Fused

FUSED GLASS PENDANTS & SILVER SOLDER

INTERMEDIATE 3-D ART

glass shards, copper tape, silver solder, flux, craft wire & jump rings

I was unplugged there for a couple of days.

I'm finding it so much harder to be disciplined in the summertime.

Having way too much fun in the garden and working on a few art pieces. 

These little beauties were done by my three little beauties for a jewelry unit.

I did get some interesting feedback from the girls for next year.

They felt these pendants were more for older woman to wear then younger women,

so they suggested that we turn them into button covers rather then pendants.

Great idea!!!

This first grouping was made by senior Kaili Hamada.

She did have a lot of fun wrapping the fused glass with the craft wire for some inspiring designs.

Our next batch were created by senior Daphne Chiang.

Notice her really cool partially fused pendants,

and also her solder glass piece of she and her mother.

Nice Daph!

Senior Bianca Tolentino experimented with the copper wire,

 and melted it between two glass pieces to form a "B".

Then she soldered around it.

Another wonderful idea for a new requirement for next year.

Thanks Bianca!

Juniors Moving into Senior Status Tonight after Graduation

PARTIALLY FUSED GLASS

INTERMEDIATE 3-D ART

glass shards, wire and beads

Junior Reis Misaka has had a splendid year producing many beautiful handcrafted works of art in my 2nd year 3-d class.  These are 2 of his latest pieces.

He has wire wrapped his fused pieces to create 2 exquisite pendants.

His craftsmanship skills are so precise as you can see.

Lovely, lovely pieces Reis!

Soldered Glass Unit - Student Work

Yesterday I shared the Full and Partially Fused Glass pieces by my Intermediate 3-D kids, today I'd like to show off the Soldered Glass project that we did in conjunction with the fused glass (like you see above), and also with clear glass (below).

Each student was to show me they could solder around one of their full fused pieces like senior Julia Chanco did above.  I really like how she cut the cooper tape into scallops before she soldered for a more decorative edge.  The young ones also had to show me they could solder on a jump ring (super difficult).

Each student also had to make 2 clear soldered glass pendents like the rest shown here.  These are double sided so they had to find something special/meaningful for both sides.  Soldering is challenging and takes practice, this wasn't easy for them to do, but I felt it was an important skill for them to learn.

The darling cat above was made by senior Amy Hsu, and the stamp from Argentina was soldered by senior Ashley Chowdhury. 

This really fun piece above was made by senior Sheila San Agustin, and the two below by senior Tiffany Lee.  

The cool stamps came from a great Garage Sale find I made last year that I shared with my students.

Fused Glass/Jewelry Unit - Student work

PARTIALLY FUSED GLASS

In the Intermediate 3-d class, my students learn how to fuse glass in the kiln that we fire our ceramic pieces in, and in the process make some really beautiful jewelry pieces.  This is an extremely expensive assignment, and we don't waste a thing, just recycle it next year.  

These first ones that you are seeing are called partially fused.  That means I didn't take the kiln up very high so that the separate glass shard edges are still visible, yet they've melted enough to bond together.  Then I teach the kids to wire wrap them for wear.  Each student made two of these.

The striking one above was created by senior Sheila San Agustin, and the two lovelies below by senior Ashley Chowdhury. 

Above we have the beautiful work of senior Amy Hsu, and below hers is very talented senior Lauren De Belen.

And then senior Angela Wan has created this gorgeous piece above.

FULL FUSED GLASS

To build a full fused piece you just fire the kiln a bit hotter and it melts all the shards together for one blended look.  Each student made at least two full fused pieces.

Senior Julia Faith Chanco crafted this brilliant piece, and then she solder around it so it could be worn.  You will see more soldered work tomorrow.  I'm not sure but I think the two below are also Julia's.  Correct me if I'm wrong kiddo.

My favorite was this really spooky looking eyeball.  I think this also belonged to young Julia.  Nope, it was done by Ashley.  Thanks Julia and Ashley for getting back to me and making sure I label all correctly.  You all have no idea how challenging this is for me to keep everything straight in the summer  LOL

One More Fused Glass Pendent - Student Work

Just realized this piece by junior Joyce Le didn't get included in the post on full fused glass.  I really like how she embedded the silver wire between her glass chucks before we fired them.  Now she just needs to scrub the wire with steel wool to get it's scheen back.  But very cool design.

