Lying somewhere between stained glass and blown glass, fused glass is perhaps the least well known way to work with glass. The difference lies in the way that the glass piece is created. Stained glass is worked with at room temperature - cutting sheets of glass into shapes, mounting it with lead came and then soldering the pieces together to make, for example, a window. At the other end of the scale, for blown glass, the temperature needs to be over 1000˚C so that the molten glass can be manipulated to make vases, cups and bowls.

Fused glass pieces are constructed from cold glass then fired in a kiln to bring them up to between 600 and 850˚C. This melts the glass together, hence the term fusing.  

Things get interesting when you start to play with the technique. At lower temperatures, sheet glass will bend over a mould. A little higher and the glass surface melts enough to stick to the next piece of glass without changing shape. Further up the scale, sheets of glass will soften and melt together for a softer, rounded shape. 

Article to be continued with more information soon. 😊