5. The Process

 

Selecting the right glass color, pattern and texture helps evoke the mood of the piece. The selected glass here have organic patterns simulating winds, water and smoke, with contrasting colors.

Cutting
Glass likes to be cut in straight lines, and when you have pieces that are straight, or fairly straight, cuts easily are done by hand with a glass cutter. Many of my glass pieces are curved and complicated, so instead they were cut with glass saw.

Once cut to overall shape, edges are smoothed with a grinder to remove burrs and sharp points before wrapping each piece in copper foil. I discuss the glass preparation process in an earlier blog of mine: https://gallerycinthia.blogspot.com/2020/10/glass-foiling-and-painting.html

 

Image Transfer

 

Images can be fired on glass in several ways. Using vitreous enamel paints, images can be hand painted or screen printed. Or, like in this piece, images can be printed on special decal paper using an HP black/white laser printer. Once the image is printed, it is cut close to the glass size, then immersed in warm water. A thin clear film will separate from the paper backing. The film is then placed on the glass and air bubbles gently pushed out. Once dry the filmed glass can be fired in a kiln for permanence. I found the ink didn't adhere as well on opalescent glass. When fired, the ink changes from black to a sepia tone brown (below is an unfired piece)