My Kiln Has a Boo Boo!

I'm no kiln repair person, but my diagnosis is that the relays in my kiln are done in.  I had a small project to fire and when I checked on the kiln the next day, the computer said the project was complete ....but the kiln was still on...and firing hotter than the programmed settings. I thought I shut off the kiln a second AND a third time...but despite the readings on the computer, the kiln continued to rage....so, everything is now shut off at the fuse box until repairs happen.

             I found someone who does these repairs but he's on vacation til next week.  The last pane is in progress so the only hold up is firing. 

It's a great opportunity to catch up on other things, like cleaning the studio some more....an endless task complicated by the fact that I am a terrible organizer!  Oh well, I guess the kiln shut down is a blessing in disguise!

Don't Let the Light Go Out !

It's the darkest time of year but we have winter holidays that bring light to us .

Chanukah ended at sundown today....so what does that have to do with my glass blog?

Glass is all about light. Light passes through it, reflects from it, and offers us color, pattern, and, and sparkle!

The Ark door windows are progressing. Since I am working on the mirror image of the left door, there are no new photos that reveal anything new. The fourth window is complete and the 5th should be competed by the end of the week.

Let the shine in !

Kiln Action

Two of the three panes have spent time in the kiln. Pane #3 will go in tomorrow.

Today I brought the panes to the ark to check on fit (they are slightly too large ... which is an easier problem to solve than if they are too small!)

The designer of the windows was there to see his design come alive!     Check it out!

Panel #3 !!!!

I am a couple days behind schedule...harumpf!
Life demanded my attention.... but finally, the third panel is completed! 

Tomorrow I will fuse the top pane and hope that all goes well. Before I start the next set of three, I need to cover the middle and bottom panes with confetti...at least an hour or more of work! 

I'll then take the master "cartoon" and flip it to get a mirror image.
That will be an hour of drawing before I can cut out the pieces for the remaining panes.

It's very exciting...exhausting....exilharating...with small bouts of frustration mixed in! Honestly...the frustration is pretty minimal and mostly has to do with my lack of patience.

Confetti Glass Adds Texture

Look carefully ...I am holding onion skin-thin clear glass called confetti. I have been laying this down on the the clear glass around the flowers, stems, and leaves to add some texture and visual distortion to the clear background glass. It is time consuming...but more successful than my attempts at trying to find a firing program that would accomplish the same thing, failed.

I tried using lava cloth as one option...but the patterning was too regular:

While I didn't cover the entire test piece with confetti, the piece below shows you a sample of the distortion I can achieve with clear confetti. 

I think the first panel will be fired on Sunday....stay tuned!

The ark and Amud

The ark and shtender are in place and the chapel is taking on a greater feeling of completion!

I wish I could hurry the glass along, but these things take time.

What is a shtender? It's yiddish for a stand.... a book stand. Think of it as a reading stand.

Typically a bimah is a raised "stage" area where we place a shtender or amud (hebrew).  In the old days, the bimah was in the middle of the room. It is more common to see it in the front of the sanctuary now. The shtender was usually placed in the front  but now typically is located on the bimah.

Because we want the chapel to be as accessible as possible to all, there is no raised "stage." Its a smooth walk or roll up for those with walkers or wheel chairs.

At a later date I'll tell you about the builder of these items, as well as some of their special features.

Two Out of Four!

Three and a half hours to finish cutting and then gluing the pieces down .... but it was worth the push! 

Two panes down. One more to finish the left panel. My goal is to finish that third piece by Thursday. If I proclaim it publicly, I might just accomplish it!

Wish me (and my back) luck!

Knowing When to Stop!

Knowing when to stop or at least when to take a break can be challenging when you want to just push through and "git 'er done!"

If I cut myself (even a little bit) it's time to take a break. Where there are competing projects....like Thanksgiving Dinner, I stop.

I raced against the clock today, but it is almost Shabbat...so I stop.

Leaves and vines have been cut out of paper and glued into place.
My father's tailoring tape measure served as inspiration and a reminder today to place the pieces as closely as possible to conserve glass. I don't want to have to go buy another piece in order to finish the project. Sunday I will resume my efforts and hope that pane #2 (middle left door) will be ready for the kiln by Monday at the latest.

In case you are tuning in to my blog now, let me catch you up.
Robison Jewish Home has been renovated thanks to the generosity of many....especially the Schnitzer Family. The new building is the Harold Schnitzer Health and Rehabilitation Center. The Chapel is currently also being renovated thanks to the generosity of the Glasgow/Cogan Families in memory of Sarah Glasgow Cogan. 

The ark has been designed (by Gary Pearlman) and it is complete, save for the glass window inserts (which I a making.) It's an exciting opportunity...and I will talk more about the people who are making this project happen in future blogs....but...I have to race against sundown, so for now....

