Fused Glass Class

I've just returned home from 4 days in Bozeman, (MT) where I was taking an introductory class on glass fusing and slumping. The instructor, Richard Parrish, held the 3 day workshop at his studio.

These two pieces offer a good introduction to Richard's work. He exhibited at SOFA 2007 as well as the big wholesale American Craft show in Philadelphia.

Below, you can see Richard answering questions during one of the introductory activities.

Glass cutting was demonstrated, and I found this quite challenging the first day. My skills improved significantly over time.

Two more pictures of work Richard has displayed in his studio.

We began by constructing four 2.5" square tiles. Then, we put together four 4.5" square tiles.

Small pieces of glass were layered over a single, solid sheet of glass. These had to be very carefully placed into the kiln.

The firing schedule is the secret to success with this technique.

Here is a look at all the tiles made by all the participants during the first day of class.
These tiles provided good examples that helped us in our planning for the big piece we would construct on the second day of class.

Everyone worked hard to produce their final piece.

The final day, we arrived at the studio to find our 10" squares fused and ready for finishing touches. A belt sander was used to finish off the edges nicely prior to the slumping kiln cycle.

The 10" pieces were placed over molds in the kiln. Tomorrow I'll show my pieces after the slumping!