Making Lemonade Out of Lemons

As I mentioned in my last post I like to experiment in my artistic endeavours. I like to take something and then push the envelope just a bit to see what happens. Right now I'm experimenting with fused glass and since I'm new to working with this medium it seems that whenever I try something other than simply fusing glass together (which is beautiful -but I'm looking for something different) the experiments do not turn out. Having a number of failed experiments under my belt I thought it was time to see what I could do to turn these into something that I could actually use.

I don't like to waste anything and I'm somewhat of a pack rat (just ask my husband) so I thought taking on the challenge of looking at my glass disasters would be the challenge this weekend.

The failed experiment:

I took a piece of coloured glass and a smaller piece of clear glass and sandwiched a piece of thin fusible paper in between the two pieces. The back (coloured glass) was larger than the smaller clear glass and I positioned the fusible paper (the kind that is normally used to line the kiln shelf so the glass doesn't stick to the kiln shelf) so that three sides of the clear glass touched each other and the fusible paper stuck out the top. My intention was to fuse the glass so that if formed a sort of pocket and then wash out the fusible paper. I had thought that perhaps I could slide a picture into the pocket this would form. All looked well when I took it out of the kiln but the paper between the glass wouldn't wash away. I think it was just too thin. I decided to keep the pieces though and think of something to do with them later.

Making Lemonade:

Looking at the piece of glass I saw that the white section made a nice backdrop for an image. I decided to drill a couple of holes in the glass and attach a jump ring from the top through which a chain could hang. Through the hole in the centre I added an enameled flower charm which I attached with a twist of wire. I do like the way the enameled flower picks up the red glass colour. Now I have a very wearable pendant to show for my efforts.

Am I thrilled with the results - no but I do have a pendant that I can wear and the result looks intentional.

What I learned:

I learned that the fusible paper is too thin (at least in one layer) to form a pocket. Water can get into the top of the pendant (just a bit) so I know I was on the right track. I'll try it again with something thicker next time.