Frit-aytious Beads or it's better with Ocelot Spots

So Lynn asked yesterday if I was sure that she couldn't use frit for glass fusing. Frit is used in fusing all the time so yes, Lynn you can use it to fuse. Usually, frit is applied on larger pieces so if you want to swirl it like I did yesterday, you have to have a piece large enough to swirl when the glass is molten in your kiln. In fact, here's a picture of me doing just that with a large wall piece - I'm "dragging" the glass with a metal tool:


By the way, that was one AWEsome class I took with Dan Fenton one of the early artists in the stained glass/fused glass movement. I've used a couple of frits on fused cabs and I'll make recommendations at the end of post. You'll see why in a moment.

So, today I took out the tried and true frit mix Ocelot Spots



Ocelot Spots is a failsafe mix - it performs well for most beadmakers. I've used a base of transparent blue to highlight the occasional blues you can get from Ocelot Spots. Swirled it looks great and not swirled it looks great too!

If you're going to try fusing with frit, I'd suggest a frit that looks good unswirled. Ocelot Spots is a good choice - it'll give an animal print like look when unswirled. You may not get any of the blues that happen as a result of the flame but the ambers, browns and black will look lovely. I think the Wild Roses mix I used yesterday would look nice unswirled also.

If you've gone to the torch or the kiln because Val's book has inspired you, please share and let me know what you Fritsonality is!

Transparent Yellow Tips

Today is Studio Saturday over on Art Bead Scene. I'm the featured beadmaker and I always have waaayyyyyy tooo much to say! So I'm going to have a two parter - the general beadmaking insights over on ABS and the glass insights over here.

My tips on the glass color today won't be as detailed as Color Addiction, sorry no swatches (maybe add later) but a few tips for working with the glass in the Rainbow Spiral. Making the spiral shape wasn't going to be a problem, my concern was the transparent yellow. Yes, I've talked about loving the opaque yellow on my blog but the transparent yellow is another story! It's very finicky and if you get it too hot, it will go all cloudy on you.

Transparent yellow in the rod form is faintly yellow because it's a striking color, i.e., you bring out the yellow color in the flame. Therein lies the rub - if you strike it too hot, it goes cloudy. It will still be yellow, but it won't be transparent. Here are a few tips to keep it transparent:

Never heat the glass to a white hot. Heat it to an orange-red glow.

Avoid reheating as much as possible.

Encase the yellow in clear transparent as quickly as possible.

Once encased, you can re-heat and re-shape without cloudiness.



Transparent yellow is a great color as long as you treat it well. Just remember to "keep it cool" baby!