My Fused Glass Mosaic Is In A Gallery!

It's been a bit more than two years since I started working with fused glass and I'm eager to make bigger and more complex pieces. I LOVE making jewelry and my microwave kilns were a fantastic investment, but I'd really like to create vases, sculptures and larger art forms. Since I still only have my microwave kiln, I've had to get inventive in what I CAN do -- and have designed several fused glass mosaics. My hard work has paid off, though, because my piece, "Winter Frost" is currently on display at a gallery!

I made this mosaic by using clear dichroic glass, which I layered and fired multiple times. From some angles, the glass appears to be clear, but from other viewpoints, it's very colorful. I was inspired to create the piece when I saw some frost on the ground during a sunrise. I am not usually awake that early, so it captured my attention!

"Winter Frost" is part of an exhibit called "Of Women," which is at the Studio 7 Gallery in Fort Tilden, Rockaway, NY. Fort Tilden, as you may have guessed, was once a military base out in Queens. Many of the buildings are in ruins, but several have been converted into galleries and a theater. The compound is right near the beach and is in the middle of Riis Park. It's isolated, but apparently well known. I've been told the area is packed in the warmer months.

"Of Women" runs through April 8, celebrating Women's History Month. The exhibit isn't so much about women as it is about honoring female artists. True confession: Winter Frost is not my favorite mosaic. It's not the one I would've chosen for this exhibition. But once I saw it hanging on the wall under the large amethyst sculpture, I could see just how it fits in.

As you can see, Of Women features some very talented artists. The gallery itself is stunning and I still can't quite believe that I'm a part of this thing. I went there on Saturday to do my volunteer shift and really enjoyed looking at the other ladies' masterpieces.

Far Rockaway itself is kind of a pain to get to. It's in Queens and is part of NYC... but it's in the middle of nowhere. I didn't think the middle of nowhere exists in NYC, but it does! My neighborhood has a suburban feel, but we're near the subway, LIRR stop and several bus routes. It's easy to get around and takes 15 minutes to get to Manhattan. Rockaway does have an LIRR stop and subway, but you have to switch trains several times and then take a bus to Fort Tilden. The first time we went there, we took three trains and two buses -- remember, we were just traveling in Queens!. We then discovered that you can take a bus almost all the way back to our area, so that cut down on the travel time. Still, it takes about 90 minutes to commute in our own borough!

Rockaway is also super windy and cold. It's beautiful, though, and I'd love to return in the spring when it's warm enough to walk along the boardwalk. While I was doing my gallery sit, my husband spent several hours crawling around the abandoned military ruins. Yes, this is how Jon entertains himself!

If you're in the NYC area, try to check out Of Women. I have one little piece in the exhibit, but there are many memorable and provocative paintings and sculptures. It's the type of exhibit that will stay with you for a long time.

Meantime, please check out my NEW Naomi's Designs website!

Making fused glass jewelry: glass scenery pendants

For the last two years, I've mainly been working with shiny dichroic glass. Lately, I've been working with other types of glass so I can make different kinds of pieces. Now that I finally have a professional website, I need to increase the variety.

I really like plain, old Bullseye sheet glass. Bullseye is the glass-making factory where most outlets get their materials. They make every color imaginable and it's all hand-pulled. It's actually kind of cool to see it being made because it looks a bit like the artists are pulling taffy. Because it's made this way, each sheet is slightly different.

My favorite sheet glass comes from a series called "Streakies." When I first read that name, I laughed because I have the sense of humor of a teenage boy. But it's not called this after naked folks running through a field. The glass has streaks of color, which allows for depth and shading when making pieces.

The streaked glass works really well for scenery pendants. When you deep fire dichroic glass, it'll hold its shape because the dichro is actually a coating on top of the glass. So a thoroughly-fired square patch will still look like a square. However, the sheet glass melts more intensely and the colors bleed into each other. You can't quite mix them the way you would with paint, but you can set them up so they run together.

I had some beautiful scenic glass decals, so I decided to try my hand at making sunset pendants. I layered red, orange and pink glass to make my sunset sky and fired the piece until the glass was fully melted and blended:

I then added the decals to finish the scenic effect. I love the reds and oranges, but you can use blues to create an ocean scene or greens and rainbow colors to design a field of flowers. I'm not a great painter, but these scenic pendants are prompting me to arrange the glass in realistic color sequences. Most of my designs are abstract, but I've been looking at photos, as well as the actual outdoors so I can get a better idea of how to use the glass for shading. For instance, you can depict an ocean scene by simply having a blue bottom half of the pendant. However, it looks much more realistic if you combine navy and turquoise blues, and have a touch of white thrown in for the foamy tops of the waves.

Today at Stein Senior Center, I had my students play around with sheet glass. I first had them make an abstract pendant, arranging the colors any way they liked. I then had them arrange pieces in more natural color combos. I'm firing their work right now and am excited to see how theirs turned out. Once they get the hang of it, we'll move on to adding the decals.

