Not quite there.

The toucan panel is almost done! Last night I fiddled some more with the solder and decided that was enough so I washed it and did the patina step. Hung it up and immediately found a couple of issues to fix. Oh well. It'll dry and then I can do the repairs. So close!

Hot Beads - 3rd Class

This past week was the 3rd class of flameworking. I can see some improvements and a little more coordination with the glass. We learned a few more techniques and I am generally happy with the results. I had a bit more success with my shapes and techniques this week. The results were more of what I expected.

Hot Beads - 2nd Class

Beads from 2nd class. We worked on barrel shapes and adding some shapes to the desings on the beads using a pick to rake across dots or lines. I tried to be a bit more mindful of the colors I was using. Generally I am happy with the results. It is a balancing of coordination with the hands, tools and temperature, a bit of a delicate dance that I am trying to finesse.

Creative Sunday

I needed to make a quilt square for a community effort quilt. Finally got to it today. I had some fabric samples that had the nice jewel tones I wanted and some white on white for the neutral. I made the small squares and then played with them to come up with a design that I liked.

On the Flip Side

The toucan panel is coming along. I have flipped it over and now am soldering the backside.

This panel is meant to be hung in a bathroom window where the back will not be visible to anyone. It definitely has a back and front compared to the wisteria panel.

Hot beads!

This week was a new adventure in glass. The glass studio is set up for flameworking now and they are having classes. I signed up for a beginning class to get an idea if this was something I'd like to add to my growing list of glass hobbies.

I'm still not sure if I like it, but it was an interesting experience at the very least. While I was working with the glass I lost track of the colors as they change quite a bit when it is hot. I'm pleased with my initial efforts. The beads came out better than I thought they would; not the greatest but not completely horrible.

Here are pictures of the beads of the other students and instructor's and then my five beads. The flatter, disc type beads and fancier ones are the instructor's.