Hot Glass Artisans

Art rarely gets hotter than this!


About hot glass:

Making items out of hot glass is more difficult then making those same items out of other, more easily manipulated, materials. Unlike conventional clay, or fimo, filo, metal, stone, paint and fabric, working with hot glass takes an entirely hands-off technique. Touching glass when molten will produce instant second degree burns (or worse) so the urge to reach out with a hand and grab it while hot is strongly discouraged, though hard at times to resist. Thankfully there are many tools which can be used in place of hands with which to work hot glass.


About oxides in glass:

Colors in glass are created by adding trace metal oxides to various mixtures of ingredients such as lime, sand, and soda. Oxides can include gold (for red), copper (for green), cobalt (for blue), etc. Adding oxides can also change the stiffness of the glass and how much heat is needed to melt it. The oxides can also affect how different colored glasses react with each other – there being chemical reactions between certain colors and not between others.


About glass types:

Moretti/Effetre, Vetrofond, and Lausha are soft glasses – meaning that they melt at a relatively low temperature and stay soft and workable for a long period of time. This is in contrast to Borosilicate and Pyrex which are harder, higher temperature, stiffer glasses and Japanese Satake which is a softer, lower temperature, more watery glass. Each type of glass has a different coefficient of expansion (COE) meaning each glass when heated or cooled will expand and contract to a different degree. Thus a piece cannot be made by mixing Moretti and Pyrex glass as they have different COE’s and will literally break away from each other when cooled.


There are several ways to heat glass:

Using a furnace:

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Using a torch:

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Using a kiln:

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In my opinion, there are few things as mesmerizing as watching glass melt. The warmth, liquidity, and glow of molten glass are extremely addictive. Working with hot glass can be both enjoyable and stressful at the same time depending on what the artist is trying to achieve.



Presenting dA artisans who work with hot glass:




aerobat




UniquelyYours




johnnymartin




catwhoplayswithglass




ellyloo




DragonFireAA




BonsaiHinoki




pipingplover




this-side-upsid-down




glazzdoll




eerok1955




darkfire734




zincks




twistedglass96




free-zero




AntiSocialis




fragilecraft




godofsilica




godgolden




from-time-to-time




Guenna




lisaluera




scathode




chenghsin




froggynaan




blusquirrel




LaughingTree




Xj0nNAyX




giglemaniac




njadean




jesseengland




lovefulheights




MidniteFireFaerie




bellydancer




honeywine




fyrsmith




SPIglassStudio




NorthwindStudio




scott-451




WeirdPeanut




GlassElation




kagamiko




AJGlass