Has anyone used Effetre Navy yet?? I have had a little play and it is more of a blueish grey. Just wondering if anyone else has had different results.
The lighter one on top is encased.
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5526/12202463415_e96f6d7790_m.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/moonlight-jewellery/12202463415/)
Effetre Navy (http://www.flickr.com/photos/moonlight-jewellery/12202463415/) by Moonlight Beads (http://www.flickr.com/people/moonlight-jewellery/), on Flickr
I was at Tuffnell's the other day and was asking after one of my favourite glasses - cim stoneground. Teresa said it hadn't come in despite expecting it. Ever helpful Teresa and Becky started to suggest similar looking glasses. I left with Effetre sand and a promise to play with it as soon as possible. So here is what I did with it.
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5495/12202095254_7ddf48ecfc.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/gaysie_may_designs/12202095254/)
Effetre Sand (http://www.flickr.com/photos/gaysie_may_designs/12202095254/) by GaysieMay (http://www.flickr.com/people/gaysie_may_designs/), on Flickr
The little heart is etched stoneground with silvered ivory shards.
The sand heart has shards made with sand and silver on it. The other beads have either silver foil or iris orange frit on them. As you can see I haven't etched them yet, but as a substitute for stoneground I am really rather pleased with Effetre sand. I'm not entirely sure what the price comparison looks like, but I do know that Effetre seem to make more reliable and stable glass pulls, so I personally am a happy bunny. X :)
One of my sons has been attempting to set up a basic cheap and cheerful electroforming kit for me and all the bits have now been delivered. Heres the kit, (http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1426/5604171/11984392/408705213.jpg) We tried one of the dead bay leaves from my garden to trial the set up and this is the result, (http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1426/5604171/11984392/408705211.jpg) It's bit patchy and for the next trial he's changed the current and we've used a snail shell from the garden. I'll post a picture of that when it's finished. You can still see the veins in the leaf and it seems to be sturdy enough if it was to be used in jewellery. Of course the jump ring attachment needs to be neater b8ut since this was just a first try, we didn't take a lot of care when glueing the ring to the leaf.
Heres the snail shell after three hours in the solution, (http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1426/5604171/11984392/408712355.jpg)
Heres a plain white bead that's been electroformed,(http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1426/5604171/11984392/408754844.jpg) and the other side, (http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1426/5604171/11984392/408754842.jpg)
I'm not sure yet how secure the coating will be but will tumble the bead to shine the copper. That should prove how durable the coating is.
Modified to add, I've just finished tumbling and some of the coating has come off but one side has remained and become shiny.
Some of you may have seen a post where I was asking for advice on ageing beads and giving them a pitted look, as usual you all came up trumps with ideas and links etc. I must admit I was a little nervous about using some of the chemicals involved and opted for the baking powder and sand route. I also threw some enamel and gold leaf into the mix for a little fun before etching them.
I have to say I was very pleased with the results. My initial inspiration was a beautiful picture posted on facebook by a fellow lampworker John Winter. If you go on my page www.facebook.com/gaysiemay and find the beads John has also added the photo in his comments.
Thanks again for all your suggestions
Gay
(https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2912/14111844958_9b65ee1482.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/nv1TRG)Patina beads 008 (https://flic.kr/p/nv1TRG) by GaysieMay (https://www.flickr.com/people/49485853@N03/), on Flickr
(https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2939/14298495995_d355f5d382.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/nMvwH2)Patina beads 009 (https://flic.kr/p/nMvwH2) by GaysieMay (https://www.flickr.com/people/49485853@N03/), on Flickr
I can't wait to make them up into some jewellery x
I'm determined to fill the world with my Owls. lol
Here is one of mine turned into a pendant using 925 wire, little crystal atop her bonce and a little branch for her to sit on.
Whaddaya think?
(https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2915/14320336773_c6963b9f08_z.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/nPrtda)DSC_0234 (https://flic.kr/p/nPrtda) by The Owl Goes Hoot (https://www.flickr.com/people/104797133@N05/), on Flickr
Here is my very first attempt at a glass creature. A bumble bee is what she is supposed to be. I really struggled With her, the glass melted when it was not supposed too and vice versa. I don't know how long her wings will hold, but she is annealed so I hope she will survive for a while.