...Shabbat Shalom Y'all!

TINY PIECES!

The second panel is under way....Three hours in the studio produced a new work table free of clutter, a clean saw with a fresh supply of water, all the red and orange flowers/green crowns cut, and the base glass trimmed, washed and ready to receive adornments.  

The little pieces....ah....the little pieces! Sometimes the paper likes to slide off the glass before I am finished.  Pictured above are a few of those pieces ready for washing and placement....

Thanksgiving is just a day away....and that means some time away from the studio......

Grinding small things

P'ziiiiiiing!
That's the sound of a tiny glass blob slipping our of my grip at high speed while I am trying to grind it down.

I won't tell you verbatim what sounds I make when that happens!

Remember those dichroic dots I showed you a few posts ago? They were still too big....so I have to grind down each little blob.

It's cold, wet work (my lap grinder is outside) ..... but my grip is getting stronger!

I've ground down about 25 so far.....only lost two!

A Second Look

Just another few adjustments to some of the orange flowers and this piece is ready to go.... 

I also need to wait for the kiln test to run it's cycle. It's a good start and I think I have a sense of how to streamline the process for the next 5 panes.

Gary Pearlman designed this piece...and it just feels right! 

I'm smiling!

First Glimpse!

Almost....almost done assembling the first panel. I need to reshape one flower, move a couple pieces, and add in the rest of the pieces(3) ...but the top left pane is nearly done!

I haven't gotten to the kiln to run a program test....but maybe tomorrow! This panel took a week...but if I can can adjust my work space to be a little more ergonomically friendly, I might be able to complete the next five panes more efficiently.

LEAF ME ALONE!

Today I decided it is time to move my ring saw indoors. It's getting too cold. First I worked on cutting leaves and vines for the ark door project (2 hours!)....while admiring the leaves in my back yard forest! I will miss my time out there....but I won't miss my very cold fingers (that had to thaw out before I could type this blog entry!)

The ring saw has been moved to a seldom used bathroom. The tile saw and the lap grinder will remain stowed outside, drained and wrapped for upcoming freezes.

Tomorrow, I'll cut the base glass, assemble....and run a test of the firing schedule before I waste a lot of expensive glass!

Spots Before My Eyes

Dichroic blobs spots, beads.... call them what you will...there's a lot of 'em! More than what is in this photo! The color seems a bit washed out....yes, it is my personal lament...photographic dichroic glass is just  an elusive thing.  

These came out of the kiln today. I worked in my outdoor wet studio cutting leaves...but I know that I need to relocate the saw indoors.....it's just too cold! 

More photos tomorrow!

Glass Flowers!

Paper cutting is part of getting the pattern onto glass so I can cut the pieces with greater precision. The glass shown in the second picture is red iridized glass. The irid finish prevents the red from showing up in the angle of this photo.

I have cut  red and orange flowers and buds for the first pane...about 1.5 hours of work. Tomorrow I will cut vines and leaves....whoo hoo!!!! The fun part of this journey has begun!

A Beady Eye

This is just a small sample of the almost 200 bead/blob sets I just finished.

That means I had to cut a total of 200 dichroic squares and 200 size-matching clear squares. Two hours later...they are becoming blobs in the kiln as I write this.

Let me just say, this is not creative work! It does allow me to get into a groove, listen to music, and.... get a sore back. That's my next challenge. How to stand at my bench for long periods of time without developing a bad back.

Sunday I begin cutting flowers, vines, and leaves. I'm excited because the work isn't repetitive. The colors and the shapes change!
Bring it on!

Hiatus is Over!

It's been about 6 weeks since I began the glass door project. 
I needed to prep for Celebration of Art...a very wonderful show.
Jack and I had a wonderful time collaborating and we are excited to continue exploring the kinds of wood and glass that will share  conversations!

But now it is time to grab that pattern I posted back in September and start the process of cutting patterns and glass.
I am so excited to devote some real time and energy to this next project.

Self Promotion !

             COME SEE US! IT'S GOING TO BE GREAT!

Creating the cartoon/glass pattern

Gary Pearlman is a fabulous designer...he drew this set of three panels... 
In order to make copies on a large format machine, I had to trace the pattern with a sharpie....
THEN, I had to flip one of the patterns and redraw it on the back side so I can have a right door pattern.

Tedious work, but also exciting...I am inching closer to the fun work. 

Next step in the process: number each piece on a master cartoon was well as on the other copies.....after each piece is numbers, the paper pattern has to be cut out and glued onto the right color of glass.

Time invested: 

40 minutes numbering the master cartoon and 2 pattern sets for cutting

Why did I forget to number the master before photo copying? SHEEESH!

Stay tuned...more to come!