FUSED GLASS PENDANTS

F U S E D  G L A S S  by Nancy Diodati

I had a little time to kill one day while I was in Las Vegas, Neveda and there was a glass show going on at the convention center next door to my hotel.  So I talked my husband into going.  We ended up blowing off the other planned event, and stayed all day and even went back to the glass show the following day.

I was amazed with the artists, the live demonstrations, and booth after booth of the most beautiful colored glass creations I had ever had the opportunity to be in the same room with.

I stopped at one booth and a lady asked me if I wanted to try it.  I did not have a clue what to do so she gave me some scrap glass and told me to stack it with a little bit of glue between each piece.  She took my pieces and told me come back after lunch and she would have them fused and cooled.

When I returned and saw what I had assembled I was hooked. I went to another booth and bought the bail. (a piece to attach to the glass for making a necklace.) and I bought other glass making supplies.

As soon as I returned home to New Mexico, I visited all the glass shops in Albuquerque and talked to all the store owners and sales people asking questions and techniques. I bought special glass (COE 90) used for fusing (also called warming glass) and turned my kiln into a glass fusing machine.  Glass is heated to a low temperature, much lower than clay.

Some glass, called dichoric glass, has metal in it and it is used for decorative purposes.

If a piece is removed before the glass is completely fused it gives the glass a 3D effect.

I have done a great deal of experimenting over the last 2-3 years of making glass and yes I have ruined a few pieces of expensive glass, but it is always a wonderful surprise very time I open the kiln and see what comes out.

The little pendants I make are nothing compared to the vast amount of wall art, plates, bowls, sinks and other glass art made all over the world. Even though I am no means a pro at it. People buy my products! 

Wow! Who would have ever dreamed that a little time to kill would develop into a sellable product one day.

See glass plates by Phlox Gardens Art Glass Studio