I have been busy recently making all my Christmas tree ornaments ready for December. I make the majority of them in the summer to make the most of the abundance of solar energy to fire the glass in the kiln.
I now have 450 in stock. The best sellers are usually the Christmas trees and snowmen closely followed by the robins and then the stars.
I held a one-day workshop in my new garden glass studio. My partner’s sister Liz came along with 4 of her friends last Wednesday. It was a really enjoyable and productive day. In the morning everyone practiced cutting glass before making a coaster to their own design. One lady, who could only stay for the morning, choose to use her coaster as a small standing picture. Then after lunch they each choose to make a larger more detailed piece. Two made 20cm diameter bowls, one made a standing picture and Liz made a garden flower for use on a stainless steel stake.
After they left I put them all in the kiln and fired them on a full fuse. Then the two circles were slumped as shallow bowls and Liz’s flower was slumped over a mushroom hump mould to give more definition.
The stainless steel stake has 2 bolts and washers on a screw thread and I used rubber inserts to cushion the glass. A home made 3d printed plastic screw on flower centre was then added on the top of the rod. Then the rod was bent over.
The 2 stand up pictures were placed into home made 3d printed plastic holders.
I have been enjoying making fused glass birds that I fuse onto stainless steel rods that can either be used in the garden, in a house plant or in a vase or stand.
I have recently made some flower garden stakes. the flowers are 14cm diameter and mounted on steel stakes ranging from 44 to 90cm tall.
Today I completed the Revive Health fruit bowl commission that incorporates their logo of three leaves into the design. The bowl is 22.5cm diameter, 10cm on base and 6cm tall. The colours of the logo are transparent amethyst, dark cobalt blue and marigold yellow with Reusche white paint for the leaf vein.
I was given the commission while attending Revive Health, a local Chelmsford physiotherapist practice, which treated my knee after a fall.
When I visited my brother and his wife Sarah last year I made some drawings of the flowers that were blooming in their garden. I then made a design for a 30cm bowl incorporating some of the flowers with the addition of some bees, which they keep, butterflies, dragonflies and ladybirds. I gave it to Sarah for her birthday.
Here are some examples of my recent foray into painting on glass.
I also tried my hand at Scraffito.
As well as at screenprinting.
I have been making some new designs for display at the Maeldune Heritage Centre in Maldon, where the Essex Craft Guild, of which I am a member, has a show starting next week. The theme is Fantastic Florals. It is open Tuesday to Saturday 11-4.
I will have a small table top display of fused glass pieces for sale from Thursday 18 August to Saturday 3 September 2022. I plan to take bowls of various sizes, coasters, standing fold pictures, lanterns, dishes, tea-light holders and windchimes. To go with the coasters (above) I have dishes with similar floral designs and also dishes that are just a single flower.
I decided to make some new windchime designs using stars and flowers.
I am looking forward to making lots of new designs as well as some of my favourites too. It will make a nice change from Christmas tree ornaments, much as I do love making them, perhaps 700 in three months was a bit over the top!
I am planning to make some more petrified wood glass dishes. I love the variety of colours that emerge when it is fired on top of a blue glass such as robin egg blue. It is amazing to see bright red and royal blue appear from within the wood tones.
I plan to keep this one for myself.
I am also working on new windchime designs. One based on flowers and another on the stars I made for Christmas.
One of my Christmas presents was a pasta bowl mould so I am toying with a number of possible designs.
A new lampshade design using copper foiled stained glass is also in my thoughts but that will take a while to construct.
At the same time I will be making glass for my stall in the Art Place, Meadows Shopping Centre, Chelmsford and for my Folksy shop.
