Here’s a link to the blog about my featured artist show at the Hillsborough Gallery of Arts.
http://hillsboroughgallery.wordpress.com/2014/10/21/discoveries-4/
If you haven’t had a chance to see Discoveries, please stop by the gallery. It will be on display until Saturday 10/25/14.
This past Friday I had my first Featured Artist show at the Hillsborough Gallery of Arts. It was a fabulous evening with a great turn out! I was able to spend time with family and old friends, and made some new friends.
We put together a little video (no sound) showing how I create come of my works. We loaded it to a little digital frame that will run for the duration of the show, which is up until 10/26/14. You can stop by the gallery to see the show and the video, or if you can't make it to the gallery you can see it here:
This video demonstrates how Mark creates some of his glass art. There is no audio as this was developed to run in a continuous loop in a digital frame at a gallery.
My new mantra is "submit, submit, submit!" I'm applying and being accepted to international and local juried shows.
A few weeks ago I applied to the Contemporary Glass Society 'OUT OF TOWN' - OPEN USA call for artists. Just yesterday I found out that I was selected along with 43 other US artists for the online show. The show can be viewed here: http://cgs.org.uk/exhibitions/out-town-open-usa-44-american-glass-artists
I also applied to a call for artists from the Yadkin Arts Council "Eye of the Artist 4th Annual Show: Happiness is..." and was selected for that show as well. The show runs from 7/11/14 to 8/29/14. If you're in the area stop on by the Welborn Gallery, Yadkin Cultural Arts Center, 226 E. Main Street Yadkinville, NC.
If you're at all like me, you get all worked up about an idea and want to jump straight into creating it. I've been known to get up in the middle of the night and head down to the studio to work on an idea that I dreamed about or that was keeping me awake, It's times like these when I just start working and forget little things like centering my circular pattern on a square of thin fire paper so I can easily find the center to start creating my piece.
That's why I've created this quick tutorial on finding the center of a circle. It's a really simple process using any right angle and a pen or pencil. Draw a couple of marks and a couple of straight lines and "voila!" you're ready to get back to creating!
You can cut strips just like these!
I find cutting strips of glass to be very meditative. I don't know if it's the sound the glass makes when being scored, or if it's the repetitious and almost mechanical nature of the task, but I like it! There are many ways to cut your strips and the way I do it might not be right for you, but these tips have worked for me.
Tools that you'll need are:
Morton
Before I found the Morton Glass Works Portable Glass Shop I simply measured the glass, lined up a straight edge, scored the glass, and then ran the score by hand if the glass was large enough, or with running pliers if it was too thin. Now I use the Morton system every time I cut strips. It allows me to measure accurately, and score perfectly straight lines.
First I decide the width I will need for my strips and that determines how much glass I'm going to need. Let's say I decide to make my strips 1/4" wide and that my project is a simple 2 color 8" x 8" plate. I'll need two 8" x 8" sheets of glass.
Organic Edge
Tip 1: I use only Bullseye glass (you can probably ignore this tip if you use something else). Because the edges of Bullseye are, well, let's call them "organic", they aren't of equal thickness and it's difficult to measure a straight line. I like to trim off the organic edges and use them in other projects like pot melts or screen melts.
Tip 2: When breaking a score, glass wants to follow the path of least resistance. If you're trying to cut a 1/4" strip from a 3" wide piece of glass, more often than not the glass won't follow the score line and it will break far short of the end, running away from the score line towards the thinner less resistant path. I've found that by cutting my glass in half at each step, my strip cutting is much more successful. With an 8" x 8" piece I'll make my first cut at the middle at 4" leaving me with 2 pieces of glass. The next cut will be at 2" leaving 4 pieces of glass. Then at 1", 1/2" and finally 1/4".
Tip 3: When the glass is starting to get down to about 1" or less in width, run your cuts gently and don't be afraid to take your time and run from both ends. Line up your score with your running pliers, making sure that the guide line on your pliers is aimed straight down on the score line, and gently squeeze. I don't try to run the score all at once. If it happens to work out that way all the better but I squeeze just enough to get the run started, then turn the glass around and finish the run from the other end.
I use either Bullseye Shelf Primer or Primo Primer Kiln Wash depending on the project. Each is applied differently.
Why Bullseye or Primo? Well, I'm glad that you asked! The two products behave very differently. Primo goes on very wet and with puddles, which lends itself to a nice smooth surface. I use Primo when I don't want texture on the glass surface that has been in contact with the kiln shelf. It won't be perfect, but it'll be pretty smooth. Primo is fire once and re-apply. It cleans up easily, but you have to clean the shelf after every use.
Bullseye is a bit easier to mix, store, and apply. If you want a smooth kiln shelf you can always smooth it out after it dries with your hand or an old wadded up pair of pantyhose. I use Bullseye when I plan on cold working the surface, or when I'm applying 20 coats in preparation for a screen melt or pot melt. Many glass artists will apply kiln wash to an already-fired shelf and keep on trucking, not /scraping cleaning the shelves between firings.
Let's talk safety before we get started.
Kiln wash in its powder form is bad for your lungs, eyes, and is very drying to the skin. I always wear a respirator, gloves, and goggles when removing old kiln wash, mixing kiln wash, and when I'm applying it to the shelf.
