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How close should your glass pieces be? They should be close enough so that you are comfortable with how heavy a solder line you will end up with. To help prevent uneven spaces, here are some hints:

• Use push pins or jigs to hold your glass in place while building and checking the fit. That way, you won’t get one piece fitting perfectly as you are pushing another one out.
• Make sure you have not flipped any glass over. Label your pieces to avoid this.

Before you say “good enough,” think about any holes or uneven spaces you are filling with solder. When your piece is held up to the light, those places will not let light through. They will become part of the design. Another problem is overheating the glass due to reworking it with a hot soldering iron. You don’t want to crack your glass with thermal shock because you are adding so much solder to fill the gap. Often when you are doing this, one side looks good and then you turn the piece over and there is a gob of solder. So you fuss with that, going back and forth, heating and heating, and then you hear the dreaded tink—the sound of glass cracking and your heart breaking! The best fix—sorry to say—is to recut. Be patient with yourself. This is a skill—so practice and don’t give up. Photo courtesy of Inland.

FUSING GLASS BOTTLES OR “HIDING THE EVIDENCE” Don’t you just hate to throw out those wine and liquor bottles? They are quite nice with the graceful shapes and the beautiful colors. Make them into fused art! First (and most important) step is to clean them. The labels and any glue must be completely removed to be sure that no residue is fused onto the glass. Use very hot water with ½ cup baking soda and 1 tablespoon of dish soap. Submerge them in the water and let them soak for 10 minutes then add 2 cups of white wine vinegar. Roll your bottles around so the vinegar mixes in. Let them soak until you can get the labels off. Once the bottles are clean you have some options. You can just lay it in the kiln and full fuse it. This one just has a little decorative wiring and some etching. You could add a decorative knife and have a nice little gift. Another option is to use a bottle mold. There are all types available. See the full collection here. There are textured molds. The one above has a lovely Tree of Life motif. Drop molds, such as the one above, make an interesting shape. You also can use a textured flat mold, such as the one below, and then slump it into a bottle mold. You may get devitrification with some bottles. To prevent it, spay with a divit spray like Spray A.

BROKEN MIRROR!!? Don’t think of it as seven years bad luck, think of it as an opportunity to be creative. If you are worried about the seven years of bad luck you can bury a piece in the garden and that will stop it. (so I have heard). Here are some ideas for broken mirrors, most of which I got from Fusing 101: Any and Everything You Wanted to know but Were Afraid to Ask. This from Jane Wimbury. How sweet is that! Another idea is to get Styrofoam balls and make garden balls. Or use an old bowling ball: Frame the irregular shapes for eclectic mirrors: Just put it back together roughly for a high interest look. Many of these ideas from dyi. I can see this done with wine corks, as well! Try your own designs - Good Luck!

How beautiful is this VASE!? (I FEEL LIKE I COULD JUST POST THE PICTURE AND IT WOULD BE ENOUGH!)

This vase was made c. 1910. It is Aventurine Lava Blown Glass by Tiffany Studios. This is currently on display in the new exhibition at the Morse Museum called “Iridescence—A Celebration”. This vase was among Tiffany’s treasured A-Coll (Artist Collection) pieces exhibited at Laurelton Hall. It is a striking vase and was made by draping lava like aventurine glass over iridescent gold glass. The name aventurine references the quartz-like glass with sparkling particles developed in Murano, Italy around 1910 when this was made. You can use aventurine glass for your treasures also. Available from Bullseye and Oceanside in flat glass and frit. Usually available in black, blue or green. It has been a little tough to get lately but we have some. Click here to order.

