The Evolution of Ice...

This week I documented the development of a 17" square platter in various stages of production, partly to remember how I made it, and partly to share it with YOU!  People ask about what goes into my work.  Here goes...

This is a piece in the Ice Series, all of which, at this point anyways, represent forces moving against each other; compressing, fragmenting, creating colour, depth and stored energy.

Stage 1 – the point of “compression”, first drawn with “paint” (black powdered glass in a liquid medium) on a piece of clear glass, is further developed with powdered and crushed glass of different colours and sizes.

Stage 2 – more crushed and powdered glasses are added to my glass “canvas”.

Stage 3 – the addition of fine clear glass obscures the design below, and maintains a similar volume of glass in areas that will remain clear.

Stage 4 – various clear and white textured glasses are stacked on top, and the piece is placed in the kiln, ready to fire.

Stage 5 – Next day, firing complete!  Time to open the kiln and see what happened.

Stages 6, 7, 8 - You may notice distortion of the shape in that last image, caused by an uneven volume of glass where pieces have overlapped.  The lumpy bits will be ground off, then the edges belt sanded smooth, before placing the slab on a mold and firing it again.  This will give it a gentle curved shape.  You can’t see the transparent areas while it’s on the kiln shelf here, or appreciate the depth that is achieved by layering transparent and opaque glasses. 

The finished platter will be professionally photographed before being offered for sale, and I’ll post that another time!