Teaching Adventures At Maple Grove Cemetery: Making Layered Fused Glass Pendants

Maple Grove remains one of my favorite places to teach -- and I got to do so again last Sunday. For this class, I had my students make layered fused glass pendant, which are a bit more complicated than the other projects I've done there.

Saturday had been the cemetery's annual tea party, so we got to enjoy the leftovers! I had way too many handmade brownies and scones. MG's secretary, Helen, even brought her handmade clotted cream. I haven't had that outside of England and it was fantastic.

I got a nice-sized group of nine people. That's about as much as the room can fit, so we took up almost the entire table. These ladies were very enthusiastic and ready to go. As soon as we started, there was a great energy in the room.

We then got to work and I showed them how to layer pendants. First, I did a step-by-step tutorial with them, explaining how each layer needs to be balanced so it'll fire evenly. We then saw how many layers we could do, making it up to seven.

I attempted to fire a batch of piece's in the microwave there. but they all collapsed and sat in a heap in the kiln. I think maybe the plate in the microwave spun too quickly? I'm not sure. But this is exactly why I fire pieces increments; so I can check on them as they progress. Happily, the ladies were very understanding and simply chuckled when I explained what had happened, and that I'd be better off firing them at home. "Maybe we can fuse them all together and make one giant piece," one joked.

My students caught on to layering quickly and most made multiple pieces during our afternoon session. A few even made earrings from the scrap. Along the way, we had a lot of laughs. One young woman shared that she worked at the cemetery. Another student noted that this woman was the youngest in the room, while the rest of us were old (For the record, I'm 44. NOT old!). She then added, "But at least we're more alive than the people you normally deal with." I guess you had to be there, but her delivery made it really funny. You kind of have to have a gallows sense of humor while being at a cemetery, especially if you're there for a crafts workshop.

I was too busy to take pictures, but here are a few from Helen. I'm almost finished firing their pieces and they turned out beautifully, so the class was a success all around! Check out my site Naomi's Designs for more handmade glass and wire wrapped jewelry.

Creating multilayered fused glass dichroic pendants with patterned and clear glass

I've written several posts about my attempts to make multilayered dichroic glass pieces. Many of these attempts have failed because the glass broke or didn't fuse correctly, but I'm finally getting the hang of it! I'm now creating pendants that have four, five, six... and even seven layers of glass.

Lately, I've been experimenting with clear dichroic glass. I haven't worked much with this material, but the clear glass is great for fusing onto colored base glass or for creating layers. It has patterns and textures just like the dichroic glass on black, but is transparent. Therefore, when you fuse patterned clear glass on top of patterned opaque glass, you get a combo of those designs.

The trick to layering glass is to make sure each layer is even. I always start with a piece of base glass -- generally clear, black or white -- and then top it with opaque dichroics on black. However, I make sure that all of the dichros are the same thickness. This way, the next layer of glass will lay flat across. If you add a piece of say, Wissmach textured glass, which is lumpier than most other dichros, it'll be harder to get an even fuse. I like to use a dab of Krazy Glue to keep my pieces in place. The glue keeps the glass still for working purposes, but eventually burns off in the kiln.

Next, I add a few small clear pieces, choosing ones that have interesting tints and patterns. I then top it with a piece of clear base ... and then this is where the fun begins: I add a couple more layers of clear glass, again mixing up tints and patterns.

So far, seven is my record; that large blue piece that's at the top of this post is my seven-layer one. I didn't like how it turned out when I first took it from the kiln, but fell in love with it after it cooled and hardened. It reminds me of an ocean scene and I really like the color combinations.

I've found that if you pile the pieces on too high, the colors will become muddled and the glass will lose its shape. Basically, it's a bit like building a pyramid; I use more glass on the bottom and then use fewer -- and smaller -- pieces as I build up.

To heat such thick pieces, you need the larger microwave kiln. I do an initial firing for 9 minutes, then do 1 1/2-minute intervals. There's no way that these items would hold up in the small kiln; they'd probably break after about a minute of heating. Low and slow is the way to go!

I'm glad I'm paying more attention to the clear dichros because I'm going to be having my students work with colored base glass -- and I plan to show them how to fuse them with clears. I think they're really going to enjoy this lesson. I'm certainly enjoying my glass experiments.

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