(http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm317/ACDonMyMind/29b0baad-989f-4ce4-a45d-9812f67c6c73.jpg) (http://s299.photobucket.com/user/ACDonMyMind/media/29b0baad-989f-4ce4-a45d-9812f67c6c73.jpg.html)
This is my very first Hollow bead. It has some flaws, it imploded on me and so a part of it got stuck to the mandrel in the middle, but the rest is Hollow.I used a mandrel With two holes out toward the end of the mandrel. I blew much too hard in the beginning and a portion of it ballooned out and then exploded. But I fixed the hole and continued With only small puffs in the mandrel and it started to behave better. The damage had allready been done though, and I only have one of these mandrels so I couldn't try again at once. It was very much fun and I absolutely will make another one soon.
(http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm317/ACDonMyMind/23f4bdba-84b2-4f46-952d-e96a1de963ea.jpg) (http://s299.photobucket.com/user/ACDonMyMind/media/23f4bdba-84b2-4f46-952d-e96a1de963ea.jpg.html)
I had to try again to make a Hollow one. This is nr3. My nr. 2 did not work at all. But this one I am very very happy With. It is truly Hollow, no airbubbles as I can see. The only thing wrong With it is the holes, they could be prettier, and it is a bit lopsided.
Now, it is not annealed yet, and so it has to be put in the kiln Cold and ramp up to garaging temperature. Any suggestions on how fast I can ramp It With a Hollow bead? I don't want to destroy it.
(http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm317/ACDonMyMind/7c88d342-a0db-4b57-b55b-9480c62301f6.jpg) (http://s299.photobucket.com/user/ACDonMyMind/media/7c88d342-a0db-4b57-b55b-9480c62301f6.jpg.html)
(http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm317/ACDonMyMind/da43d53b-b128-4e0a-a385-970268472ccb.jpg) (http://s299.photobucket.com/user/ACDonMyMind/media/da43d53b-b128-4e0a-a385-970268472ccb.jpg.html)
I mentioned this in another post. (http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1426/5604171/24562402/409751310.jpg)
Here's my fused disc of pulled cane from my and my partners vitrigraph pull. The dark colours were caused by a reaction between adjacent circles of glass in the vitrigraph pot. There were three kilns operating for the disc slump and there was a problem in the kiln in which my disc was slumping resulting in the disc falling from one side of the slump ring. This was the result. (http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1426/5604171/24562402/409751312.jpg) Nathan the tutor felt so bad about it that he gave me one of his signed pieces to take home. The other project we each did was to fuse some scraps and cane flat and this was my piece set up in it's dams, (http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1426/5604171/24562402/409751311.jpg) I opted for simple because I was getting very tired by that stage. I flat lapped the edges and fire polished them at home and this is the final piece.
(http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1426/5604171/24562402/409751399.jpg) I learned a lot on the course but driving there and back accross the QE2 bridge each day was a bit of a killer. The meals provided each day were great though and I bought myself a vitrigraph kiln on the final day so that I could play at home.
I mentioned in my previous post that I'd bought a vitrigraph kiln at the end of my course. I wanted to try out something simple for a first pull and heres the pot filled with scrap white Spectrum glass left over from stained glass projects many years ago. (http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1426/5604171/24562402/409773736.jpg)
Here are the canes from the pull, they are all about 4ft, (http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1426/5604171/24562402/409773737.jpg) The 4 on the extreme left are hollow which is what happens when the pot is getting empty but the canes can still be used. The rest are solid white COE 96 rods which I can use to make beads. Another plus is that I can use as much COE 96 frit as I want as the 5% rule doesn't apply. You may notice that theres some pale blue in the pot plus some of the bits are rust stained but this hasn't shown up in the pulled cane. I forgot to mention that the whole thing took 7 hours from turning on the kiln to turning it off.
Alan, if your kiln is a Paragon Caldera, it can easily be made into a vitrigraph kiln by removing the base and sitting the kiln onto a vermiculite shelf with a circular hole cut in it. I don't know about the bottle glass. I've made beads from bottle glass and added decoration from a differently coloured bottle. The white Spectrum scrap I pulled is very shocky but I got around that by heating them in the kiln prior to making a bead. I have a large ceramic kiln so might try annealing the rods to see if it makes any difference.
Heres the pull I did this afternoon.(http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1426/5604171/24562402/409781229.jpg) There are 10 lengths of about 4ft that are solid and 7 lengths that are hollow. Some of the hollows which have thicker walls, I can use to blow baubles. The others I may put into a melt or turn into frit.
I've been asked by Nathan Sandberg to remove the last picture and that is why it's disappeared.
