Porthole Views
April 2, 2022
I made it through a Pacific Northwest winter in one (somewhat sluggish) piece! I'll admit, it has been rough- even with a gym membership and getting out to ski. There's a heck of a lot of grey to contend with. It is especially polar opposite to the last two winters of brilliant bright skies in Joshua Tree. I do miss the desert. At least the rain was successful at driving me into the studio and setting myself to work on glass creations. This winter was focused on letting my mind wander and trying new things. In between the larger projects I've created new small offerings for the online shop.
Recently I've been focused on the Porthole View Collection. These began a couple years ago with a pattern of bull kelp in glass in a 10 inch diameter circle, (first photo below) about the size of a porthole. That pattern became quite popular and I enjoyed re-creating it in several colorways. This winter I expanded the collection of views and am currently developing drawings for the tenth piece. All of the pieces contain some or all exquisitely made mouth blown glass. Many contain glass jewels.
Creating something perfectly round is a challenge in craftsmanship and skill. The more intricate the design and smaller the pieces, the more difficult it is to construct. Stained glass is so interesting that way; it is both a fine art - it allows full license in creativity, and it is a craft - it takes a high degree of practiced skill to use the tools and materials to achieve a flawless finish. Above are the first four of the collection.
The Porthole Views below are a bit more intricate. In seeking out new ways to create with more detail, I have learned two new techniques: copper foil overlay and engraving. Overlaying copper foil involves covering the face of each piece of glass with a thin sheet of sticky back copper foil before it is soldered together. I create an image by carving away the foil with a fine blade. The remaining foil is gently soldered on top of the glass. This is risky because heat from the solder iron can crack the glass if not done extremely slowly, giving glass time to cool between applications of solder. The last three images below contain copper foil overlay.
Many of the pieces have engraved flash glass. For this I use mouth blown sheet glass that has a layer of white added to the back. I engrave the white side by hand sanding with diamond pads or with diamond bits on a dremel tool and it reveals the colored glass behind the white layer. This process is also time consuming because it must be done with a constant stream of water to lubricate the abrasion process, thus obscuring the view of where I'm engraving. The results though, are quite fun.
These portholes will likely be an ongoing collection, though there are very few that I will repeat - both because of the intricate details and unique pieces of glass used.