Alchemy

Introducing our new Alchemy series of plates and trinket dishes!

These pieces feature strong abstract design with clear lines and bold geometric shapes. Curly, smoky lines add a whimsical element.

We use precious metal enclosures combined with reactive glass to create these pieces. The final appearance of each piece is determined by the interaction of the silver with the reactive glasses, which introduces an element of unpredictability and natural chaos to the design. Because the reaction plays out a little different each time, each piece is truly unique.

Rainbow Night Lights

Just in time for the darkest time of the year, we've introduced our new rainbow night lights!
These happy little plug in lights can help you find your way around the house at night without blinding you with too much light.

To make these. we first have to create the little glass balls - believe it or not, you can't just buy those in a store! To create the balls, small broken bits of glass (called "frit") are laid out on a kiln shelf and heated to 1490 degrees Fahrenheit.

 

At that temperature, the glass becomes liquid, and its surface tension overcomes gravity - it balls up into perfect little round drops. After careful cooling, the shards have turned into frit balls:

The frit balls are carefully collected and cleaned, then sorted into containers according to color. 

Next, I cut a clear piece of glass into a 3 by 3.5 inch rectangle to serve as a background. The glass is cleaned meticulously, to make sure that no dust or oil sticks to its surface - contaminants would make the glass cloudy when it gets fused.

Now, finally, the fun task of assembling the pattern can begin. I have a guide that marks the center and the main symmetry lines of my pattern; this goes under my background piece to help me keep everything aligned. Then I bring out my little containers with the frit balls, and I start making a pattern from the center outwards, I do not usually have a finished pattern in mind; rather I start with a general color scheme and a rough geometric layout, and see where my imagination (and my fingers) take me.

The piece then goes back into the kiln, and is heated to a temperature of at least 1375 degrees, This fuses the frit balls to the surface, making the piece one single piece of glass.

After the glass has cooled again, the last step is to glue the metal brace onto the back of the piece with jeweler's glue.

This needs to dry over night, and then it is finally time to assemble the night light! The brace is attached to the light hardware with a tiny nut and bolt.

The final result:

 

Glass Hand Open House and Holiday Sale

A big thank you to everyone who came out to see us at the Glass Hand Open Studio!

For those of you who couldn't make it, here is a quick recap (and a bit of enticement to check out the next one):

We had a nice table set up in the courtyard outside:

Indoors, there was a gallery space showing off Glass Hand artist's work:

Visitors were entertained by glass blowing demos all day! Here is the inimitable Richard Ross, making a horse head sculpture:

This was an exiting and fun day! Make sure you stop by the next one if you are in the area.

Glass Hand Studio is at 2527 Clement Ave, Alameda, CA.

Marbled Tumblers!

Recently we have become obsessed with perfecting the marbled tumbler:

Marbled patterns are beautifully organic, and allow for creative mixing of color. Their natural appearance makes them the perfect partner for the irregular, natural shapes we prefer for our drinking glasses.

When creating marbled patterns in glass, the clear glass is rolled in several colors of powdered glass, and then a metal rake is pulled through the color to create the organic patterns. Rotating the bubble while heating it can create an upwards swing or a spiral in the pattern.

The Joy of Teal

Recently, a customer on Etsy approached us with a special order request for a set of teal soap dishes for her new bathroom. Teal is not a color we would have considered using on our own, but once we started working with it, we quickly fell in love!

It is a luminous color that combines well with other shades. We particularly like how it creates gorgeous marbled effects when raked. Here are some of the pieces we have created recently using teal:

 

Wrap And Rake Video

Here is our first glassblowing video! It shows Tim's signature Wrap'n'Rake technique.

And here is the finished piece:

 

This was a special order for one of our wonderful Etsy customers :)

Retro Plates

Remember the op art and large geometric designs from the late 60s and 70s?

 

People loved these and they were everywhere. I still remember the living room wall in my parent's apartment, which was wallpapered with stacked half circles in orange, beige, and brown.

In these days of muted pastels, few would allow such an assault on the senses to take place on their walls, but the design ideas themselves are making a comeback of sorts in fused glass.

We decided to get in on the fun, but put our own stamp on the idea. Our design creates some visual calm by using fewer elements and  framing the color with a wide strip of black; the frame also makes the color pop more.

We also wanted a cleaner separation of the individual colored shapes, which we achieved by separating each colored layer with a layer of clear glass. This creates an additional benefit by creating a 3D effect, very much in keeping with the spirit of the era!

You can see our selection of Retro plates in our Plates page, and in our Etsy shop.