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Well I got my kiln and had to try it out. I didn’t have any pmc projects ready so I took a stab at fusing glass…

So things I learned somewhat the hard way…

• It helps if you know what your glass IS. Most of mine are pieces I bought solely for the color to add to my kaleidoscope chambers so the COE is unknown. (You can’t mix COE’s or your glass will crack since the types will expand and contract at different rates)
• Cuttlebone casting looks really cool and is something I want to play with more, but I probably shouldn’t have cut the cuttlebone in two pieces because it cracked while fusing… That may be normal - who knows at this point?
• My temperature (1450 degrees F) wasn’t quite high enough for the glass I was using to bing it to full fuse
• Leave more room between pieces
• I could have some serious problems with getting addicted to glass!

So anyway, I got the kiln and we unpacked it and put it in the cellar near a door so we can vent it to the outside when needed. I ran through the first cycle empty just to burn off any residual oils etc from manufacturing. I did some reading online to find a sample fusing schedule for the kiln (temp was too low for this type of glass though). Then I set up my glass (irridized Spectrum stained glass) mostly on a kiln shelf on top of kiln paper. You use a different type of shelf for glass than you use for PMC which was interesting.

I also bought some cuttlebones from the pet aisle (parakeets use them) and carved some random shallow designs in one piece and a much deeper depression in the other. I used black glass with the irridized face down on the the shallow design and some assorted glass chips on the deeper depression. The black glass came out really cool (sorry the pic isn’t too good). It kept a bit of the irridescence but has the rough texture of the cuttlebone and the higher texture of my carved lines. The deeper carving didn’t work too well - too many air bubbles I think.

I also should have left more room (I knew I had too much stuff on the shelf) since a couple pieces fused together. I tried some colors of Pearlex mica powder on some clear glass (which must have a MUCH higher fusing point since it barely did anything) and the gold stayed but the blue and green seemed to mostly burn away. Something further to experiment with although I don’t like how most of the pieces, except the black textured one, came out.

I think I’m going to have some fun with this though

I was reading Kathleen Dustin’s interview in Polymer Cafe yesterday and she made a comment about making art personal.

It made me wonder about my own. Is it personal? Usually I just think of something I want to make - an animal I want to sculpt, what I want it to look like, and then I make it… Is that personal? It doesn’t really sound like it when I put it that way.

But I think it is just the same. I almost always sculpt animals or something from nature. And I know EVERY artist is inspired by nature so while that may be my personal inspiration, it’s not very unique

But I’ve always loved animals. When I was a kid my family had a mini, hobby sort of farm. At one time or another we had ponies, horses, goats, sheep, pigs, chickens, geese… And there were swallows flitting in and out of the eaves in the barn, and deer and pheasants in the fields. I spent alot of time outside, making forts, exploring or just sitting in trees and thinking. I read alot too - one of my favorite books was by Jacques Cousteau and full of fascinating ocean life. The walls of my room didn’t need wallpaper - I had them covered in exotic animals and landscapes pulled from National Geographic.

So is my art personal? Yes, I think so. But I might be able to make it a bit more so by thinking about where it’s coming from. And maybe using some of those childhood memories and sculpting the ones that mean something to me. I’ve already sculpted the swallows… They’re beauty and freedom and effortless flight, and a touch of my childhood.

Libby posted some pictures of the bracelets from her workshop - you can see mine with the black and white flowers in the upper left.

And in other news, I’ve ordered a kiln! I’m going for a Paragon SC3 with the bead door and view window options. (Nothing like overkill and covering for anything I might ever want to do!) My husband, awesome man that he is, got some extra money from an insurance claim and offered to get it for me. I think the main use will be PMC but I’ve also ordered some glass fusing and enameling books from the library, and I’ll use it for annealing beads if I get into lampworking. I think I’m going to have fun with it.

I have alot of great mental images of things I can make, the hard part will be getting my skill levels up to match

I just got the book Contemporary enameling : art and techniques by Lilyan Bachrach out of the library. It has some absolutely gorgeous images. I really like getting books on other media because it gives you fresh inspiration.

For example, in this book I saw some wonderful color combinations, organic flowing shapes, and some transparent and opaque surfaces that gave me new ideas to try with liquid clay. I’m thinking multi-layers with some sprinkles of powdered chalks for opaque enamels along with transparent ink tinted clay…. It could be very interesting.

There are a number of different variations of the Taxas Caviar salsa recipe. If you like cilantro, you’ll like this. And don’t let the beans put you off… I almost never eat them but they’re great in this once they’re marinated in the salsa.

I make different variations but this latest one was:

Toss the following in a large bowl (this makes alot):

• 2 cans black-eyed peas (drained)
• 2 small cans Rotel tomatoes with mild chiles (drained)
• 1 large onion (chopped)
• 2 green peppers (chopped)
• 1/2 bottle zesty italian salad dressing (or substitute with your choice of oil and vinegar)
• 1 bunch of cilantro (chopped)
• tablespoon or so minced garlic
• 1/2 tsp coriander

Mix and refrigerate at least overnight. Serve with corn chip scoops.
WARNING - it’s addicting!

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Texas-Caviar-I/Detail.aspx

http://homecooking.about.com/od/vegetablerecipes/r/blv95.htm

I went to the Weekend of Clay sponsored by the Southern Connecticut Polymer Clay Guild this past weekend. It was ALOT of fun. Basically there are 4 three-hour workshops taught by guild members and the whole weekend is nothing but clay. And a few snacks and chocolate Which reminds me I need to post my Texas Cavier salsa recipe…

The first workshop was on Retro Canes (extruded canes from the clay gun). I’d seen the concept before but Jenn Dorian had some really great variations and twists.

Libby taught us how to make a beaded caterpillar bracelet in black and white - it was the first time I’d done something more complicated with seed beads than just stringing them. Knotting the beading thread after every few fringes drove me nuts (partly because I’d made some dimensional flower beads and the thread kept getting caught on the petals) but I’m really pleased with how my bracelet turned out.

Sunday morning, I showed everyone how to sculpt a treefrog. Everyone made their own frog with their own unique style and twists. Each one was done in different colors or with different expressions. Loreen even made a “Klimt” frog by covering it with a square Retro cane.

The last session was on modifying faces from face molds. Tricia Hamel showed us her variations and gave us suggestions on surface effects and embellishments. I really liked how she mixed Pearl-ex with TLS to make it more manageable and a bit more subtle.

All in all it was a really great weekend and it got me inspired to try a few new things. Classes or retreats really can get your enthusiasm recharged.

Well, as usual, I’m not dead but there have been times I wished I was for the last few days… I’ve had the worst cold I’ve had in a really long time. Lately, I’ve been sleeping and reading and watching tv and that’s just about it. I haven’t touched my clay, and even took a couple days out of work.

But I did pick up a kid’s book on drawing anime and manga out of the library last week and I was having some fun with that. I started out by just tracing some of the drawings and exercises because it’s amazing how bad I am at drawing smooth lines. That got me started and I started getting a feel for how the drawings were done and did a couple of my own. I’m definitely not great at it but it was fun. A nice creative but not intense activity that I could do while my head was throbbing and my lungs were trying to cough themselves out my ears.

And I think I’m starting to feel better finally…