"Rejoice" (Preliminary Textures 2)

(Preliminary Glass Texture for "Rejoice")

Glass is still flying out of the kiln at a fast clip....but no faster than (12) hours. For that reason, every kiln load has to be carefully considered when creating a three layer glass collage. You can see the addition of readable lettering today.

Tomorrow, I will have some that will be even more readable on the top layer of at least one of the three separate sections making up this collaboration. In the final presentation, these pieces will be in a steel wall sculpture with three different sized openings.

Unlike yesterday's posting, the image today is the beginning of cutting and layering glass in such a way as to have texture and lettering in different depths of the collage. And this is the advantage of layering in glass. As hard as I've tried to achieve this in mixed media, it simply cannot compare to the richness of glass.  Having said that, there are also some things that can be done with papers and mixed media techniques that cannot be done in glass. It's all a great journey and ever so much fun to experiment with.

So today...instead of having three pieces of glass laying on top of each other in the same size...I have cut glass and inserted textures from other pieces and also used the white opaque as the bottom piece. Tomorrow, I hope to have some smaller areas that have clear glass on the bottom layer with slight texture on the other two layers to create a contrast between pure transparency and opacity. There will also be some areas that are quite translucent. For this reason it is wise to have a multitude of choices before you.

Since I already have a lot of textured pieces, I am presently firing some pieces with very simple additions of glass line paint mixed with powders and thinned to a translucent mixture. This is then brushed on to the glass, but not over the entire glass. It is very important to keep some areas as clear glass so that the layering effect has the potential of creating more depth.

You can now see why my brain is tired from thinking. Hopefully, this will encourage my glass loving friends to carry on with the knowledge that you are not the only one turning yourself into a pretzel by this type of thought process. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

"Lines and Edges"

(unavailable)

There is no quote associated with this image. It is simply a study in lines and edges. It is a two layer glass collage with three firings involved.

As in the other piece called "Transformation"...this 6" x 6" was created by first texturing several pieces of glass with white and black glass line paint and black powder. My purpose was to show different types of line work and different shapes and edges.

I began with white glass line paint and used an empty Pentel pointed brush to make marks in the paint that were a bit larger than the smaller lines. This was a new technique for me because most other tools have not been effective in moving the paint and having it stay in place and it is crucial to write into the paint while it is wet to achieve larger letters or marks. Using this brush has brought another technique into play which will be useful in future projects.

The other writing and line work was created after the paint was dried. I used a corner of a palette knife to etch into very thinly applied glass line paint. In several areas, black glass line paint was applied over the dried white areas with a palette knife. Black powders were then sprinkled into the glass line and then fired. Some crystal clear course frit was also placed in some areas creating the round circle patterns you see.

After the first firings. the glass was cut into different sized strips and placed on top of a yellow opaque piece of glass. After the second firing, a lot of the white glass line faded away so I made a decision to experiment with additional glass line on top of the piece and also place some additional crystal clear course frit within the paint which created an echo of the more subdued circles in the background. I also sprinkled crystal clear powder over the entire piece so that it would be shiny.  (Glass line paint has no shine after firing unless powders are added.

 I do like the erratic shapes which include several types of edges....some soft and some hard with a variety in between. I am now focused like a laser beam on edges. They are much more important than anyone might think and they can change the work dramatically. Achieving a variety of edges in glass is also a challenge and requires a skillful selection of colors either very close in value or glass laid next to other glass with a strong contrast.

To achieve a range of edges requires the use of powders and a knowledgeable selection of any stringers used. All hard and high contrast edges can cause a few viewers (like myself) to not look at the work for more than two seconds. It is the variety of contrasting edges that most viewers will find pleasing. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

"Transformation" (First Firings)

There is really no quote associated with this piece yet, but the idea of transformation will be a jumping off point. The word transform is actually etched into two of the glass pieces affording me the option of combining the pieces in such a way that you will see the beginning of the word in the very textured area and the remaining letters in the lighter areas.

The final piece is in the kiln being fired as we speak so I will be posting that tomorrow. For my mixed media crowd, this process is also applicable when selecting mono printed rice papers to combine in one piece of art. What you are seeing today is several sheets of single layers of glass that have been painted on and texturized with glassline paints in various dilutions along with frits, powders, minimal stamping with a traditional stamp, and a bit of deconstruction by removing parts of the paint to create a transparent space.

The lighter two pieces with less texture were created by brushing on diagonal and crossed bands of glassline paint....one in black and one in white....using various dilutions to create interesting and transparent values. Some glass powder (orange) was applied to the white one. I did write the word transform with the corner of a palette knife in the black one to create some very thin lines.You will not be able to see it very well today, but in the final, it has orange behind it with light lavender gray opaque glass underneath.

The textured areas were seriously cropped and combined to be a counterpoint with the lighter areas. So it is much like cutting and pasting in mixed media. I was particularly mindful of including a variety of values and edges. These two design elements are the most often neglected when constructing these kind of pieces. Tomorrow will be the "reveal". And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

"Static vs. Dynamic" (Second Firing)

(inspiration image)

(static)

(dynamic)

"Static and dynamic can also have diffused edges." There really is no quote with these particular pieces, but I am still stuck on edges.  Both of these images after their second firing have an inclusion of softer edges and color added.

This was an exercise and not the way I would typically create a glass piece. Very hard lines in a piece with no diffused or soft edges more often than not will keep the viewer from staying engaged with the image for any length of time.

Viewers are drawn in by the mood created by the artist with a more balanced inclusion of both static and dynamic directional lines and by hard and soft edges with a full range in between.

As you can see, I cropped the images from yesterday and added powders. In keeping with my original inspiration image, I rewrote some of the strokes of my original brush lettering and cut a stencil. Spring Green powders were sifted onto the stencil first, followed by Chartreuse powders. I then added "magic brown" powders (a combination of all leftover powders from other projects), Charcoal Gray, and Black in the background areas especially around the edges.  Chartreuse Frit was sprinkled over parts of that. 

And after the piece was fired, I added more black powders around the lettering and "scooted" it into place with a sponge brush. To be honest, I was not fond of this exercise, but today's images are growing on me a bit. You can see a contrast between harder edges and the more diffused edges of the Chartreuse letter fragments which created a more organic counterpoint to the very geometric shapes with super straight lines.

The emotion created by the brush lettering with the slight curve is more pronounced against those straight lines. I was the only one in the class that did not add stringers. And as you can see from the inspiration image, I simply had to confront my aversion to hard lines yesterday and this was my way of confronting them. Glass powders are your friends if you gravitate to more "arty" and "ethereal" effects. And of course....I do. The glass pieces in the next few days will be my style and approach. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.