Fused Glass

In early 2016 I did one of Jo-Ann’s one day taster sessions in fused glass at Hannah Stained Glass{:target=”_blank”}. In addition to good food and company, I learnt how to use glass sheet, powders and frits (like glass gravel) to make an object. Using a base of clear glass, you build up a picture which is then fused in Jo-Ann’s kiln. There is a lot of science to it and a whole load of different techniques but the process is fun and very therapeutic.

I followed up the original short course with a five-session evening class. I chose to make a curved candle light inspired by a piece of Moorcroft pottery.

The first step is to get very messy using pastels to sketch a plan. This forms a template for the glass work – although invariably things change as you go along!

The first step was to lay down the background using cut glass and powders. This was put into the kiln for a full fuse, to completely melt the first elements together.

The elements forming the trees and the moon were then added and went back into the kiln for a partial fuse, to melt everything together but to retain some texture. Finally the finished flat piece was heated again to let it slump over a former to produce the bent shape that allows the glass to stand in front of a candle.

There are other examples of fused glass elsewhere on this site.

My wife sews. She love patchwork, piecework and quilting. For our 29th wedding anniverary in September 2020 I decided to make a fused glass piece in a pattern she has used a number of times called ‘Family tree’ by Kellie Wulfsohn. The tree trunk was made up of small pieces of a brown/cream glass laid like a mosaic and the leaves were cut from a wide variety of fusible glass. The four birds, two blue, two pink, represent our family. The pictures below show a quilted cushion and my interpretation in glass!