Kiln glass objects from the Nonsense Inc. Studio are made from hand-cut layers of 2 and 3 mm sheet glass and accessory glasses--layered, fused, and slumped in ceramic molds to create the vessels' shapes.
While my pieces have been fused at over 1400 degree farenheit temperatures and fully annealed, kiln glass should not be subjected to sudden heating or freezing, nor should it be placed in a microwave. Hand-washing, rather than cleaning in a dishwasher, is preferred as it will avoid mechanical abrasion of the fire-polished surfaces. Over time even the hardest, thermal glass will become hazy from the tiny scratches created during a automatic dishwashing process.
Here in the Nonsense Inc. Studio I use a small electric kiln designed for kiln glass work. The largest pieces I can make are about 12" square and no more that 6" high. Luckily, as an environmentalist, much of the Studio's electricity is provided by solar panels on my adjacent home and I am hoping to upgrade the system to provide for all of our electrical power needs soon.
GLASS TERMINOLOGY CAN BE CONFUSING. IT'S LIKE A FOREIGN LANGUAGE. HERE ARE A FEW OF THE TERMS I USE IN DESCRIBING MY WARES.
Accessory Glass: Accessory glass comes in many forms. I primarily use two kinds in my studio. Glass rods, with a diameter smaller than the thickness of a standard pencil, can be cut into disks to create 'dots' or cut in lengths to create thick flat lines, when full-fused; or for surface or 'bumps' for soap dishes when tack-fused to the dish surface before slumping. Stringers, which are .5, 1, and 2 mm diameter glass threads, can be cut into lengths to create visible lines when full-fused or linear, surface texture when tack-fused.
In addition there are frits, which are literally pieces of glass broken down into very small pieces--fine, medium, and coarse, much like gravel. The coarse size is about 1/4" maximum. Glass powders, as the name suggests, are finely ground glass and can be sifted, like flour, over surfaces to create anything from colored tints to opaque or transparent surface layers. All of these accessory glasses can come in as many colors as the sheets of glass themselves.
Iridized: Iridized sheet glass has had a special iridescent coating applied to one surface, which, when full-fused, creates delicious shimmering colorations when viewed in strong light. This coating is food safe and permanent and offers many design opportunities. It is sometimes capped with a layer of clear glass, or may be left on the surface, creating a somewhat matt and slightly textured surface.
Murrine: Murrine are colored patterns made in a glass cane (rod) that are revealed when the cane is cut into thin cross-sections or disks. They produce interesting, patterned dots when the murrine disks are full-fused into a glass surface. They can be tack fused to create the drainage 'bumps' on soap dishes or just added to for a textural, surface or visible enhancement to a piece.
Fibonacci: A Fibonacci sequence is a series of numbers in which each number is the sum of the two preceding numbers. The simplest is the series 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, etc. I have used the sequence to determine the widths of two colors of glass strips to produce different effects--both symmetrical or assymetrical. Sometimes it works, sometimes, well, it doesn't.
Full-Fuse: When pieces of glass are stacked on one another and full-fused, they emerge from the kiln as a single layer, usually with a relatively smooth, fire polished surface on top--depending on the individual characteristics of the various glass pieces, the fusing temperature, and the time the kiln is held at the fusing temperature--usually close to 1500 degrees farenheit.
Tack-Fuse: When accessory glass or even small pieces of sheet glass are placed on the surface of a piece of glass, they can be tack-fused in order to secure them to the surface but not fully absorb them into the flat surface of the base glass. Fired at a lower temperature and shorter time than full-fusing, these tack-fused elements provide surface texture which can be either functional ('bumps' on soap dishes) or decorative.
Slumping: Once the glass elements of the design have been fused together on a kiln shelf, the resulting piece is placed on a specially designed slumping mold, placed in the kiln, and fired again, this time to the temperature and time proven necessary to allow the glass to soften enough to settle onto the particular mold's surface. In order to keep the softened glass from adhering to the surface of the mold, the molds are precoated with a special glass-seperator material, primer.
Primer: The primer I use is a mixture of minerals ground to a fine powder, to which water is added, creating a slurry that is applied with either a brush or sprayer. Both molds and kiln shelves must be primed in order to keep the glass from fusing to them. Since it is necessary to keep the primer layer intact, repriming is required frequently to both kiln shelves and molds.
In the Nonsense Inc. Studio anything can happen and often does--as long as it involves creating something beautiful and hopefully--useful. And that is why my fused glass creations are labled "Functional Glass from the Kiln." They must be both decorative and useful. So I offer suggested uses for each of the different shapes of kiln-glass to help inspire you. We all deserve beauty in our lives. Bet you can come up with your own ideas for how you might use one of these pieces that you find appealing!
There are so many possible ways of fusing glass, that each already identified technique is worth exploring, if only to possibly discover a new ways of utilizing its elements. Designs from Nonsense Inc. will continue to evolve as these new possibilites are discovered and explored. Glass is a natural material, both beautiful, and timeless!
These pages show the fruits of my creative labors in the Nonsense Inc. Studio for the past 5 years and counting. Click on any image to find out more about the piece, its creation, and price. Not being a website guru or even close to that, I cannot promise that it will always be completely up to date. I'd rather be making these pieces in my studio than sitting at my computer for hours!
Nonsense Inc. 46 is subsidiary of Stuff & Nonsense, ULC (Unlimited Laughability Cooperative), set up years ago for advertising yard sales. Stuff and Company is my partner's enterprise, and Nonsense Inc. is mine. Turns out Stuff & Nonsense is the title of a book written by Walter de la Mare, British poet/author, and published by Constable & Co. LTD, London, in 1927. Who knew?
The number, 46, had to be added in order to differentiate it from the domain name, Nonsense Inc., which was already 'taken'--probably by me several years ago when I was taking a website class. Of course I didn't remember the password nor did I have a clue how to reclaim it! At least 46 is a number I can remember!