"Sunlight on the Bay" has an additional complexity in making it. While the fused glass bubble was hot, I split it in half, heated up more blue sheet glass and made a bubble out of that. I then combined the three bubbles to create the bands of pattern and colour. This process required 3 skilled assistants. Of note this is one of the only pieces I had the previous studio owners help to make - Ron Van der Flute. I also had the assistants of Leah Kudel (of Blown away Season 1) and Craig Campbell (an American glass blower with 30+ years of experience). This splitting technique is called an incalmo.
"Sunlight on the Bay" is fused glass rollups - that means I made each pattern within the piece out of fused glass. I then combined the patterns to create a plate which I then heated up and wrapped around a blowpipe to blow out into the final vessel. The more complex the pattern the more time and effort went into making it. On a side note, the glass that the sheets of glass are made of (Bullseye Glass) is incompatible with the blown glass (Kugler Glass) used to work it while hot. If I leave any blown glass on the piece it will crack.
Two things that are distinctive of this technique; first is the highly geometric nature of the patterns. It is next to impossible to get such distinct corners to a pattern made using traditional blown glass methods. Second, is the "flower" pattern on the bottom of each piece. This joining of all the patterns at the bottom of the piece shows where the fused glass cylinder was squeezed down to create a bubble from which it could be blown out.
I am one of the few artists in the world (12 practising artists last time I counted) to blow glass using fused glass murinni. This is because it requires knowing a whole different technique of glass working (fusing vs glass blowing), extra training to work the glass while molten, patience to create all the patterns, extra equipment (kilns or a hot shop with a furnace, glory holes (reheating chambers) etc) and a whole second inventory of glass that cannot be used with blown glass. Another hurdle for people is the need of at least 2 skilled assistants, as well as the artists, to be able to successfully create each piece.
15 x 21 x 1cm
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