Spring Flowers

This past week I was feeling inspired by the lovely lilacs blooming and decided to make some spring flowers.

I chose to do two panels, each 5” X 10”. I wanted to do a tack fuse to keep the texture of the glass and give the piece lots of interesting features. I used green stringers for the stems, course & fine frit for the grass & petals, and powder for added depth. The sun is yellow stringers with fine frit & powder.

I love the finished product. Lots of texture and very spring vibes.

I used some rubber matting for under the glass as I worked as it helps me see where the frit & powder go and makes clean up easier. I also bent my stringers using a flame and tweezers (video demo below).

Stringers & noodles are glass rods that can be shaped for glass art work. It’s important to use tweezers or gloves or some other protection on your hands when working with stringers. The glass can be manipulated when heated over an open flame but it gets very hot to the touch. In this video I demonstrate making a bend in the stringer. The pressure applied has to be done slowly and carefully or the stringer will break. As the glass heats I like to either apply light even pressure or even slowly tap the stringer where I want it to bend or change shape. This can be done multiple times to achieve the desired outcome. If there is any black residue after shaping, it can easily be wiped off with glass cleaner.

I am happy with how the glass pieces turned out after firing in the kiln. I think for my next couple I will add a little more varied colors into the petals and I will also do a little more powder to soften the edges of the grass & flowers.