![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blog.jsgreene.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/IMG_0205-300x200.jpg\" "\\"Glass")
<\/a>First Piece:<\/strong> For the first piece, we were told to take a small rectangle of glass and just build things on top of it, however we wanted, and then we would full-fuse them. \u00a0I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to do, but I liked that clear, speckled glass and thought maybe I’d try to find glass that fit with that orange\/yellow\/blue color scheme. \u00a0It’s hard to tell from the picture, but the middle strip is actually a gold strip (looks a little limey on the picture) and I think that makes it look sorta out of place. \u00a0I wasn’t quite sure about that metallic glass and now I think I’ve decided that I’m not a huge fan of it. \u00a0All in all, though, I like my little piece, even though I have no idea what to do with it.<\/p>\nSo then I got thinking, “What am I going to do with all of these rectangles of glass?” \u00a0So then I thought and I thought and I remembered this one craft vendor I saw at a fair in Ventura, that made little window vases out of glass that very much looked like this kind of fused glass. \u00a0So, I tried explaining it to the teacher and he told me how to do it.<\/p>\n I picked up my glass pieces on Wednesday, after a half-day at work. \u00a0I was so excited to see them, and I was not disappointed. \u00a0Some of them are sort of different from what I expected they would look like, … Continue reading ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blog.jsgreene.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/IMG_0213-300x200.jpg\" "\\"Second")
<\/a>Second Piece: <\/strong>The second piece is a partial-fuse, which means that they don’t fuse it all the way so that the glass stays a little more chunky. \u00a0For this one, I hemmed and hawed, not knowing exactly what to do. \u00a0When I can do anything, especially at the beginning of learning how to do something, I get so overwhelmed that I don’t want to do anything. \u00a0So then I eventually thought that I might try to make something recognizable, so I sought out to make some flowers. \u00a0I decided to try it on a white background, and then I thought I should make the stems. \u00a0There are these really super thin tubes of glass that you can hold over a candle and bend. \u00a0So what you see is me trying to do that. \u00a0It was super hard — the glass kept on breaking because I gave it too much pressure. \u00a0Eventually I got it…or at least, got better at it. \u00a0Then I thought it would be fun to put down little orange squares as if they were orange flowers. \u00a0“Orange flowers,” you say, “They look more like red and gold to me!” \u00a0To which I respond, I had no idea they would turn those colors. \u00a0I swear they were orange when I started. \u00a0Then, there’s this stuff that’s basically tiny flecks of glass, which is that orange stuff in the background, which I sprinkled around, wanting to get the effect of flowers in the distance. \u00a0I also wanted to try out the flecks. \u00a0On a side note, the man who runs the shop says that the flecks come in fine, medium and coarse, but he doesn’t stock fine because they’re too dangerous — you can inhale them and cause serious damage. \u00a0Fun fact! \u00a0Anyway, I then put some clear on top of the whole thing, to try to keep everything in place. \u00a0I kind of regret doing that because otherwise the lines and the little flecks would have remained clumpier. \u00a0Any which way, I still like how it came out, although this one I’m really not sure what to do with.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blog.jsgreene.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/IMG_0279-300x200.jpg\" "\\"Third")
<\/a>Third Piece: <\/strong>My third piece is (the beginning of) one of those vases that I did fully-fused. \u00a0There is a kind of glass with lines and different flecks in it, and I really liked it, so I thought I might make some sort of diagonal pattern with some of that glass that was mostly see-through, but had interest. \u00a0I also lay down some of those thin glass line thingies and I especially like how they turned out. \u00a0The bubbles were created because I think I did something wrong, but I kinda like the bubbles — they add an extra texture. \u00a0For these, you have to lay some sort of foam board stuff (that can survive the kiln) so that the glass doesn’t fuse together (and leaves enough room to insert things like flowers & twigs). \u00a0From here, now I have to apply little hoop-like things on the back with some special glue, then I have to use some sort of string through the hoop things to be able to make it hang. \u00a0I bought the hoop things and the glue…just have to get the thread stuff and make it happen. \u00a0Maybe next week!<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blog.jsgreene.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/IMG_0243-300x200.jpg\" "\\"Fourth")
<\/a>Fourth Piece: <\/strong>(aka the piece de resistance) (aka my favorite thing that I made that day) I had a few more moments before the class ended and I thought that as long as I had a few more minutes, that I’d try another vase. \u00a0For this one, I thought it would be interesting to get a bunch of smaller pieces (in a similar color scheme) and piece them together. \u00a0This is also where I got very, very lazy about cleaning each piece of glass (you must clean each piece of glass before placing it, first with rubbing alcohol, then with glass cleaner) and decided to only half-heartedly clean (if at all) and instead decided to piece together. \u00a0Once I finished, I realized there was no more room on the fully-fused kiln plate, which was what I intended to do. \u00a0So, I thought that I’d put it on the partial-fuse kiln plate and am just so enamored with how this piece came out. \u00a0I love its chunkiness that would have been lost if it was fully-fused, I think. \u00a0I also like how the glass looks different when looking at it plain and then looking at it through the light. \u00a0You can kinda see in this picture, but when looking just plain, those metallic pieces are a yellowy-gold. \u00a0But when you look at it through the light, those pieces turn blueish-purple. \u00a0Like the one before it, my plan is to make this into a vase, so I still have to finish it by putting on the hooks and string and stuff.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blog.jsgreene.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/IMG_0223-300x200.jpg\" "\\"All")
<\/a>All in all, I really like how my stuff turned out. \u00a0It turns out that the place where I took my class has a weekly workshop on Thursday, where you purchase glass and pay a small-ish fee to fire a whole kiln plate, and they will let you use all of their tools and stuff to create whatever it is you want to fire. \u00a0I think that sounds like fun, so I might end up going when I have time…maybe even next week!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"