OzMosaics Blog

when you can't control yourself.....

Dynasty Smalti - It's worth shouting about!  Read about my journey inside my kiln!
Extract from a post in my favourite glass forum online!  Dynasty smalti, I just cant' help myself, loving you!
and it's on sale at the moment at OzMosaics up to 30% off, so get yourself going!
People who are generous to share and care, thank you so much!

This Post is dedicated to Kerry Collette - Utah USA - If you get the chance, learn and listen, look and watch with Kerry, she is a Glass Guru.
 - a good friend, a great artist and passionate glassy who taught me how to program a kiln and not to be scared of it, not to be afraid but to get stuck in and explore - J'adore!

Sandy Says:
As a mosaic artist addicted to all things china, (any every other possible type of tesserae on earth and beyone)....(I wonder what is in the Milky Way?)..... I bought my beautiful Paragon kiln with that in mind first……how can i combine China and glass (and of course other stuff ie tesserae) in the kiln;

I slump glass and "stuff"  onto the china, of all shapes and sizes and create extravagant pieces to plunge into cement (aka as thinset).
The connection of the glass to the china is exquisite and I have a long list of things to try out.  I am delighted with my testings to date.

First thing I thought of was using china as moulds and bases  for my mosaic adventures inside the kiln.  It’s agonizing isn’t waiting for it all to happen. It is teaching me what the word patience is about and never having complete control over the artwork.  It’s a hard lesson for a mosaic artist like me.  But I persevered and work the schedules into my life.

The clacking of the kiln is comforting, thank goodness I read a post online that said the “clacking is normal”….Google searches led me to a few hundred page saves in Favourites…people are generous, so generous and that’s the only way I have progressed this far.

I don’t want to go to a kiln workshop yet…Kerry is a great teacher and had me fired up in a jiffy!

I need to find out things for myself.  Kerri put me on the glass strewn kiln path and I am forever and ever grateful.

Can you guess what I do with cement in the kiln?  Perhaps later on....

It’s not fair, I have a list a mile long to try things out for mosaics and obviously great “weirdness” and I am too busy to open the kiln door at the moment….I put three shelves in my Paragon kiln at one go and love the results of each shelf.It sits behind me in the purpose built kiln kingdom…. I call it Kilndom….I have a brand new glass here, Dynasty smalti which just fuses and slumps like a gift from the Glass Gods! 

If you can get your hands on the Dynasty smalti you will love it in your kiln work.   Barbara Dybala of Peace Love and Smalti has it.  I haven’t shared my fusing schedules yet, as I am too nervous too but she has the stuff.The colours are uniform and makes it a breeze in the kiln. Why, because the glass chemist made it that way for Modern Smalti for Modern Mosaics. 

I spent a week with the Glass Chemist in the USA (this lady is passionate about mosaic and a driving force for me) during the SAMA convention and she makes what we desire. 

Zeng Fang is a glass chemist and has a huge, modern factory, studio and workshop in Beijing China.It’s a dream come true.  It is a good glass for all artists to use, strong, no pits and the colours are intense as they are delicate, there is such a range.

One is called Modern Smalti Glass, pure strong, vibrant colours (the red, purple, yellow are to die for) and the other Range, the Antique Smalti Glass is based on the early Byzantine glass;  made with recycled glass it almost looks like crystallized lollies and if you get time to look at the face on my home page, of Mother and Child, you will see the translucent and glorious effects possible.

So in the kiln, the two can’t mix.  The strong colour range, Modern, is almost as tough as corning ware, so it can be used anywhere and even the thin Modern Smalti tiles, gorgeous as they are large 30 x 30cm sheets, can be used on a floor.

When I enquired, terrified I might add (LOL) at the helpline of Paragon, I was told I must be wrong, when I told them the temperatures for this new glass and Zeng Fang and I had a good laugh - I probably said it all wrong, for stARTers.

So I am going it solo, with advice from Zeng Fang to experiment and make mosaic and fused/slumped glass magic.  I can’t believe I am just doing whatever I can to make it work.  But they say, this makes a true learning curve?  What I would give for someone to be here with me on this journey. 

My mosaic students just buy up everything I make, as it comes out of the kiln.  I miss them, they are my mosaic glass treasure chest.  Some are going to a Fashion Boutique tomorrow….I will report back on their reaction.Imagine the delight of these glasses in the kiln!  It’s magical.

  Magical.  I have my firing