Stage 1

Before any glass work can commence, the design idea must first inform all the processes that follow.  This design is carefully conceived from both a functional and artistic directive; what is the purpose of the glass and how can this most effectively be communicated? Often this begins with computer software that allows for trial and error and different possibilities with color and texture. A pattern emerges, is blown up to the proper dimensions on a large sized grid paper, and the glass selection process begins to interface with the design requirements. The glass is cut, ground, fit, and polished into place and of course arrives in the kiln impeccably clean and ready for the magic to begin!

Fused glass art is made from layering compatible glass pieces and design elements together in a kiln, and firing it to about 1,500 degrees Fahrenheit. Only compatible glasses can be fired together so that they maintain very similar rates of expansion and contraction, and do not crack during the stress of the heating and cooling process. Once the firing temperature is reached, the kiln is quickly cooled to 960 degrees Fahrenheit in order to anneal the piece and insure the stability of the finished work. This process equalizes the stress in the glass and gives it sturdiness and reduces brittleness, so that it won’t break under its own weight or discovered later, mysteriously sitting in sad pieces on a shelf! The larger and thicker a piece is, the more this becomes essential.

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