Bullseye has an section at http://www.bullseyeglass.com/forum/index/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=3398 on the basic use of a vitrigraph kiln for anyone interested.
A good way to use up some rod ends and create a wand pendant
I used a strip of copperfoil,tin coated copper wire,fused glass cabochons and crystals then soldered them to the rod ends and soldered a wire loop attached a open bail and chain.....I used to sell theses years ago for £20 at psychic fairs and crystal shops.
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4068/4316245788_799b8d44c1.jpg) (https://www.flickr.com/photos/kizzysglassart/4316245788/)
mini wand pendants (https://www.flickr.com/photos/kizzysglassart/4316245788/) by kizzys.glass (https://www.flickr.com/people/kizzysglassart/), on Flickr
Or you can even make large hand held wands, great for crystal healing!
(https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2781/4315507123_6816592d32.jpg) (https://www.flickr.com/photos/kizzysglassart/4315507123/)
healing wand in wood case (https://www.flickr.com/photos/kizzysglassart/4315507123/) by kizzys.glass (https://www.flickr.com/people/kizzysglassart/), on Flickr
Ever since I saw a frog on a bead for the first time, I wanted to make one, and yesterday I finally had a go. This little guy is my very first frog, and he was very fun to make, but I was so scared the Whole time fearing the bead would crack , legs would pop off or melt into a mess. But here he is and I like him.
(http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm317/ACDonMyMind/898fbbed-0292-49a7-8788-e8f79a018a0d.jpg) (http://s299.photobucket.com/user/ACDonMyMind/media/898fbbed-0292-49a7-8788-e8f79a018a0d.jpg.html)
(http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm317/ACDonMyMind/d30f3f17-31c8-4a85-b3ab-b898a1dfd6cf.jpg) (http://s299.photobucket.com/user/ACDonMyMind/media/d30f3f17-31c8-4a85-b3ab-b898a1dfd6cf.jpg.html)
As I'm going on the Wesley Fleming class next week, I thought I'd have a go at the bird shown on the class ticket. Lots more work required I think plus he's lost his tail for now . I might put him in the kiln and add a tail.
(http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1426/5604171/24562402/410102353.jpg)
It does stand up and if I remake this, I'll try working the head before I add the feet. I think a lot depends on the order in which bits are added to the basic shape.
I made this really just to see if I could. I used a square bowl picked up cheaply from a charity shop and some of the blue rods of window glass from a vitrigraph pull. The glass in the pull was coloured with float frit. There are a few tiny bubbles because I forgot to put in some small pieces between the two sheets of 3mm glass to let all the air out while fusing. I also used my new kiln which unlike the old one, has a proper controller which necessitated learning how to use it. ::) ::) ::)
(http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1426/5604171/24562402/410212566.jpg)
I often mention using this scrap and I still have lots. I decided to use up some of the opaque pink so cut up the pieces to make them easier to use. Here are the cut up pieces, (http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1426/5604171/24562402/410249375.jpg) and the five beads made from them, (http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1426/5604171/24562402/410249374.jpg) 147 grams of glass. The 4 large lentils were made using the 45mm press. The plain beads will be dressed up with some crystals and silver wire.
Hi folks I've been playing with different effects using silver and copper filings.
I've had some interesting results and I through I'd share then with you.
I had planned to use dark ivory as the effect I wanted, its what one member, Calico Cat, referred to as "curdled"
I'd run out of Dark Ivory so I'm using plain Ivory instead.
Here's some pictures and a bit of a description of what I've done.
It's fair to say that the differences between each set of images is quite subtle but they are all different.
In all cases I'm using dual gas torch but you can get comparable effects with a Hot-Head torch.
(https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8635/15574137570_157346eac0.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/pJewvh)DSCF8440 (https://flic.kr/p/pJewvh) by andy.c.davies@btinternet.com (https://www.flickr.com/people/113356215@N06/), on Flickr
Image 1 Above After smoothing out the ivory with its black ends I rolled the beads onto some silver filings then I reheated the beads and rolled them onto a piece of wood (pine.)
This makes the wood burn and smoke a bit I did this to contaminate the surface of the bead/metal. I then gave it a clear top coat.
In all of these trials I think its far to say that using less metal would be better than using too much. The beads in image 1 are the only beads here that have had the 'burnt wood' treatment.
