Fusing real flowers and leaves

[karablue]

I have seen real leaves fused between layers of clear glass without the leaves burning off.  Does anyone know how this is done?  I have tried seashells and they burned off too.

Thanks

[confound]

There was a tutorial on this at the Dick Blick web site but I don’t if it is still there some where under teaching.  I wasn’t too successful with it.  My plant would turn out part white part black.  The trick is not to do a full fuse.  If you fuse it too much you will end up with a really big air bubble.

[Duchess]

I did this in a class one week ago. Choose flat not too fleshy leaves such as ivy, maple leaves, fern frond, etc. Place the leaf directly on the kiln shelf and cover w/clear glass. Fire. When completely cool carefully lift the glass straight up and turn leaf side up. Don’t touch or breathe on it or the image will blow away. Place a second piece of glass on top and fire once again. Make certain that the leaf doesn’t extend more than a 1/4 to the edges of the glass or the two pieces of glass will not seal. Good Luck.

[1-big-dog]

Here is a link to the “Glass Fossils” instructions at Dick Blick:

http://www.dickblick.com/lesson-plans/glass-fossils/

However, please note that this process DOES burn away the leaf or flower,

it just leaves a carbon footprint of it. I would not know how to embed a real

leaf or flower, because at the temperature of melting glass, everything with

living tissue is going to burn. I have, however, seen people who have made

flowers with a torch (and a heavy dose of skill) and then embedded those

glass items into a large block of clear glass. Maybe that is what you have seen?

Regards, Tom

 

[karablue]

Thank you for the tips.  Does the leaf stay green then?  I will try it. 

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