Q: When I fuse my projects, sometimes I get medium to small bubbles. What causes them and how can I prevent them? A: Bubbles can be caused by many different things. First, uneven stacking of glass can result in air trapped between layers. To prevent this from occurring, check the placement of all the glass pieces and insure they are sitting properly on the base. Since the edges of the glass fuse before the center of the glass, cut your base glass 1/8” larger than the top layer to allow air to escape. Second, check the glass prior to fusing. Some glass may already have contained bubbles inside the glass, which may or may not affect the outcome. Q: After I fuse my pendants, I get uneven areas around the edges. What’s happening with the glass? A: You did not fire it long enough or to a high enough temperature for a full fuse. Try firing for a little longer time. Q: Sometimes my glass pieces look like a porcupine with spiky edges. What causes the glass to spike? A: Spiky edges can be caused by over-firing your piece. The spiked edges are caused by the glass grabbing as it is trying to shrink. Q: What caused my layered glass pieces to flatten? A: If the glass piece has flattened out too much, you have over fired the piece. To prevent this from happening, reduce your power and shorten your time. After your first firing, open the microwave and using Fireworks Hot Mitts™; carefully lift the lid to inspect the fuse piece. If the desired results have not been achieved, continue firing in 30 seconds intervals. Q: I tried to make a 1 inch pendant with embellishments, however after I finished fusing, the glass shrunk. How can I prevent this from happening the next time? A: Glass naturally wants to be ¼ inch thick when heated. Your glass will shrink or expand to obtain this depth. A good tip to remember is that if your piece is less than ¼ inch when you start, it will shrink up to reach this depth. If your piece is larger than ¼ inch when you start, it will want to flatten out to reach this depth. Q: What causes two pieces of dichroic or iridized glass to blow apart in the kiln? A: Repelling glass will occur with dichroic and iridized coatings. The coatings can’t be placed together for fusing purposes, because they repel each other. The only way to avoid this is to encase the coated glass with a non-coated glass, such as clear. This will cause the coated glass to be encased and sealed. Q: Yuck, this film appeared on my fused glass. What is it and how can I prevent this from happening? A: This dull white crystalline substance on the surface of your glass is known as devitrification. This is one of the most talked about glass fusing problems around. It can occur when your glass remains in a temperature range 1000ºF-1300ºF too long. You need to minimize the time spent in this temperature range. Gray or Scummy Edges - Gray or scummy edges can occur on pieces that have been fired once and then cold worked before refiring. Cold working involves using either a grinder or glass saw on a piece of glass. These can be avoided by thoroughly cleaning the glass before refiring the piece. Keep a bowl of clean water near your work area and soak the glass right after doing the cold work procedure. This will keep the edges damp and allow the piece to be cleaned easier. Scrub completely and let dry before proceeding with the refiring process. Q: My glass cracked! What happened? A: Cracking glass either during or after firing can be caused by a several things: thermal shock, heating up the glass too fast and compatibility. Thermal shock occurs either by taking the piece out of the kiln too soon, or by opening the kiln and exposing the hot glass to cool air. If the glass cracked in the kiln and it has an “S” shaped crack, the piece has heated too quickly. Slow down! Finally, if the crack occurs along the line where the two pieces of glass meet, then the two touching pieces are not compatible. Make sure the glass you are using have the same COE (coefficient of expansion). Q: How can I prevent my glass from shattering? A: Glass Shattering in pieces over 1” with more than 1 layer may sometimes shatter. To prevent this from occurring, reduce the power. This will allow the glass to heat slower and will be less likely to shatter. Next, make sure your glass is clean and dry before firing. Q: My fusing instructions say to clean my glass before firing, can I use a glass cleaning spray or detergent? A: We don’t recommend it. Detergents, dish soaps, multi-purpose cleaners, some window cleaners, ammonia and even denatured alcohol should NOT be used to clean glass. These can actually promote devitrification. We suggest diluted white vinegar or rinsing your glass with distilled water. Q: Every time I put my fuse glass project together, the pieces roll off before I can get it to the microwave. What can I do to prevent this from happening? A: To hold your fusing project together, mix one drop of glue. Apply a very thin amount on the back of the glass using a brush and allow the glue to dry thoroughly before firing.

So, so true! And mostly it is glass. You just can’t stop. Sometimes it is for a project, sometimes because it is a basic color that you always use, and sometimes it is just because it is too beautiful or unusual to resist. Thank you for that. You keep the industry going! We have a great stock of heads and tails in for our annual Invite Night sale April 6th. They will be available to one and all after the sale.

