Back in the saddle
After too many tortuous days of too many hours spent on job-related work, during which I was unable to touch the torch, I finally descended into the basement. It has been a cool Spring in Boston so far, so I wasn't prepared for a hot, muggy night in my basement. To my surprise, despite the fact that the basement has always been chilly, even too chilly, I wound up sweating over the torch. This is partly due to the fact that we are having a thunderstorm, and the humidity is through the roof - my hygrometer reads about 77%.
My aims at the torch were first, to have fun; second, to make a non-breaking new cat body; third, to try a flower again, and that's about it. Oh wait, I was going to make a palm tree...
Instead, I broke a lot of glass.
How, or why, you ask?
It was accidental, I assure you! Lots of little things. Trying to make petals with the wrong kind of tools, and having them shatter on me. Introducing the rod to the flame too fast, forgetting that even though I felt hot, the rods might not feel the same. Trying to make more green stringer for the TV show, and, well, finding I haven't exactly mastered that.
The other weird thing was that torching felt totally alien to me. I couldn't remember which hands to use for what, and the glass seemed to melt too fast, and, and... Then I remembered that I was wearing the new lampworking glasses, which I'd only worn once, and I was using a much smaller mandrel than I ever had. Eventually I got the hang of it again, but I've definitely lost ground.
To the beads: The palm tree was a dismal disaster. I don't know what I was thinking. My tan base (I don't have brown) for the trunk turned another color. And forget the leaves. So I melted it all down to form a... well... interesting sculptural bead. Let me know what you think when I post pics.
The next bead was an attempt to do a color change reaction with ivory and turquoise. I wanted to add another color, and the dichro rod was just sitting there, soooo.... I think it turned out pretty!
The last one was a kitty bead body. We'll see how that one turned out. I'm not sure the top of the bead came out too well. But I tried to make it structurally more sound, so hopefully parts won't randomly break off this time.
My aims at the torch were first, to have fun; second, to make a non-breaking new cat body; third, to try a flower again, and that's about it. Oh wait, I was going to make a palm tree...
Instead, I broke a lot of glass.
How, or why, you ask?
It was accidental, I assure you! Lots of little things. Trying to make petals with the wrong kind of tools, and having them shatter on me. Introducing the rod to the flame too fast, forgetting that even though I felt hot, the rods might not feel the same. Trying to make more green stringer for the TV show, and, well, finding I haven't exactly mastered that.
The other weird thing was that torching felt totally alien to me. I couldn't remember which hands to use for what, and the glass seemed to melt too fast, and, and... Then I remembered that I was wearing the new lampworking glasses, which I'd only worn once, and I was using a much smaller mandrel than I ever had. Eventually I got the hang of it again, but I've definitely lost ground.
To the beads: The palm tree was a dismal disaster. I don't know what I was thinking. My tan base (I don't have brown) for the trunk turned another color. And forget the leaves. So I melted it all down to form a... well... interesting sculptural bead. Let me know what you think when I post pics.
The next bead was an attempt to do a color change reaction with ivory and turquoise. I wanted to add another color, and the dichro rod was just sitting there, soooo.... I think it turned out pretty!
The last one was a kitty bead body. We'll see how that one turned out. I'm not sure the top of the bead came out too well. But I tried to make it structurally more sound, so hopefully parts won't randomly break off this time.
posted by Susan at Aspiring Arts at 9:54 PM
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