i can't get no satis......

This wonky photo shows my new fused glass piece, albeit only a part of it (photographer error). I was disappointed in how the middle band turned out -- the beautiful swirly opaque glass looks rather inconsequential, and somehow there is no unity with the rest of the glass. In a word, I was dissatisfied...but not stricken.

While glass is a demanding medium, it can also be quite forgiving. I decided to add another layer and fuse the whole shebang again. My goal was to use this new layer to unify the design.

I am a big fan of using line to create movement, and line can also be a unifying element. I toyed with the idea of doing some freeform line work with glass paint, but opted instead of adding another layer of a glass that has helter skelter black lines on a transparent base. This will "read" as lines on top of my entire piece, which I hope will draw all these elements together.

On top of that I placed three pieces:

When this is formed into a curved vase, these lines will take on an expanded shape. The horizontal lines will be much more subtle than they appear now. There is a touch of green in these pieces, which I hope will be a nice pop of color.

In the lower right corner, I placed the Japanese kanji character for "peaceful." I used glass paint to paint the character on a small piece of clear. I am experimenting here, so I put it in an inconspicuous place that may end up at the bottom of the vase. I have oodles of ideas of how I want to explore Japanese calligraphy in future projects.

This should be read for viewing on Sunday. Till then...