The great thing about fused glass is it's so versatile. You can sculpt with it, use it in mosaics or use it almost as paint. I'm eager to try everything!

Check out my NEW website, Naomi's Designs, for my latest jewelry and art pieces, news and craft fairs.

Inspiration for making handmade glass jewelry: visiting the Chihuly exhibit at New York Botanical Garden

When it comes to making glass pieces, I'm still fairly new to the discipline. After all, I've only been doing this for about a year-and-a-half. I'm skilled, but hardly an expert. I'm always looking for inspiration from artists who really are experts -- and none has been more inspirational to me than Dale Chihuly.

Yesterday, my husband and I spent the day at the New York Botanical Garden , which is currently featuring a few dozen Chihuly glass sculptures. His medium is blown glass and if you're not familiar with his work, take a look at these gorgeous creations:

He's been working professionally with glass since the 1960s and his art has been displayed in parks and gardens throughout the world. We're fortunate to have him in NYC through October -- so if you're in town, definitely go to the exhibit.

Much of his work is inspired by nature, especially the sea. This is evident in many of his whimsical pieces, which resemble shells, seaweed or coral. What's really amazing about his sculptures is how well they blend into the real plant life. In some cases, it was difficult to tell which was real and which was glass.

The exhibit itself is present throughout most of the garden -- which is enormous. Jon and I covered over six miles walking around it! That said, it feels almost like you're on a scavenger hunt as you wander from section to section, searching for Chihulys. We could usually spot them by the huge crowds that gather around the pieces.

It was difficult choosing a favorite, but I think I'll have to go with those first three that are pictured in this post. I especially like that blue sculpture, which is appropriately named "Sapphire Star." It's simpler than his other pieces, but I love the vibrant colors.

When you get up close to these sculptures, you can see the details he puts into his work. For instance, his iceberg piece has actual cracks in the ice. Meanwhile, his glass "leaves" have the various shades of green that you'd see in a real plant. I know a tiny bit about glass blowing because they teach it at Brooklyn Glass, but I didn't realize you can add so much detail.

Jon would like to take a glass blowing class; meantime, I plan to show my photos to my students so they can see just what can be done with glass. His work has inspired me to be a bit more experimental and I hope it encourages them to be bold when coming up with their designs.

I'm no Chihuly, but you can still check out my jewelry at Naomi's Designs and MayaGirl Creations.

Fused dichroic glass jewelry making techniques

Many friends and family members have asked how I've learned to fuse glass. Well, I did take a class at the beginning of the year and I also watch a lot of videos. My favorites are by Tanya Veit, an artist who works for AAE Glass. Her videos are comprehensive and I've learned so much from her. There are several on YouTube; you can also download some on the AAE site.

I'm also learning different techniques just from practicing. The great thing about having my own kiln is I can make as much glass as I want. So while there have been failures, I've also picked up some new skills along the way.

Lately, I've been working on layering. Ideally, you'd have a full-sized kiln for fusing glass -- one where you can make dozens of pieces at once and fire them over gradually increasing temperatures over the course of a few hours. Frankly, those tools are expensive and I don't really have room for one in my apartment, so I'm depending on my microwave. It limits me because I can't do multiple firings like you can with a larger, more professional kiln, but I can still do plenty with it -- and I've been experimenting with various techniques and textures.

In the above photo, I show how those techniques can create very different types of glass. In the upper left-hand corner is a piece that's been overfired. To be honest, I did not mean to overfire it, but I left it in for a bit too long. The dichroic glass is deeply embedded into the clear base and rounded out; there are few distinct lines between designs. Also, the colors have dulled.

On the other hand, the piece next to it, in the upper right-hand corner, has been underfired. While the dichroic glass has been fully fused onto the base, it still has a textured, 3D effect. The glass edges are well-defined and the colors pop. I personally love underfiring because the pieces are so vibrant.

That blue piece in the lower left-hand corner has been fired for just the right amount of time (this is a lot like Golidilocks, LOL). I did this by using only two layers, as I did in the pieces above. It's simply blue glass fired onto clear. That top layer is "uncapped," resulting in glass with a shiny, metallic finish.

The other blue piece in the lower right-hand corner, was made with three layers: clear, blue and green tie-dyed dichoic, clear. This glass was "capped," resulting in a thicker, rounder design where the dichro looks as if it's floating.

When it comes to techniques and layering glass, there are literally millions of things you can try! Veit demonstrated pendants made with five or six layers; she likes to use transparent glass so she can create interesting colored background and add depth to her designs. I've been trying to do more of this. I successfully fired a four-layer pendant the other day, but the colors were too dark and it came out looking a little murky. Still, it didn't fall apart or melt, so I at least know it can be done. I'm going to continue to practice and see what I come up with -- and if I make some beautiful creations along the way, even better.

Check out the rest of my handmade jewelry at Naomi's Designs, MayaGirl Creations and Glass By Naomi.

Fused glass jewelry: magic dichroic glass pendants!

