I work with a few friends on Saturday nights, creating things in the studio.  It started as glass class, then morphed into glass club because none of us wanted to stop.  Great company and motivation for me – it’s kind of hard to want to go into a dark, spidery basement on a beautiful summer day.  But throw some good friends and fun conversation into the mix, top with a 10PM bottle of wine, and that’s easy!

Here is one of Tom’s creations, laid out on a prepared shelf to go into the kiln.  Kiln shelves have to be coated with a special mixture that is painted on, so that the glass does not stick to the shelf material.  After about two firings, the remaining coating must be sanded completely off the surface, and the shelf re-coated.

Here is another of Tom’s pieces, just after the first firing.  I like how this photo turned out, with glowing edges.  The piece is made with clear glass, but camera flash lit up those edges in an interesting way.

This piece is one of mine, after the first firing.  All of these pieces will be set over a stainless steel form (also coated with kiln wash), and put back into the kiln for a second firing.  The second one will be at a lower temperature, which is not hot enough to actually melt the glass, but just hot enough for it to “slump” over the mold.

Watch the blog next week for some photos of the finished products.