(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3940/15735236606_c872c94d90.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/pYtcCS)DSCF8441 (https://flic.kr/p/pYtcCS) by andy.c.davies@btinternet.com (https://www.flickr.com/people/113356215@N06/), on Flickr
Image 2 Above After smoothing out the ivory with its black ends I rolled the beads onto some silver filings then I reheated the beads in the blue cones of the flame right up close to the touch. I then gave it a clear top coat.
(https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5603/15573120649_537d365219.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/pJ9jda)DSCF8442 (https://flic.kr/p/pJ9jda) by andy.c.davies@btinternet.com (https://www.flickr.com/people/113356215@N06/), on Flickr
Image 3 Above After smoothing out the ivory with its black ends I rolled the beads onto some silver filings then I reheated the beads in the normal part of the flame and then rolled the bead in a tiny amount of Johnson Matthey 'Easy Flow' brazing flux, this is a flux for silver soldering but I guess you could try borax. After reheating I gave it a clear top coat.
(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3948/15760513012_6c7a862ca5.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/q1GKqY)DSCF8443 (https://flic.kr/p/q1GKqY) by andy.c.davies@btinternet.com (https://www.flickr.com/people/113356215@N06/), on Flickr
Image 4 Above After smoothing out the ivory with its black ends I rolled the bead onto some silver filings then I reheated and overheated the bead with a very yellow reducing flame, rolled it into shape and then I gave it a clear top coat.
(https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7462/15757078611_254181806e.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/q1p9va)DSCF8444 (https://flic.kr/p/q1p9va) by andy.c.davies@btinternet.com (https://www.flickr.com/people/113356215@N06/), on Flickr
Image 5 Above this is generally as described above but this time I used copper filings and heated them in a yellow flame. You can see the difference in the two beads where the top bead has much less copper on it than the bottom bead.
(https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7487/15138992064_5b2d06ed54.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/p4MhUy)DSCF8446 (https://flic.kr/p/p4MhUy) by andy.c.davies@btinternet.com (https://www.flickr.com/people/113356215@N06/), on Flickr
Image 6 Above again this is generally as described above but this time I used a little less copper filings.
The almost pink colour you can see has come from a very very thin trace of black that I try to add by drawing tiny whiskers of black over the ivory.
By the way, in all of my trials I've found that the "curdled" effect that I wanted is best achieved by overheating the metal filings, when I talk about overheating the metal in some cases I've almost had the glass dripping off the mandrel!
Please let me know if you find this interesting as it takes an age to prepare the images etc and there's only any point in doing that if it helps someone.
Thanks for taking notice.
Kind Regards . . . Andy
I bought a bottle slump mold ages ago but it was too big for the kiln I had at the time. Now it fits in my new kiln and this is my first bottle slump. I've added bumpons so that it sits firmly on a table.
(http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1426/5604171/24562402/410477021.jpg)
I also made a dish in the same mold I used for the window glass dish and used some of the Bullseye vitrigraph cane for the centre area. (http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1426/5604171/24562402/410477020.jpg) Still trying out new things.
I got a bunch of different answers to my question about, 'What do you find is the best adhesive for gluing loops, pins and studs to cabochons, brooches and/or earrings etc?
http://www.frit-happens.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=45455.0
Everyone seems happy with their particular choice and I know there isn't a problem but I thought I'd do my own trial with the adhesives that I have in the workshop.
I did four trials using two different glues, I used Araldite Rapid adhesive for two tests and I used Evo-Stik Contact Adhesive for the other two tests.
I cut four strips of 0.1 mm thick copper foil, each 6 mm wide by about 30 mm long and following the manufacturer's instructions I glued the four strips to the side of an old OXO gravy jar. The contact/glued length was about 10 mm long in each case.
I slightly abraded the copper strips but not the glass. I cleaned everything with acetone and made sure everything was dry before gluing.
(https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8652/15931053245_513b6d4883.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/qgLP6P)DSCF8765 A (https://flic.kr/p/qgLP6P) by (https://www.flickr.com/people/113356215@N06/), on Flickr
The first two strips glued in place.
For the first test I did a 'pull test,' that is pulling the copper strip with the force in-line with the length of the copper and the second test was to check the peel strength by pulling the copper foil away from the jar at an angle of 90 degrees.
You might say why bother to do this? Well, I find it very interesting and when messing about like this I usually learn something unexpected which helps in other projects.
I hadn't got any silver loops or bails to play with so I used the copper strip for the tests. I've been working with copper in industrial applications for over forty years and yesterday I learnt something new about it.
