Pisces Glass Works: April 2010

I'll post a few pics here of the process of plating a piece of stained glass. Mind you that my plating involved reflection of mountains in water and the sun, and leaves on the birch tree. And also I'll qualify this by telling you that I don't do plating all that often, in fact, this is probably the first, but definitely not the last panel I'll plate.

I will give you this tip, when plating finish your panel completely, apply patina, clean and polish PRIOR to adding your plating. You will not be able to clean between the pieces of plating and the panel after it's put together. And many artists that use plating frequently will tell you that all edges of the plating need to be soldered so that nothing can creep under the plating..dust, etc. This I did not do on this panel as there was nothing to solder to the 3/4ths of the sun and also a portion of the water was not solderable.

I'll let the photo's speak for themselves, but am always open to questions.

Artisan's of Glass "Spring Forward" Art Contest

Artisan's of Glass, a stained glass forum, which I am proud to be a member and moderator of is currently holding a contest for cold and hot glassers that are members with a required number of posts. There is certain criteria that needs to be met for both categories of glass art. I submitted my photo of my contest project today, the judging will be held after April 30th and wonderful prizes are to be awarded to the first two places of both categories I believe.

My entry was entitled "Katahdin Spring". Mt. Katahdin is well known as the Northern most end of the Apalachian Trail (which begins in Georgia) and is located in North Central Maine, in a state park by the name of Baxter State Park. One of the Governors of Maine, Percival Baxter, purchased 6,000 acres there at first and gave it to the people of our state with one stipulation, that it always be left forever wild. Katahdin is 5,268 feet high, not huge as mountain ranges go, but is the tallest mountain in our state. There are 200 trails located in Baxter State Park, and they are maintained each year by volunteers and 3 state park employees.

Some of the criteria I used in this project involves plating (which is applying separate pieces of glass to either the front or back (or both) sides of a panel) Plating is used frequently in stained glass to achieve color change or the folds of drapery (clothing)or shading in different portions of a window. The mountain reflection, sun and leaves of the birch are all plated areas. I also added a Non-glass feature, by using polished stones around the pond in the panel. There is some decorative soldering there, as well as the use of 14 ga copper wire for the birch tree branches.

I hope that you enjoy viewing it, as much as I enjoyed creating it.

Etching Glass

This is a fairly new venture for me..I've done a few pieces on occasion..a small etching of a motorcycle and horses running, but finally sat down to play with it again recently.
As everyone who knows me well is aware, I am a Pit Bull lover..I was dragged into it somewhat by my children, but now have four of them and love them all dearly. Beware of what the media tries to smear them all with. Dogs,in my humble opinion, are individuals with the same issues that people may have, both mental and emotional. Some are good, some are not. But none deserve to be painted by the Breed Specific Legislation brush.
That rant being said, here is my latest etching..it's not great, it isn't even very good, but I promise to learn more about this art and do a better job the next time.
Actually, I found a very good site that may be used as a resource for glass etching and it may be seen at: http://www.lesleypyke.com/page/Glass%20Engraving%20-%20The%20Drill%20Technique.htm Lesley is an incredible artist, and I hope that you enjoy her site as much as I have.