Tuesday, December 16, 2008

...visions of glass and Christmas bears...

Here is another design principle applicable to both fused glass and quilting...recombination.

My last post included some patterns created by fusing together pieces of glass of various colors and sizes, which formed a slab. This slab was cut into slices, revealing a secondary design. One way to add curves to that design is use one or two metal rods to "comb" the glass when it is in a molten state.

Here is my original arrangement of glass, top and side views:



These pieces are wrapped and placed in a kiln in a way that will avoid movement during the combing process. When the glass is in a molten state, metal "combs" are drawn through the glass to create swirls (think of the Peet's Coffee/Starbucks baristas' artistry with designs in that latte foam).


...and voila! When the bars are sawed into pieces, the curved designs are revealed:


These can be fused again, to each other and to other pieces of glass.

New topic: One of my fav-o-rite fiber artists is my friend Karen Rips. She just happens to be in my Ventura County-based art quilt group, but I promise that my opinion of her work is not influenced by either her rapier wit or delightful personality. She brings a level of artistry to surface design that is both stimulating and astonishing.

So why am I mentioning Karen? She nominated me for a Kreativ Blogger Award.

Per this award, I must nominate five other blogs. Here are my nominations:

Four are from my Santa Barbara-based art quilt group, Fibervision:

Judy Rys, whose work is both inventive and colorful;
Lora Martin, who brings energy and verve to her designs;
Diana Acevedo, whose brain must be on overdrive, as she creates both wonderful quilts and spectacular purses and bags;
Ranell Hansen, whose award winning quilts are innovative and delightful;
and someone whom I do know know, but whose work I have admired from afar, Mai-Britt Axelsen.

This is Sanja's first Christmas, and she has not learned that Christmas bears are not her toys. Fortunately, a little re-stuffing will fix this one. Bad doggie, bad bad doggie...

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