New things are cookin' in the studio. I've been planning to do more sculptural work for a while, so I've been sketching away, considering new forms. It all started with this fabulous (yes, I just used the word "fabulous", don't judge) stainless steel slumping mold. I had it made by a local metal shop. And since I'm a geeky glass girl I find it quite exciting. I also received cowboy gear instead of dolls when I was a child, but that's a story for another day. |
I've been dwelling on atmospheric effects like fog. I hope it's not some unconscious connection to my... um... maturity. So I started working on a large horizontal foggy piece, planning to drape it over my shiny new mold. Here's the piece in the kiln, surrounded by dams to keep it from spreading out. It's pretty thick at this point, about seven layers. In this image it's receiving the last layer, a clear cap on top of the finished piece. Here's the finished piece, still flat but showing the layers of foggy goodness back to the horizon. It's a little hard to see, but there are lots of tiny trees way in the back. I placed the mold in the kiln and balanced the big old heavy piece of glass on the mold (it looked like a teeter-totter and was a little scary). The piece behaved nicely in the kiln, slowly draping itself over that nice curve as it softened in the heat. I built a wood base with feet from a really nice piece of clear grain fir. Yummy. The warm colors in the wood base echo the warm colors in the foreground of the piece. It needs a name and a signature and it's off to the gallery tomorrow morning. I hope it finds a new home. I see more fog in my future. Wait! That doesn't sound right. |