Somewhere Way, WAY, Over the Rainbow

Earlier this month I took a fused glass art workshop. I had no clue what the process would entail, but I was ready for adventure!

On a flat, clear, rectangular (6" x 12") glass plate, we glued down pieces of cut stained glass in our chosen pattern or picture. I was keen to make a somewhat abstract-looking rainbow. Some pieces of glass I cut myself using a glass cutting tool and others I just picked out of communal boxes of glass scraps.

Not ever having done anything like this before, I soon discovered that it was like making a mosaic or doing a jigsaw puzzle. Here's the thing, though -- I hate jigsaw puzzles! I'm too impatient for the care and attention they require. Therefore, I used quite large pieces of glass to make the whole process go quicker. And I wasn't too picky about trying to make the rainbow look "perfect" either. I quickly let go of any expectations or need to control the outcome. Pretty friggin zen of me, right?

To fill in the spaces between the cut glass pieces, we sprinkled a coloured ground glass/silica mixture called "frit." Most of the frit I used was very fine powder but I also went berserk with some larger frit to add texture to the piece.

After the workshop, the leader took our completed glass plates to her commercial art glass studio, where she fired them in kilns to fuse the glass and to bend the flat plate into an ess curve so the piece could stand up on its own. We got the finished pieces back in about 10 days.

Here is mine in all its chaotic fused glass rainbow glory!

And here it is with sunlight streaming through it --

Okay, okay, I know it's a dog's breakfast, but . . . 

Actually, I don't mind it as a "first attempt." Who knows if I'll ever make another fused glass piece again though.

[Fused Glass Art and Photos # 2, 3 and 4 © Debra She Who Seeks, 2023]