Hadar Jacobson New Book -Metal Clay Practice

Just got my new book and its amazing - jam packed full of information and pictures. Worth every penny and more . Hadar has produced an excellent book covering just about everything you could imagine to try with her metal clay

I feel honoured that she included a picture of my About Face on Page 43

I definitely am going to try most of the projects in this book

Broke my wrist

So for the first time in 7 weeks I'm starting to feel good  I decide to have early evening -I get out of the shower and slip and break my wrist - Loads of pain and 4 hours at the hospital

I hope once the pain goes away and the swelling goes down I hope to be able to work at something

thank goodness due to illness I decided not to do my regular Toronto Bead Society show this weekend

Fused Glass - 4th Panel ready for engraving

Finished this one last night just had to wait for it to cool- getting way ahead of myself - I love making these panels - need to catch up first before making more - I didnt realize how much system 96 dichro I have- but happy to have lighter colours to use - I'll have to take a pic of the pile - collected over 10 years
I do love coe 90 and I started out with system 96 - full circle back to system 96

Fused Glass - 3rd Panel - outlined

Here is the 3rd panel - engraved outline

Fused Glass - 3rd Panel fired

3rd sheet out of the kiln and the 4th is into the kiln (didnt take a pic)
Here it is and ready to engrave

Fused Glass - 3rd 6" x 6" panel in the kiln

So I decided I was out of coe 90 colour dichro that was light enough for the sheet - so I went in search of my system 96 that I know I have  a lot of

wow I found it hard to photograph - its so smooth and shiny
I made it last night while my other pieces fire polished in the kiln and cooled down so this morning I tossed it into the kiln - as you can see I tilted it to get the best of the colours that sit on another sheet of black glass
the hairspray is way cool glue and burns off clean

Fused Glass - first batch of 2nd picasso/zentangle panel

Here are the 1st batch of fire polished pieces from the 2nd sheet of glass
got some weird pieces out of it (I dropped the sheet - on the table  and it broke in a few large pieces so I tried to stay to some of the shapes)

have about six more to fire 

Fused Sheet - final fire polish Zentangle/picasso engraved pieces

these are the final pieces from the first flat sheet - I fired them on the weekend - still sick so I'm really not in the mood to do much - I started on my second sheet to engrave - and I dropped it on the counter and broke it into a few pieces - not a big deal - I have to cut it anyway

but these turned out great after cold working /grinding

2nd Fused dichro sheet for Zentangle/Picasso Technique

Out of the kiln tonight another full 6" x 6" full sheet of dichro to do up with the zentangle patterns for the picasso technique - I used some of my clear back dichro on it as well give it a bit of depth like my other sheet dichro pendants just to see how it works

Fused Glass Zentangle/picasso pieces with Bails

Put glue on bales so the first batch is ready to go

New Full Sheet Dichro prepped for firing

I prepped another sheet - face up and using the hair spray for glue - I used some clear dichro on top of the black back dichro - remember you canont put dichro face to face

when dry rather than trying to pick up I  just put another shelf overtop and flipped it backwards

I use up a lot of my scrap this way - when it melts it all goes together  and multiple pieces lets me fire faster

will have out of the kiln today 

Fused Glass Zentangle / Picasso last pieces

the last pieces cut and prepped for fire polishing

Fused Glass - Picasso / Zentangle Technique - Love it !

So Once I started cold working - I had a few done - so I could not hold out yesterday and I fired them

I feel they turned out quite well 

ON a lighter background  and with a different angle of light 

extremely fun to make just have to add some bails 

Fused Sheet - Cut for cold working

I got out my small slab saw (have the big one too but the small one for this task is sufficient)

it uses a 4" diamond tip blade - great and easy cutting smooth edges 

you add water the the wheel well and go for it 

Do I have a plan - never - I like going with the flow 

once cut I'll figure out what shape - if I need to cut more off before I grind I'll do that (less wear and tear on the grinder )

but here they are all cut up 

very little waste - cut the edges so they are flat 

I'll cold work them from here - just have to decide the shape 

as I said I dont plan ahead I just cut 

If I plan sometimes I dont get the random pattern and they look planned 

(not sure if that makes sense but thats how it feels to me ) 

Off to make two pumpkin cheescakes to take to my daughters for thanksgiving 

hopefully I'll have a couple of hours tonight to think about what I am doing with these pieces and maybe get one done  - but I wont fire polish  till they are all done 

Fused Sheet - Dremel Etched Zentangle complete

Found my other dremel so I didnt have to wait for the other to charge
Each time I thought I would stop I just had to do a little more - so I finished
tomorrow if I have time (I have to bake a couple of pumpkin cheesecakes for thanksgiving dinner) and go to my daughters - so I hope to cut the piece up - may not get to the cold working till sometime during the week and refiring - but I am really please with the technique

its already starting to dry -  I cant wait to cut and fire this 

Fused Dichro - Using Dremel to Etch Design

Didnt think I would start today but once I put together my work space
I took a lid of a storage box  and a few foam squares (that come with flat glass)  put some water in it to make it easier to work - I dont have to keep adding water - I can just bring my hand over the area I'm working . The foam just makes it easier with the vibrations and to turn the work

I found bringing the dremel towards me was easier than trying to draw with it or push away - but then it my just be that way for me 

try different ways 

I am loving the etching with the dremel and ball bit 

I've killed the battery twice ! (although I dont think it was fully charged when I started and didnt wait too long to give it a second try )

trying to get all the detail and the colors from dichro is difficult - I need to spend some time on setting up my photo booth 

Once I am done I'll show and then I am going to chop it up and figure out the shapes I want for pendants 

Fusing Prep - Flat sheet for Etching

I took the Tanya Veit Webinar on the Picasso technique - I like to do things my way so I took the technique and incorporated it into what I like to do
rather than a single piece at a time I like to make a full sheet - 6" x 6"  or 8" x 8"
I had already fired a sheet but it was all bumpy on top  - I had color but I wanted something flat to work on
this webinar really opened my eyes to a new technique  - hard to come by these days

so I took the existing flat sheet I had and added some more pieces to it  using the techniques taught to adhere

the new pieces broke up the existing larger pieces of fired dichro

as you can see the existing sheet was bumpy - I did not fire it smooth as I wanted the dichro to pop 

Because it was a full fired sheet I had to ramp up slowly so it would not pop - so I started at low got past low then 300,  then to 500 them to 700 then to 900 and hi till it fused

firing it face down was kind of weird and when finally fused opening the kiln to the full black back sort of scares you 

BUT WHEN I TURNED IT OVER !

FLAT !

So I'll etch it as a full piece and then cut it up 

making a full flat piece makes it easier to work with - no exact cuts just keep it within the fusing shelf area 

since I would be cutting to cold work a full sheet makes it easier