This
course is aimed at everyone, with or without glass work experience. There will
not be any cutting of glass as you will be provided with the basic shapes. The
pieces you make will be suitable for displaying in your home or in the garden.
Clothing and Tools etc:
You do not need to bring any
tools, all are provided. An apron is a good idea but not essential as it's not
a messy process. It is suggested you do not wear flappy sleeved clothing -
working with frit is a bit like working with demerara sugar or coarse sand and
it would be deeply frustrating to drag a sleeve across you carefully made
creation.
When cutting glass it is an
occupational hazard that I cut myself regularly. As you are not cutting glass
this is very unlikely to happen. However, Frit is tiny chunks of glass and does
have sharp sides so there is the smallest chance to pierce your hands or
fingers on it if you don't follow my instructions on careful handling.
You
really do need a steady hand - anyone with any form of tremor will struggle to
get a good result with frit.
Monday:
Introduction to your tutor and an
overview of what we plan to achieve in the week
A short tutorial on the techniques
you will need to use to achieve a good result applying frit to plain glass,
including demonstrations
Start, and hopefully complete your
first frit project
Tuesday:
See your Monday creations for the
first time, fresh from the kiln (It takes about 24 hours to fire glass so this
isn't guaranteed) Pieces often come out of the kiln with some small bumps and
sometimes sharp burs on the edge. You will need to rub them down with
specialist diamond pads to finish them, ready for wiring. Work with frit to create a further 1 or 2
projects.
Wednesday:
Review Tuesday's work, also fresh
from the kiln.
Complete your third project.
Short tutorial on the use of wire
and a chance to play with it, to see what it does and how it handles. Follow a
step by step guide to creating feet, wings or fins to add to your glass
sculptures and bring them to life. We will all be working on the same projects
together.
Possibly start wiring your earlier
creations to finish them.
Thursday:
Receive back your Wednesday
creations and finish them ready for wiring.
Continue wiring and finishing your
earlier work
Friday:
Complete all wiring and finish
your art pieces ready for displaying.