Two and a half weeks to go until set up day and I just picked up the metal at Seaport Stainless. Made of 3/16” steel and Man is that thing heavy!!! I was going to have my friend Melissa Macdonald make an easel to hold the piece, but then Barry had the bright idea to order a ready-made easel. We found one on-line via US Art Supply and now we are wondering if it will be strong enough to hold 68 pounds of steel (yes, we brought out the scales!) plus about 15 pounds of glass. The easel arrives next week so we have some serous thinking to do… But the glass looks great on the steel backdrop!
In the meantime, I have worked on a center for the sunflower which I decided to cast in glass frit. Fibonnaci sequences conveniently set aside, I decided to approximate the amazing pattern of the sunflower seeds and not bother my pretty little head about sequences of 1,2,3,5,8,13 ad infinitum. Figuring out how to replicate spirals winding in opposite directions makes my head spin at this point.
I cast the clay center in a plaster-silica mould and have filled it with glass frit (small particles of glass so that the lighter amber frit will be in the center and the darker rose-brown frit will be at the outside. I used a dark brown powdered glass for the very back layer and then some clear frit to fill in the gaps. The mould is now in the kiln and has passed the drying stage at 200 degrees F for 5 hours. It is now melting temperature a 1525 F and holding until the bubbles clear the surface. This is taking longer than I expected and I think I’m going to have to add some more glass to fill in where the bubbles are popping. Fingers crossed…
In the meantime, I have worked on a center for the sunflower which I decided to cast in glass frit. Fibonnaci sequences conveniently set aside, I decided to approximate the amazing pattern of the sunflower seeds and not bother my pretty little head about sequences of 1,2,3,5,8,13 ad infinitum. Figuring out how to replicate spirals winding in opposite directions makes my head spin at this point.
I cast the clay center in a plaster-silica mould and have filled it with glass frit (small particles of glass so that the lighter amber frit will be in the center and the darker rose-brown frit will be at the outside. I used a dark brown powdered glass for the very back layer and then some clear frit to fill in the gaps. The mould is now in the kiln and has passed the drying stage at 200 degrees F for 5 hours. It is now melting temperature a 1525 F and holding until the bubbles clear the surface. This is taking longer than I expected and I think I’m going to have to add some more glass to fill in where the bubbles are popping. Fingers crossed…
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