This was fun! A customer came in with a stainless bowl that she had slump a thick piece of glass over. It stuck! She broke the ruined bowl off, but a very thin layer of glass remained on the mold. That prompted a discussion on how to get the rest of the glass off the mold and why it stuck anyway. First to get it off. She was first going to try fusing it off and if that did not work, she was going to sandblast the stainless. One or the other should work. Then she said she posted a picture of it on a facebook fusing group and prompted a discussion about prep of the stainless. Here is the surprise! Some people do not prep it AT ALL! I went to Facebooks Fusing 101: Any and Everything you Wanted to Know But Where Afraid to Ask. I said “Recently I heard that some people do not kiln wash stainless molds. I would be interested to hear what people think of this.” There were some differences of opinion to be sure..

• Cover with fiber paper or ZYP
• Spray with Boron Nitride (ZYP)
• If you use ZYP you rarely have to do it again
• I don’t use anything on stainless steel. As long as the glass is NOT an opal glass in contact with stainless steel and it is good quality, it is fine. You get a real shiny finish on the surface in contact with the stainless steel.
• It is minimal work to use a barrier. I would rather be sure instead of concerned.

My own fusing teacher was emphatic about using something. She suggested Slide because it is cheaper than most boron nitride products and it is easier than kiln washing. https://www.stainedglassexpress.com/boron-nitride-hi-temp-spray-coating.html?category_id=571 More inexpensive, but more labor, is to use kiln wash. The problem is that it slides off the mold easily. Here is the trick. Wash the mold with alcohol and then heat it in your kiln to 1200 degrees F for about ½ hour. Cool it. Then heat again to just under 500 degrees F and brush or spray on the wash in thin even coats. Allow the coating to dry completely between each application. Coat it until covered. After the first time this is done (and it does last a long time) we will just coat it put it on top of a hot kiln. Seems to work fine.

Modeling glass is a very exciting new product! It is a two-part kit consisting of a powdered binder and liquid medium that you combine with water and powder or fit. The result is the like clay and is easy to manipulate. Use it like you would clay. Coil it, flatten it, make shapes, press it into silicone molds. When you tack fire it, it will hold a lot of texture. Before firing, and after it is dry, you can sand or carve it. It is food safe and nontoxic. It can be used with 90 or 96 coe. There is a vast amount of info at www.modelingglass.com. We are currently planning a class around this product and you can look at and it purchase at this link: https://www.stainedglassexpress.com/glass-bird-modeling-glass-starter-kit.html

This is not a complete list.. It does not include the rod manufacturers and overseas. These are our major supplies at this point in time. Since May of 2016 it has been a roller coaster ride in the art glass industry. It really does seem that the dust has settled, and this is what we have now. Kokomo Opalescent Glass. There are in Kokomo, Indiana have been operating since 1888. They are the oldest. They use some of the same recipes that are over 128 years old. They are a great source for doing reproduction work. This is a picture of their 12 pot circular furnace. It is a down draft. The Paul Wissmach Glass Co. Located in Paden City, West Virginia. They have been operating since 1904, making them the second oldest and therefore also a great resource when trying to match old glass. They use 12 furnaces. They do art glass, temperable glass, fusible glass. Youghiogheny Opalescent Glass Company, Inc. Located in Connellsville, Pennsylvania. They have been operating since 1977. Truly an art glass manufacturer but has also a wonderful line of fusing glass. Amazing color artistry. They have recently added a textured streakies line and Dichroic glass line. Bullseye Glass Co. Located in Portland Oregon since 1974. They focus on fusible glass, collaborating with artist and teaching. They produce extremely rich colors. Oceanside Glass & Tile. Started in 1992. They are located in Baja, California, but production is in Tijuana, Mexico. Their focus was glass tiles and then added the Spectrum Glass and Uroboros Glass lines in 2016 when both Spectrum and Uroboros announced they were closing. Oceanside had been buying glass from Spectrum for the tiles. They are not at 100% production yet, but they are manufacturing lots of fusible glass and frits. They will add the rest of the accessory glass this year. Pilkington. Various locations and known more for commercial applications. However, they produce many clear textures. Imports. We are seeing a lot of clear textures from other countries.

