Trying new things

Last week, I was talking with a potential customer about fused glass lamp shades. I have always made them the same way; I take a large circular disk of glass, place it on top of a prepared stainless steel mold, and fire it in the kiln. The heat causes the glass to drape over the shape and the extra glass gathers and ripples in a way I think is really beautiful. However, she didn’t like all the folds and asked if there was a way to make it more streamlined. I thought about it and drew a very basic sketch, basically a flared cross, and said I thought that would work but I wasn’t sure. Then I decided to give it a try because that’s the only way to find out. I’ve been doing a lot of that lately and I’m having some great success but also, of course, some failures. But I’m learning a lot and I think that’s the best part. This shade turned out how she wanted it and I’m thrilled since it will be a fun project in a great location (more about that in a future blog post). I always love opening the kiln and seeing how a project turned out but it’s even more exciting when I’m trying something new. There will be more of these shades in different colors so stay tuned for more photos of those and other new things I’m dreaming up.