When working with glass, the final product will often have a different color from when the glass was in its original state. The fired glass's color also depends on what type of base metal/glass is used. When making an enamel piece, blue glass powder won't look the same if it's placed on copper vs. silver or with a white vs. ecru enamel base. The same goes for dichroic glass.

Dichroic glass has even more surprises in store for the glass artist because dichros are multicolored to begin with. The glass has a prismatic effect and the colors shift as the light hits. The glass's hue also changes during the firing process -- sometimes even more than I'd anticipated.

With enamels, you have a pretty good idea how the color will turn out. Blue is almost always blue, though the final shade might be darker or lighter. Sometimes enamels will turn odd colors when fired on silver -- for instance, yellow becomes pink in this case -- but for the most part, you can predict what your piece will look like.

Well, dichroic glass continues to surprise me. You can shift the glass downward at a 45 degree angle to get an idea of how a fired dichro will appear, but this is not foolproof. This afternoon, I made two new pieces using some interesting patterned dichroic glass. On one piece, I used a black base and layered it with clear butterfly-print and pink mirrored glass. The end result? The clear glass came out dark blue, while the pink glass turned into shiny gold. I like it, but so weird!

I used a clear base for the second piece and fired that with some yellow dichro... and that turned out to be turquoise with deeper blue undertones. Not at all like the colors I chose.

This makes it difficult to repeat or design custom pieces since I can never be sure of how my glass will appear in the end. It's certainly an adventure working with it, though. I kind of like the fact that I can still be surprised.

Check out my jewellery at Naomi's Designs and MayaGirl Creations.

Adventures in making fused glass jewelry: handmade wire wrapped dichroic glass pendants!

I've had my microwave kiln for about a month now -- actually, I'm up to my second kiln, but I'll get to that story later -- and I can't believe how much fun I'm having with this thing! I love being able to make fused glass pendants whenever I want... even if there have been a couple of, er. incidents along the way. I have had some successes, though. Here are a few of my favorite pieces, so far:

As you can see, I've taken to wire wrapping the dichroic glass necklaces and turning them from simple glass pendants into something even more exciting. Many of the pendants, though, are interesting-looking on their own and don't need the addition of wire or crystals. I let the patterns guide me.

Making fused glass jewelry at home is pretty simple, if you have basic jewelry-making skills. You need to know how to score and shape glass. You also need proper equipment, which isn't included in the basic microwave kiln kit. They give you a really crappy scoring tool, but you should also have cutting pliers, as well as a tool that lets you snip edges. I'm still pretty new to this, so I'm learning much as I go on. I'm thinking of purchasing an etching tool, too.

When making fused glass -- at least in a tiny microwave kiln -- you have to accept that this isn't an exact science. A lot of the pieces I've made have depended purely upon luck, though I'm getting much better at making things turn out the way I want.

The most important lesson I've learned so far is to not layer pieces too high. Generally, it's best to use two layers: a base color and then I usually put dichroic glass on top. That top layer should also be slightly smaller than the base piece. If not, it will slide off and cause a mess in the kiln. I learned this the hard way!

A couple of weeks ago, I attempted to make a three-layer piece using a black base topen ped with small dichroic cut-outs and then a piece of clear glass. This didn't work. The clear glass was heavier than the dichroic pieces and fell right off while in the kiln. However, it still melted when it was heated and stuck to the side. I almost set a fire in my kitchen, burned and cut my hand... and wrecked the kiln. Happily, these kilns aren't too expensive, but it was a costly and potentially dangerous lesson.

I now have a new kiln and fire my pieces in stages. Oddly enough, this kiln takes three minutes to heat the pieces, while the other -- which was the exact, same model -- took about four. I heat the glass for two minutes and check on it to make sure it's fusing together. If I see that any glass has slid off, I stop the firing process. If the glass is fusing well, I continue to fire the piece for 30 second increments until I see that the glass has turned molten and the sides are rounded. The first time I used this kiln, I set it for four minutes as I had with the previous one and my glass overfired, looking like a gray blob. Live and learn!

It is possible to do a triple layer, but the top pieces need to be the smallest. So if you layer, say, black with clear and then a mosaic of tiny dichroic pieces, it will probably fire well in the kiln.

It's also important to note that not all glass is created equal. I use glass that has a 90 COE (coefficient of expansion), but some brands' glass just doesn't work in the microwave kiln. One company (I'd rather not name them) has gorgeous glass, but it constantly breaks in the microwave. I really like Fuseworks and iDichroic's glass. They send a package of dichroic scrap and you get a nice variety. The glass also holds up well in the kiln. The other glass probably works very well in a traditional kiln, where you can take the time to fire a piece. But it falls apart in the microwave where the materials are heated quickly.

As times goes on, I'm getting better at cutting small pieces and EVEN edges. Like anything else, this takes practice. Happily, I love making fused glass and have been designing pendants every day. I'll show you more of my work along the way.

Meantime, check out my fused glass and wire wrapped jewelry at Naomi's Designs.