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Decorating With Art Glass
Have you perused the terms commonly used for art glass? Most people find them numerous and perplexing, so much so that I threw in a ringer right in the title. For starters, mica isn’t glass at all, as most of us learned in elementary science class. Rather, mica’s a mineral that flakes nicely into translucent sheets. Thus many find it ideal for use in making lamp shades, such as the famous “coolie” shades made by Dirk van Erp.
Although you can’t go wrong using the term “art glass” to refer to most kinds of decorative glass in period lighting, windows, doors, or hand-blown vases, there are terms that are much more accurate and specific. Let’s begin with a tough one: figuring out the distinction between stained and leaded glass. In historical European cathedral windows and the like, this stained glass is colored glass that’s been painted with vitreous oxides and fired with or without silver nitrate. These examples of older stained glass are considered to be leaded. For those who have seen these glorious works of art in person, you would easily recognize the lead cames that hold the pieces of the composition in place: that rib-like dark matter seen between the bits of light-filled glass.
These days, things are much simpler. Today, the term “stained glass” is considered to be any window with colored glass. Any clear glass windows that are leaded are simply just called “leaded.”
Colored glass gains its tint from minerals. However, not all stained glass is transparent. Translucent stained glassed are most commonly known as “opalescent.” But opalescent glass is not transparent—it’s milky. This type of glass often has more than one color in a sheet. A great example of opalescent glass is Tiffany windows.
{Another notable example of this is the windows by Greene & Greene, who layered their glass the same way as Tiffany, but they used copper foil and lead overlay to enhance the dimensional quality of their compositions.} Greene & Greene’s glass is actually very common. Since it’s iridized on one surface, it has the appearance of a rainbow. Frank Lloyd Wright and Tiffany have both used this same glass.
Favrile became the brand-name of Tiffany’s version of this shimmering opalescent glass, a term that was trademarked in 1894. What makes this iridescent glass so special is that it appears to change colors when it’s seen from different angles. Although many other companies made their own versions of this iridized glass, no one else used the term Favrile.
So we’ve gone through mica, stained glass, leaded glass, opalescent, iridescent, and Favrile—now what exactly are slag and slumped? Slag glass refers to the sheets of opalescent glass used in Arts and Crafts light fixtures. (The term “slag” refers to the undocumented belief that slag from iron smelting works was added to the glass for color.) The term slumped glass refers to glass that’s been fired in the kiln to make it curve. Some glass artisans will actually climb into the kiln to manipulate the hot glass to their liking. To create glass shades, the hot glass is actually “slumped” over a bowl. With this technique, artisans can achieve effects ranging from delicately folded glass in tulip-like shades to futuristic wild shapes.
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Fusing Recycled Glass
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Stoneware Dual-condiment Wine Bottle Slumping Mold $24.00 STONEWARE Ceramic slump mold for making a dual-well wine bottle serving dish.These high end molds are thicker and made of stoneware to last. We also have them available in a low cost earth ware version that last about 30 firings. Both are hand made by Daniel Gutzwiller. These molds are not behemoths. They are as small as possible to maximize the use of kiln space. When used on stainless steel kil… |
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Nice 8.75 Dinner Plate Slump Fusing Glass Mold Kiln $8.95 Nice bisque dinner plate has smooth surface and is ready for your glass fusing-slumping or other similar great creations. Great for ceramic painting, just paint as you wish. Molds can be used over and over again for cool ideas. Be sure to coat with heavy kiln wash before use, MOLD COMES WI… |
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Microkiln, Medium (Microwave Kiln) $140.00 … |
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A Beginner’s Guide to Kiln-Formed Glass: * Fused * Slumped * Cast $14.16 Kiln forming glass—melting cut or crushed glass together in a kiln until it becomes a single piece and shaping the glass with molds—has quickly become one of the most popular subjects in studio glasswork. This comprehensive introduction features projects both beautiful and practical that are sure to appeal to all beginning glassworkers. It covers all of the fundamentals, such as fusing, … |
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Warm Glass: A Complete Guide to Kiln-Forming Techniques: Fusing, Slumping, Casting $16.04 Here’s the first and only full-color book on the subject of “warm,” or kiln-fired, glass in print. It provides a comprehensive look at one of the most popular skills for those working in the studio. With lavish illustrations, and all the processes involved in kiln-firing explained, the versatility of the dazzling technique of warm glass comes into clear focus. From fusing and slumping to casting a… |
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Contemporary Fused Glass $39.99 Whether you are a newcomer to fusing and slumping or an experienced glass artist, CONTEMPORARY FUSED GLASS is an invaluable guide to developing and improving your ability to work with glass in a kiln. CONTEMPORARY FUSED GLASS, a revised and expanded edition of Brad Walker s CONTEMPORARY WARM GLASS, contains up-to-date information on all aspects of fusing and slumping, featuring techniques and proc… |