Summer is here! I hope today finds you happy and cool!
Its heating up around here, it was 99 today! WheW!
I haven’t been able to torch very much these last few weeks but I did find time to sit down and play with some new glass. When I saw Bluestone I knew I had to have some. Finding a nice deep denim is hard to do and this glass fit the bill, I love it!
This is a different glass than I am used to working with called Bullseye and although it is a bit stiffer to melt its worth it and it will also will let me expand my color pallette a bit. There are some wonderful colors in this glass line and Bluestone is my favorite and unfortunately an odd lot which means when what was made is gone, its gone. Why do I alaways love the odd lots? I don't know but as soon it arrived, I sat down at the torch with some Raku frit and this is the set I made.
I called it "Canyon Blues"
(click to enlarge)
The Raku frit turned a rich, rusty red and was not what I was anticipating but I fell in love just the same. That is one thing about Raku, I never quite know what I will get and I have never had these rusty red colors come out like this before.
Frit is small glass pieces and comes in a variety of color mixes. After I melt the base color I dip the bead in the frit and then melt again and use a tool to rake (move)the glass. Here is a pic of some of the frit I have:
(click to enlarge)
And here is a pic of some of my frit test beads AKA “fritters”. My friend Ann calls them that and it stuck with me as well. lol
(click to enlarge)
I hope that gives you an idea of how my beads are made.
As you can see the possibilities are endless!
Until next time, remember to Keep Looking Up!!!
xxx
