Fossil Vitra Tutorial

Kilnformed glass artists are always looking for new ways to put imagery on glass. Well documented options include painting with enamels (if you have the skill), silk-screening (if you have the equipment), and even “assembling” the picture with frit (if you have the patience).

This tutorial, which first appeared in the Winter 2010 Glass Craftsman magazine, is for a technique I’ve named Fossil Vitra – an alternative to the above methods. Fossil Vitra requires no painting or drawing skills, and no special equipment.

The Fossil Vitra technique is made by layering glass powder directly on leaves (or other organic material) and placing the powder-coated leaves under a sheet of glass. When fired, the organic material burns away and the glass powder is fused to the base sheet of glass. The illustration below shows the layering before and after the glass is fired:

This tutorial will take you step-by-step through the process of creating your own Fossil Vitra fused glass piece.

Next, a list of what you will need for this project.