We often see people just standing in front of our foil display looking overwhelmed! Here is a picture of our display just so you can see how overwhelming it is! As you can see, we have three different brands in our store. We just recently switched from Venture Tape to Edco. Venture has been sold twice in the last couple of years and seems to struggle with the consistent great product quality we have always had. We are hoping we will have better luck with Edco. We still have some Venture because Edco did not have a few we wanted. We also stock one Studio Pro in 7/32 black back because it is a good value and we have had good feedback. They do not have a wide variety so that is the only one we have from them. To explain the variety: First is width. We were thrilled that Edco comes as wide as ½”. That is great for people who are putting two pieces of glass together. Other sizes: 5/32, 7/32, 5/16, 3/16, ¼. If you want a very thin solder line you use thinner foil. If you need strength or you like a heavier line, use wider foil. Next is thickness. It is measured in millimeters. It is how thick the foil is. It might be as thin as 1 mil go to 1.25 of 1.5. Venture shows this on the label and by the color of the core the foil is wrapped on. Next is the backing. There is copper, black and silver. This is important depending on the transparency of the glass and if you are using patina. Let’s say you are making a piece in all clear glass and you plan to not patina it. You should use silver backed foil so the solder line is silver looking on the exterior and because you can see into the glass, it will look silver on the inside. If you use copper, it just jumps out and ruins the piece. If you were using clear and going to patina it black, use black backed. If you are going to patina it copper, use can use the regular copper foil that is copper on the outside and the sticky side. There is also a foil that is called silvered. It is silver on the outside and the inside. Often used when doing suncatchers and eliminates the need to solder the outer edge. Then there is new wave which has a scalloped edge. Decorative. Also sheets of copper so that you can cut for overlays or have it wide. It also has a sticky side. Use this link to see our full line of foils. https://www.stainedglassexpress.com/metals/copper_-_silver_foil/

