Mod Serving Dish Saga III

In Stage 3 of the Serving Dish Saga (you missed Stage 2, unfortunately -- I didn't photograph the fused blank before I ground it), our jagged hero has been fully fused, then abraded with a disc coated with diamonds rotating at high speed to make crisp, square edges that will gloss up to a beautiful gleam in his second trip through the kiln! He is presently in line behind the fourth of a set of square dinner plates in the same pattern which was slumped today and is presently cooling in the kiln.

Just a typical Friday night

My dish drainer bristles with wine bottles -- I've just finished scrubbing the labels off, and now they're dripping dry. Many will require a second treatment with a de-gooing agent to remove all of the adhesive from the labels, then a second washing. You can see a few of my glass blossom candleholders off to the left -- I'm very behind in photographing them!

I've just put the last piece of a custom dining set into the kiln for its first firing. I designed four bright, modern, geometric dinner plates and a matching oval serving platter based on the recipient's love of green and the 1970s. After their first 18-hour trip through the kiln, I grind the rounded edges off to create a crisp, square edge on a diamond lap wheel. If there's a lot of extra glass around the edges -- for example, if I measured the mold wrong! -- I might use a tile saw first. Once I'm satisfied with the size and shape of the flat fused pieces, they go into the kiln again to drape into a mold to create a lip.

I'm off to make earrings now -- I'm gearing up for my first craft show of the season, next Saturday, April 25th, in Crofton, MD. If you're in the area, I'd love to see you! It's at the Crofton Country Club from 10am to 4pm. You can find details and directions on my show list.