Well, I DID have to add more glass to the hot mess of bubbly action in the kiln. After tending the kiln and adding time at 1525 degrees several times, I decided to don an old flannel shirt backwards, get out my long kevlar mitts and a face shield and get a scoop full of amber and clear class frit ready to sift over what will be the back of the sunflower centre. I shut off the power opened the lid and quickly poured the glass in then shut the lid, turned the kiln back on and waited for another 2 hours... The bubble seemed mostly to have cleared the surface so now the piece is annealing at 900 degrees ... won't be able to see it for another day or two until the temperature gradually steps down through the strain point.
In the meantime, we've been hammering copper leaves for another of my "take it easy" projects. Before I broke my hip in March, I had blown some glass heart centers for some more "Love Lillies" and last week I blew the actual lillies. Barry wanted to improve on the original leaf design with the curly-kews of metal and make more reallistic leaves. I had to agree (although real lillies have strappy leaves and the new copper ones are ovoid - I may have to change the name, but "Love Lillies" is otherwise so apt!). So now we've spent many hours tappity-tap-tapping texture onto the copper, to simulate veins and the interstitial areas and to get them to curl a bit. We are soldering the leaves to the stalks and all is going well. The lights have just arrived from Berkeley Point, so I figure tomorrow we can get the wiring done. That operation is as fiddly as can be though, because the stalks are fairly skinny and the wire has to get fished down through some lamp rod and then through at hole drilled near the base. So much for "easy."
In the meantime, we've been hammering copper leaves for another of my "take it easy" projects. Before I broke my hip in March, I had blown some glass heart centers for some more "Love Lillies" and last week I blew the actual lillies. Barry wanted to improve on the original leaf design with the curly-kews of metal and make more reallistic leaves. I had to agree (although real lillies have strappy leaves and the new copper ones are ovoid - I may have to change the name, but "Love Lillies" is otherwise so apt!). So now we've spent many hours tappity-tap-tapping texture onto the copper, to simulate veins and the interstitial areas and to get them to curl a bit. We are soldering the leaves to the stalks and all is going well. The lights have just arrived from Berkeley Point, so I figure tomorrow we can get the wiring done. That operation is as fiddly as can be though, because the stalks are fairly skinny and the wire has to get fished down through some lamp rod and then through at hole drilled near the base. So much for "easy."
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