I soldered copper wire loops onto the strips to give me something to hook onto to pull, and I used a baggage scale with a maximum weight indicator on it to record the readings as the bond broke apart.
(https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7541/15743801260_703808273d.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/pZe6Bj)DSCF8766 B (https://flic.kr/p/pZe6Bj) by (https://www.flickr.com/people/113356215@N06/), on Flickr
In the pull test for the Araldite the copper strip broke but read on.
The Araldite Rapid is a two part epoxy and really needs twenty four hours to attain full strength; I'm impatient and tested it after an hour.
The Evo-Stik Contact Adhesive has to be applied to both surfaces and left to dry for a while, and I gave that 15 minutes before placing the strips on the jar, and again I tested it after an hour of curing.
In the 'in-line' pull test with the Araldite Rapid the scale registered 22.5 kg and that's when the copper strip broke, so on the face of it produced a very strong bond and I had a respectable reading of 12 kg when the Evo-Stik joint failed.
(https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7478/15311442033_7b1b1ee40e.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/pk29gT)DSCF8771 C (https://flic.kr/p/pk29gT) by (https://www.flickr.com/people/113356215@N06/), on Flickr
At first sight from the pull test the Araldite looks good with copper, but it's not.
Surprisingly in the 'peel test,' the strip held with the Araldite peeled away with less than a 0.1 kg reading, it was very poor and it needed very little force to pop it off. The peel reading for the Evo-stik was a respectable 4 kg but read on!
In all four tests the adhesives mainly remained firmly attached to the glass and that struck me as odd. With a compatible adhesive I would have expected the joint to fail with some glue on the copper and some glue left on the glass, but here very little of the glue remaining on the copper, it nearly all remained on the glass.
As I say I've worked with copper for many years, I've machined it, soldered it, brazed it, drilled it and used it in sheets, tubes and blocks, but I've never glued it before and this is where the problem lies.
Because I hadn't got any silver bails for the test I used copper. I've now found out that although the glue manufacturers say their products are suitable for 'glass and metal' what they don't tell you is that many of the adhesives don't work at all well with copper or aluminium (and possibly brass.)
It turns out that the hardener in the two part epoxy reacts particularly badly with copper and I guess that had I have left it longer for that negative reaction to take place then the in-line pull test would have been much weaker.
Now I think about it I do remember seeing green/blue verdigris on copper that may have had glue on it and simply accepted it as moisture getting under the surface or into the joint. I know that silicon glue produces acetic acid (smells of vinegar) and will always turn copper green but I didn't realise that other glues were also problematic with copper.
(https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8581/15745323657_cd892e21c0.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/pZmUax)DSCF8767 D (https://flic.kr/p/pZmUax) by (https://www.flickr.com/people/113356215@N06/), on Flickr
Peel test set up.
I will buy some silver bails and carry out further trials, not that I need to prove anything, it's just that I do enjoy pushing things to the limit (or in this case pulling them) and then working safely within those limits.
I used to design and manufacture special purpose machines and I once carried out trials for an American aircraft company who wanted to glue sheets of aluminium together using a thermal curing adhesive. The test panels were about three foot long each with about a 1 inch overlap of metal where the glue was and there was a rivet at each end of the overlapping joint. When I asked what the rivets were for they said it's a 'Chicken Rivet.' I still didn't know what they meant so they explained, that when a glued joint like this fails it is almost certainly going to be as a result of the joint been 'peeled' apart rather than being 'pulled' apart laterally and the chicken rivets are for the scaredy-cats who don't trust the glue. In other words the failure usually starts at one end not in the middle and the rivet stops it from starting to pull apart. And yes, they really do glue some parts of aeroplanes together but they use some very sophisticated adhesive, (and chicken rivets.)
(https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7478/15311442033_7b1b1ee40e.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/pk29gT)DSCF8771 C (https://flic.kr/p/pk29gT) by andy.c.davies@btinternet.com (https://www.flickr.com/people/113356215@N06/), on Flickr
Glue left from pull test
(https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8665/15311426483_5b05e4b870.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/pk24DM)DSCF8770 E (https://flic.kr/p/pk24DM) by andy.c.davies@btinternet.com (https://www.flickr.com/people/113356215@N06/), on Flickr
Glue left from peel test
Anyway, I hope you found that interesting. It's 2nd of December and it's been a bit too cold to sit in the workshop with the doors open, (must fit an extract fan sometime,) so I thought I'd share this with you. I didn't find out what I really wanted to know about the glue but hopefully it might help someone. By the way there are glues available specifically for use with copper.