Louis Comfort Tiffany was born in New York City to Charles Lewis Tiffany and Harriet Olivia Avery Young. (He died in 1933). He attended Flushing Boarding School in New York City. The Civil war starts in April of 1861 and in 1863, Tiffany attended the Pennsylvania Military Academy, in West Chester, Pennsylvania. It later became the West Chester Military Academy and then the Villa Maria Academy, a Catholic school. Tiffany then went on to Eagleswood Military Academy in Perth Amboy, New Jersey. In July of 1864 Tiffany wins an award for proficiency in drawing while at Eagleswood. The war ends in 18 while Tiffany is at an encampment at Irvington-on-Hudson, New York. In 1866 he is listed as a member of the American Society of Painters in Water Colors. Tiffany studies with a private teacher and was then admitted to the Antique School in the National Academy of Design in New York City in 1866. In 1868 Tiffany travels to Europe and studies with painting and visits the French painter Belly who specializes in orientalist landscapes and Islamic genre scenes. Two years later he has a still life exhibited at the Paris Salon and has an exhibit in the National Academy of Design, New York. After this the exhibits become frequent of his water colors. After extensive travel, Tiffany acquired the property known as Laurelton Hall. Much of this building can be seen at the Morse Museum. FINALLY—IN 1872 Tiffany becomes interested in glass. The first experiments led to the invention of Tiffany’s Favrille Glass. In 1876 Tiffany meets John La Farge who is has glass working studio in New York City. In 1878 Tiffany opens a glass house which burns down as does the second one he opens. Also, in 1878 he made his first church figure window. It is at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Islip, New York. It’s where abouts now is unknown. He continues to work in water color and some oils. He experiments with Wallpaper designs and photography. In 1879 he designs and installed an abstract window in one of his own residences. On November 10, 1879 John La Farge applies for his first patent on opalescent glass. In 1880: A figural window by Louis Comfort Tiffany is installed in the newly consecrated St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Islip, New York. "The windows are of stained glass, but the staining has not been accomplished with common paints. It is altogether a new and novel window, called the opalescent, the glass being stained by a chemical process and burned in. The windows were supplied by L.C. Tiffany, of New York, who also donated a trefoil window - three crosses in a circle resembling a three leafed clover - a perfect gem in itself. The cost of the windows was $2,500. Mr. Hunt <1827–95> takes great pride in the apsis . It is broad, deep and domed and circular in form with three pairs of triplet windows of opalescent glass. In the central window is an exquisite representation of St. Mark and his lion riding in the clouds. This is the only piece of painted glass in the building." (from the Morse Museum) After several jobs decorating interiors, Tiffany starts devoting all his time to artistic house furnishings. Then he submits patents for Glass tile, Mosaic and Colored Glass Windows. "The first important result of labors" in stained glass is claimed by an untitled article to be in a church in Newark, New Jersey. " is in three compartments, with inscriptions on the lower panels. The centre pieces of each compartment simulate Oriental rugs. Of these, one is darker in its hues, to typify the past; the other is light, to represent the future, and the central is pulled aside, to signify the present. Through the opening are seen water and lilies growing. Over the lilies is a dove flying upward to represent the soul of the deceased, and the clouds in the sky, which stretches across the upper part of all three, are arranged in fanciful ladderlike shapes, to carry out further the idea of ascension." (morse museum) In 1881 Tiffany buys two buildings for his glass decorating business in NY. At this point he is getting commissions for people’s homes and churches. He is winning awards at expositions. In 1885 he designs the Flower, Fish and Fruit window which is now in the Baltimore Museum of Art. In 1887 Clara Wolcott Driscoll starts work as a designer at Tiffany Glass Company. Clara ends up doing many lamp designs. The Arrowhead shade. In 1904 Mrs. Driscoll is one of the highest salaried women in New York and ranks with the $10,000 a year workers. In 1889 Harper’s magazine says that Tiffany has brought the art of making opalescent glass to the highest perfection it has yet attained. He is referring to the piece “Christ Leaving the Praetorium” which is in Wisconsin at St. Paul’s Church. At this point they open an entire ecclesiastical department. Tiffany’s first public exhibition of blown glass is in 1893. In 1892 is the first exhibit of glassware and lamps with blown glass shades. 1894 is the first mention of copper-foiling at Tiffany Glass. in 1896 this gentle is at Tiffany’s. I am including it because my last name is also Parkhurst! Henry L. Parkhurst (1867-1921) of the Tiffany Glass and Decorating Company (1892-1900) teaches book cover designing at the New York School of Applied Design for Women. In 1919 Louis Comfort Tiffany retires. He creates a foundation. In February of 1924 the lamp production ceases at Tiffany Studios. January 17, 1933 at the age of 84, Louis Comfort Tiffany dies.

I opened an email this a.m. to see. “6.5 million dollars to prove your innocence. Bullseye said it all along and finally it is over. After glass price increases from all glass makers to fund Baghouse filter, lawyers, testing, more testing and now the plaintiff’s lawyer. . . It looks like it is finally over, we all hope. “ So I’m thinking—this guy is aware of something I am not but lo and behold just a bit further down in my inbox was an email from Bullseye. This pretty much says it all. January 23, 2019 Dear Friends, Today a Multnomah County Judge preliminarily approved a settlement in the class action lawsuit against Bullseye Glass Co. Follow this link to view the full news release: http://www.bullseyeglass.com/news/plaintiffs-and-bullseye-glass-co-settle-class-action-lawsuit.html We have mixed feelings about settling. However, once the insurance carriers provided the settlement funds, we worked hard to include meaningful settlement terms that would give our neighbors the peace of mind that Bullseye did not harm their property. We also advocated for additional air monitoring to include diesel particulate as that is a major air quality issue that affects our neighborhood. We are pleased that this aspect of the settlement may eventually contribute to improving air quality in Portland. Everyone at Bullseye sincerely appreciates your steadfast support and confidence over the past 3 years. We look forward to producing handcrafted art glass made in Portland, Oregon USA for years to come. The Team at Bullseye