When I use the Bullseye shelf primer I follow their instructions for mixing and applying the kiln wash. I mix 1 part kiln wash powder to 5 parts water in an old mason jar with a lid and mix well. I apply it with a Haike brush and dry in between coats with a hair dryer. If it's sunny and warm outside, I'll set the shelves up in the sun and let the sun warm and dry in between coats (as in this video).
I also apply in a different direction with each coat. I start in the corner and follow this pattern:
1 - ↑, 2 - →, 3 -↓, 4 - ← and 5 - /, allowing each coat to dry to the touch.
Visit Screamingsquirrelglass.com for complete instructions.
The Bullseye primer dries with a pink tint so you'll know that it hasn't been fired. After firing it turns white.
Primo is a different animal. I try to mix just what I'll use at the time I need it because the powder settles quickly and can be hard to mix up again. I use the same ratio as the Bullseye: 1 part Primo Primer powder to 5 parts water.
Ikea Tool
I found a neat whisk in the kitchen supplies area at IKEA. The plastic beads at the ends of the wires are great for getting the goop at the bottom of the jar moving again.
I follow the same application pattern as the Bullseye: 1 - ↑, 2 - →, 3 -↓, 4 - ← and 5 - /, but instead of allowing the application to air dry, I use a hand-held hair dryer to gently dry it. The Primo goes on purple and fires white.
Uploaded by Mark Kinsella on 2014-03-23.
I like to prep my kiln shelves every time that I fire the kiln. It's just my personal preference. It's one potential issue that I can eliminate. Remove old kiln wash easily with one of those green Scotchbrite scrubby things, then re-coat as described above.
We lost power due to an ice storm during the early morning hours of the second firing on Friday. Fortunately the kiln had already gone through its anneal stage and was cooling to room temperature! I let the kiln sit until we got our power back on Sunday. No worries about shocking the glass after 2 days in a cold kiln.
The top of the screen melt did exactly what I wanted it to do, which was smooth out. No spikes left and a nice smooth surface with no devit.
After the second firing, note the nice smooth finish and no spikes.
The bottom, as expected, had kiln wash stuck to it. Sorry I didn't get a picture of the bottom of the glass before I cleaned it up. I did get a picture of the kiln shelf tough.
Where you see pink kiln shelf is where the kiln wash stuck to the glass.
I like to give the edges a quick grind on the Wizard grinder to knock off any sharp spots and reduce the risk of getting cut when I'm handling the screen melt.
To remove the kiln wash from the bottom of the screen melt I used wet/dry sand paper, a water bucket to work in, and a little elbow grease. It took less than 10 minutes to clean it up. When I get ready to use the screen melt I'll probably hit the bottom with some silicone carbide and some wet/dry sand paper, just to be sure there is no kiln wash left.
The bottom of the screen melt after using just wet/dry sand paper.
Thanks for stopping by. This is the first Scream of the Squirrel! I've decided to use a blog format to post tutorials and other information about Screaming Squirrel Glass on a regular basis. I hope that you find it useful.
I spent a few days sorting scrap glass by color and decided to make a screen melt. I'm using the Paragon CS-16S kiln, Bullseye Kiln Wash, Bullseye fusible glass, 12 x 12 inch stainless steel screen (prefired to 1200° to remove the oils and things left behind when it was processed), cut up kiln shelves as dams, and 1/8 inch ceramic fiber for the containment area.
First, I applied 20 - 25 coats of kiln wash to the kiln shelf and let it dry for a few days. When it was good and dry I built a 10 x 12 inch containment area out of cut up mullite kiln shelves and lined it with 1/8 inch ceramic fiber paper. The stainless steel screen is set on top.
I calculated that I would take about 2000 grams of glass to properly fill the area and have the glass about 5/8 to 3/4 inches thick. I used 800 grams each of blue and white and 200 grams of clear.
For this project I put a layer of blue, then white, then clear, and then filled in the empty spaces until I had used up all of my glass.
Glass selected, weighed and stacked.
Now to figure out a firing schedule. Since the glass was pretty close to the elements in the top of the kiln I needed to ramp slowly. I calculate my schedule in Fahrenheit.
150 DPH to 1000° no hold
500 DPH to 1625° 90 minute hold (so most of the glass will flow through the screen)
AFAP to 1500° 30 minute hold (to help remaining glass clear the screen and let the bubbles out)
AFAP to 900° for 2hrs
27 DPH to 800 no hold
50 DPH to 700 no hold
162 DPH to room temp
I've learned from past mistakes to not open the kiln during the firing or cooling. Have you ever tried it, only to hear that tell-tale "ping" of cracking glass?
After the firing. The kiln is at 67° for more than 24 hours.
When I first opened the kiln I wasn't too impressed with the results. All the glass had melted and it looked scuzzy on top.
Kind of disappointing looking isn't it? Notice the big spike?
After taking off the screen and carefully picking up any big pieces of glass, I broke out the shop vac and gave it a good Hoovering (the kiln was off and unplugged!) The reveal was pretty cool!
The screen melt after the vacuuming. I'm happy so far!
There are still spikes on the top of the glass so tonight I have it back in the kiln to smooth everything out. I'm pretty conservative with my annealing and cool down schedules. The schedule for this firing is:
200 DPH to 1100 hold 10 minutes
600 DPH to 1500 hold 30 minutes
AFAP to 900° hold 2hrs
27 DPH to 800° no hold
49 DPH to 700° no hold
162 DPH to 70°
Off
I'll post the next steps and pictures of the final slab in the next few days.