“A vessel decorated by undercutting so that the surface decoration stands free of the body of the glass, supported by struts. The vessel appears, therefore, to be enclosed in an openwork cage.” – Glasstopia Glossary Related Websites: [button link=”https://www.cmog.org/article/recently-discovered-cage-cup” color=”limegreen” size=”small” target=”... »
Perhaps best known as the most expensive piece of glass ever sold, the Constable-Maxwell Cage-Cup is an extraordinary work of craftsmanship. Believed to have once been a lamp (c. 300 AD), the 8 x 10 inch Constable-Maxwell Cage-Cup was carved from a single block of glass. The design includes a delicate filigree, also cut from the same piece of glass. Once clear, the cup is now iridized as the resul... »
This early technique for making flat glass involved blowing a glass bubble, transferring the glass bubble from the blowpipe to a punty, opening the end of the bubble, and then spinning the glass so that centrifugal force turned the glass into a large spinning disk. That disk of glass – called a bullion — was then annealed and cut into (usually rectangular) sheets. Bullions are also ref... »
Jane Bruce is an independent artist and educator based in New York City. She teaches and exhibits internationally and her dual careers of artist and maker have taken her around the world, from Europe to the USA, to Australia and back again to the USA. Jane works in a range of techniques to create objects of delight and mini installations. Jane received a Master of Art & Design degree from the ... »
In the late 19th century, Otto Schott discovered that adding boron to glass batch — creating what came to be known as borosilicate glass — changed the properties of the glass in several important ways. Compared to “plain” soda-lime glass, borosilicate glass has a greater resistance to chemicals and a much lower coefficient of expansion (by about 70%). The lower COE makes th... »
Soda-lime glass: Historically, the most common form of glass. It contains three major compounds in varying proportions, but usually silica (about 60-75 percent), soda (12-18 percent), and lime (5-12 percent). Soda-lime glasses are relatively light, and upon heating, they remain plastic and workable over a wide range of temperatures. They lend themselves, therefore, to elaborate manipulative techni... »
The Blenko family has operated their handmade glass business for four generations, since English immigrant William J. Blenko arrived in Kokomo, Indiana in 1893. Over the next three decades, Blenko would own and operate glass companies in Indiana, Pennsylvania and West Virgina with varying degrees of financial success. It was not until he founded – in 1921 and at the age of 67 – the Eureka Glass Co... »
Leopold Blaschka (1822-1895) and his son Rudolf (1857-1939) lampworked glass in Dresden, Germany. With glass torches, pincers, and other hand tools they made invertebrate sea animals. They created these realistic models from glass tubes and rods. The Botanical Museum of Harvard University was impressed with their accuracy. In 1887 it hired the Blaschkas to make plant models as teaching tools. The ... »
Giles Bettison, a graduate of Australia’s Canberra School of Art, is known for both artistic and technical innovation. While still a student, he applied an ancient Venetian glassworking technique – the fusing of bundled glass cane cut into patterned slices called murrine – to a new material: an American-made colored sheet glass. By using strips of sheet glass instead of cane, Bettison was ab... »
The trailed and highly tactile surfaces of Clare Belfrage’s tall vessels, with their tight waists and dish-like rims, are variously opaque and transparent. The sooty black work resembles ceramic, such is the completely opaque and matt nature of its surface. Belfrage applies molten glass threads to the surface of her vessels to suggest closely drawn lines, repeated in simple patterns. They ev... »
“Bullseye Glass Company is a manufacturer of colored glass for art and architecture with worldwide distribution and a strong commitment to research, education, and promoting glass art. Our glass is handcrafted in our factory, based in Portland, Oregon.” – Bullseye Glass Company website Related websites: [button link=”http://www.bullseyeglass.com/” color=”limegre... »
“Bullseye Studio collaborates with artists, architects, and designers from around the world to fabricate art glass for the built environment, including architectural, landscape, and product designs; public art projects; and art installations. We are world-renowned for our kilnforming expertise and our custom color capabilities.” – from Bullseye Studio Related websites: [button li... »
Bay Area Glass Institute The mission of the Bay Area Glass Institute (BAGI) is to “provide accessible, hands-on glass experiences that educate and inspire current and future generations of patrons, students and artists.” “BAGI is the only public access glass-working facility in Santa Clara County that has fully functional glassblowing, fusing and torch working studios. We offer h... »
Glass batch The mixture of ingredients needed for making glass are called glass batch. Once mixed (at room temperature) they are “cooked” in a furnace. The result is molten glass. Typical soda-lime glass batch, for example, includes silica (sand), soda ash, and lime. It can also include other ingredients, including those for color (frequently metal oxides). Glass artists have the choic... »
Albinas Elskus’s The Art of Painting on Glass is the definitive source for traditional glass painting and staining. The 140+ pages provide extensive coverage of materials, including notes on over 60 specific paints and stains. Elskus also discusses equipment (lots of information on brushes), technique and firing. The Art of Painting on Glass has gone in and out of print since it first appear... »