brayer to smooth out the copper sheet. The left side is before I used the brayer. The right side is after using the brayer several times.

                                    Copper snowflakes are created from the copper foil sheet.

 I cut a piece of Bullseye shelf paper to exactly fit the kiln shelf. The shelf sits upon four kiln posts.

 The glass plate with copper snowflakes and little snippets of copper on the kiln shelf ready to be fired.

I have programmed the kiln for a full fuse. I pressed the start button and it begins to heat up. It takes several hours for the kiln to come to a full fuse. Before I open the lid of the kiln, I let it come completely down to less than 70 degrees. To open the kiln right after full fuse would create lots of  cracks and breaks in the glass.
While the snow comes and goes, the kiln makes little sounds as it heats up kinda like a click.
As the kiln fuses the glass, I'm already thinking about another design or two.

Delphi EZ Pro Kiln and Fusing Glass

I am working on a new project with an incredible artist from London, England. With skype, we are able to chat about the project. I am hopeful that it will be up and running before Thanksgiving, if not sooner. Enough about surprises, I thought it was time to share with you how I fuse glass. I cut the Bullseye blue aventurine glass. Then, I add copper foil cut outs of birds and stars. I  use a toothpick to place the stars onto the glass. I check each star to make sure the points are unfurled. I cut out a piece of shelf paper for each piece I place on the kiln shelf. The shelf is the big circle inside the kiln.

 Here is the kiln with the lid closed sitting on the floor of the studio. There is nothing within 12 inches of the kiln so that air can circulate.

I took a great time of time before I ordered a kiln. I decided to order one from Delphi because of the customer service. I can call and talk to someone if there is ever a problem. I had a few in the beginning and they were very understanding. When a mold broke on the very first firing with ample kiln wash on it. They replaced it immediately. The kiln is very easy to program and comes with a CD. It is now programmed to fuse the glass. After pushing start, the kiln is on and begins fusing. I do not open the kiln until the temperature is under 100 degrees.

Rainbow Hued Blue Fused Glass Bird Plate

 Saturday, I listened to a baker of very good bread at our local Farmer's Market. He talked to me about the beauty of glass, especially blue glass. Blue is his favorite color he told me. We had been talking about the red and white glass plate I made with the copper birds at the time. The conversation and the look on his face provided me with creative inspiration.

 I had some Bullseye Rainbow Hued glass in the studio. I very carefully made a template of the mold. I carefully cut out the blue glass and the clear glass using the template. I used copper foil for the birds. I got so excited about the plate I emailed him.

Don't you just marvel at how light plays off of the glass? All the photos were taken outside in the same space in the yard. The first photo is on a white sheet of paper. The second photo, I held the plate off the paper cropping my hands out of the photo. The third, I placed the plate in the grass. I also used one of the special effects of Picassa so that the photo glowed a bit around the edges. What do you think of the new plate?

August in the Mountains

 Early morning photograph of the mountains from the upper deck. If you peep ever so carefully in the middle of the photo, you can see the mountains as lush and green as the trees.

 After finishing some photo pages for Ray, I took the camera outside to walk around the yard. Amazingly, this is a jasmine blooming. I found it on clearance last year. It wintered over in the house, where it bloomed off and on during the winter. Now it is blooming every day and the scent is heavenly.

 I took several packets of sunflowers into the yard awhile ago. This is the lone sunflower that is reaching up to the sun. The chipmunks while eating sunflowers left several behind. They were about the size of a chipmunk and have already bloomed. The leaves of this flower are simply large hearts unfolding.

 A sculpture in the woods on the side yard was a incredible find at the Farmer's Market in Asheville last August. If you were to hit the bottom middle of the sculpture, it would sound like a gong.

 At the base of the steps is the foundation for the greenhouse, which is completely hidden by flowers and herbs. The sun coming though the butterfly bush reminded me of lace. The angel trumpet vine is tightly closed this morning. Tomorrow, she will have many lovely white blossoms.

 The first signs of the changing of the leaves is always a reminder that fall is coming in all her glory.

Wondering what kind of butterfly is resting on the butterfly bush...This is a volunteer butterfly bush. We  have  a few of these popping up in the yard. While the butterfly rests, I went into the studio to make washi tape for a swap going on at 14 Secrets a Yahoo art group. Inspiration found me. Washi tape is created and resting in a stamped envelope to take to the post office. When I send art mail, I tend to mark art mail fragile as I often include a little treat for the hostess of the art swap.

View from the Studio on a Rainy Day

 The rain is just pouring down this afternoon. I opened the door to take this photo to share with you all. Wiping the camera lense dry, I had a creative thought.

 Here is the view above the computer where I do most of my writing. The little critter is a wombat. The stained glass piece of the M was created by my husband around 1976. There are a lot of special things on the shelf including a little dragon with wings that says Love you. The bird I found in a wonderful shop in Florida in March. She says..and she decided to sing her own special tune. And the rain keeps coming down, the sky is a wonderful blue with white fluffy clouds.

 A new piece I finished on Wednesday. Well, I need to add the crimp bead covers. It is fused glass with mica from Peru in the fused glass. It has green aventurine on either side and then lots of tiny tourmaline beads ending in flourite nuggets.

At first, I thought don't post this piece, but then everything in life does not come out like you want it to. This is the top of the glass case in the studio. The two pendants got caught in the brightness of the flash. On the next layer is a blue round plate. The next layer has other square plates and at the bottom of the case is a mold. Maybe, this is layering of glass in a different way.