For my next test I'll try silver bails and hopefully that'll be more useful.
Just one more point that can confuse things further, glass jars like the OXO jar that I used are made to have a 'tamper evident' peel off foil lid and part of the manufacturing process of these jars involves a thermo/chemical process that helps that peel off foil to bond to the glass so I guess for a more realistic test I'll just use a bit of plain old glass next time.
Thanks for the interest.
Kind Regards . . . Andy
Your wish is my command. Here's a close up of the central portion with the bubble in it, (http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1426/5604171/24562402/410495312.jpg) It's cane I've made in the vitrigraph kiln using scraps of Bullseye clear left over from cutting circles, with bits of orange and black thrown in to the pot. I get about 40 ft of cane from each firing so lots left over. The bubble formed because there was a gap in the layer of cane so I put another on top of the gap.
Hey Pat, I think that rather than putting it down to happenstance you should be telling everyone that you created, 'The eye of Jupiter' after carful consideration of the artistic merits of its placement.
The close up looks really beautiful!
I started looking at air-twist and I made some lovely patterns but its use doesn't lend itself to bead type lamp work, but I can see how it could be used in slumping, ever had a go at it?
(https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7505/15751673268_6d6d021c67.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/pZVrFA)Original image from Pat from Canvey on Frit-happens December 2014 (https://flic.kr/p/pZVrFA) by (https://www.flickr.com/people/113356215@N06/), on Flickr
Original image from 'Pat from Canvey' on Frit-happens December 2014
All the very best. . . Andy
Air twist lampwork. . .
(https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7538/15775474987_43a310f9f2_n.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/q32r74)Air twist stringers (https://flic.kr/p/q32r74) by andy.c.davies@btinternet.com (https://www.flickr.com/people/113356215@N06/), on Flickr
Here's a link to a video that I've just made and uploaded to YouTube
http://youtu.be/KTyggFHBTR0
In this video I show how I've made some air twist stringers that I want to try and use to decorate some beads and to play with in a fusing process.
It'll be important not to overheat the stringer when applying it to a bead or fusing as the twist of air will resolve itself into several large bubbles and the effect will be lost.
I'm at the early stages of my experimenting but hopefully I'll be showing you some more results, subject to moving house soon. It was seeing Pat from Canvey's fussed bowl that made me think about adding the colour. I couldn't find any videos showing this particular 'poking' technique for producing air twist so I thought I'd make one.
I hope it helps someone or at least inspirers them to try something different.
Kind Regards . . . Andy
Here's my bit, (http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1426/5604171/24562402/410522743.jpg) Only managed about 4 inches.
I recently discovered Kintsugi the Japense art of repairing a broken pot with gold dust mixed in lacquer, the idea being to celebrate the break as part of the pots history rather than disguising it.
I wanted to achieve a similar effect (without the cracking), I didn't think I'd have enough control using gold leaf but found this low firing ceramic gold pen at Warm glass. I'm really quite pleased with the finished result.
(https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8651/16796482111_7c0b7bc3d3.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/rAfmXa)Lampwork Gaysiemay (https://flic.kr/p/rAfmXa) by GaysieMay (https://www.flickr.com/people/49485853@N03/), on Flickr
I had a fantastic time last week, doing pate de verre with Karen Akester. We did two pieces on plaster blocks, which we engraved with tools, then filled the lines with glass powder, and backed it with frit. Then a main piece for which we first created a lino cut, then produced a shaped plaster mould to fill the same way.
My inspiration was the village of Lybster itself, where Northlands is based. There are many beautiful stone walls, and a magnificent rocky shoreline. Crab and lobster fishing is common, there are piles of lobster pots near some of the houses. I think herring fishing has about died out, though it used to be a big local industry.
I would recommend Northlands if you want the opportunity to concentrate on glass for a week. It's not cheap, and it's a long journey if you live outside Scotland (for me, a 12 hour journey on 4 trains and 2 buses each way), but worth the trouble.
(https://c5.staticflickr.com/8/7683/27380726772_8efe4f9c38_n.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/HHxo95)Lybster lobster (https://flic.kr/p/HHxo95)
(https://c6.staticflickr.com/8/7786/26872334773_58b88121c0_n.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/GWBJUM)Lybster wall and netting (https://flic.kr/p/GWBJUM)
(https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7556/27407996601_35599fb59f.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/HKX9vx)Rock and water (https://flic.kr/p/HKX9vx)