A fused glass project
The idea for making glass wafers came from so many ideas coming together, as is often the way with the creative process. Having worked with pâte de verre I was doing more research about the technique and somewhere along the way came across a mini tutorial by Kim + Kat. I’d also seen a video of someone folding a really thin sheet of powdered glass, similar to yet another project from one of my glass books. That made me think of the paper folding I’d done in a previous project. So my initial thought was to try making glass wafers that looked like a square of folded paper.
The technique for making the wafer involves cutting a template from cardboard, sprinkling glass powder over the shape, then removing the cardboard and the excess powder (whilst wearing a mask, as glass powder is not good for you!). The kiln is fired to the point where the glass melts just enough to stick together. They can be thin and delicate but amazingly strong, especially if you have an even thickness.
I started off trying to make squares. Sounds simple enough, right?.. but I was having problems making a square shape - consistently - the wafers shrink, sometimes unevenly and the squares weren’t really square. However I’d fallen for the technique and started making wafers of all shapes and sizes.
This is another project without an end, but if I hadn’t set out to try making glass wafer squares I might not have tried making glass wafers at all. It’s good to have a goal in mind, but I like to hold it lightly and be open to new ideas if they arise.
I’ve now been making wafers for the past 6 months and am continuing experiments which I will be sharing on Instagram.
Information : :
If you’re interested in the technique please go and watch the Kim + Kat free tutorial.
Kim also has a fun booklet available about mixing colour powders.
I picked up a few useful tips from 'Introduction to Kilnformed Glass Powders' by Bob Leatherbarrow but I’m glad he said that the rules were there to be broken! (Or click here to purchase from Warm Glass, UK)