Full Fused Glass - Student Work

This group of work was done by my Intermediate 3-D kids.  I teach them 2 different kids of fused glass, full fused and partially fused.  I start them with full fused first.  This means that I melt their glass designs in the kiln at a temperature that will completely fuse them into one piece with no lumps or bumps on the top like in partially fused.

This top one belongs to senior Johanna Paz.  After the kids make these they can turn them into jewelry or use the pieces in mosaic work. 

9th grader Karisma Dev built the work above.  If you look closely you can see that she fashioned a wire loop and fused it into the top of the work so she could dangle it at a later date.

Junior Kevin Tang wire wrapped his full fused glass cross and built a leather bracelet to house the charm.  Fantastic effort Kevin

Junior Rita Labib went on the Internet and found ring foundations to wire wrap her full fused pieces onto.  Clever girl!  In the top one she silver soldered around the glass before her mounted it and in the lower one I believe she just glued it onto the platform.

I think the ring below belongs to Kevin.  I think Rita let him have one of her ring bases, so that he soldered around the glass then mounted it to the base.

In the one above senior Pauline Yang made wire pieces to fuse into her glass pieces.  Now she just needs to rub the wire with steel wool to clean it off, and it should look new again.  I think these are very cool desgins, and are ready for a chain to be worn.

I'm not positive but I believe this elongated form was made by Rita.  I really like how she used the silver solder to finish it off.

Fused Wire Wrapped Glass & Silver Solder - Student Work

My 2nd year 3-d class loved working with glass and they had so much fun designing these pieces.  Most of them had learned to cut glass in the first year class when we did mosaics, but it's still always a challenge cutting the exact shape you want.  I fired the pieces in my clay kiln but at a much lower temp.  The kids made 4 different pieces.  A full fused pendant, a partial fused wire wrapped pendant, and they also had to silver solder around their full fused piece. Lastly they learned to solder around two small panes of glass with something special encased between the panes, and to solder jump rings.

These top works belong to junior Nandi Best (sorry Nandi, I know I photoed that one upside down) 

This next very unusual piece was created by 9th grader Aman Patel.  I love it because it's so different then everybody else.  Below we also have 2 more of Aman's works.

I love how senior Jessica Jay wire wrapped her pendents with all the spirals, and below we see the very cool work of senior Hillary Chan.

Junior Carolina Navor made the two stunning pieces above, and below we have four beauties done by junior Kelsea Lee.

I'm thinking senior Albert Choi had love on his mind when he made the two pieces above :), and lastly we have these pretties below by senior Florence Buendia.  So seniors, I hope when you come back to visit this next school year you will be wearing one of your lovely pendants around your necks.  I know alumni Rikaya Obilio still wears hers on a chain around her neck everyday. 

Fused and Soldered Glass Units - Student Art

One of the favorite units of the year for my Intermediate 3-D students is the fused and soldered glass assignment. The kids are required to make two full fused pieces with either an embedded jump ring or other silver wire hanging devise. They are also required to turn in two partially fused pieces, one that will be wrapped with wire and the other to be given to me (oh yeah) as a good bye gift that I will incorporate into an art piece to remember them by. This year they made me partially fused earthquake houses that are so whimsical and fun! Can't wait to start playing with them this summer. They were also to produce two silver soldered glass pendents, one that has a jump ring for hanging and the the other was to be incorporated into their 3-D boxes that will be posted next week. In the top photo are senior Caroine Ma's partially fused wire wrap pendent, and junior Audrey Pulido's soldered pendent. Bottom row is Caroline's soldered piece and Audrey's wire wrapped pendent. Look closely to what Caroline has captured between her soldered glass. She water colored over a piece of newspaper then free motion quilted over top. Pretty damn cool! Oops, I'm probably not supposed to cuss, but a certain junior with the intials S. E. says he loves when I cuss, it makes him happy. So that's for you Steven :)


Next we have sweet eighth grader Emmerline Kim's wire wrap pendent and the other two belong to gifted eighth grade designer Joanna Coronel, her wire wrapped pendent and full fuse with jump ring.


And lastly we have senior Julie Kim and sophomore Breeana Johng's wire wrapped pendents across the top, and down below are Julie and Breeana's full fused pendants. Really lovely work ladies.