For the first in my new ‘Past Perfect’ series, I selected a beautiful heritage glass bowl that had been flattened in the kiln. The steep sides of the bowl left a trough about ½ inch high around the outside edge. A solder test confirmed that the glass would crack while soldering.Cracked glass, once set in solder, is normally resilient to any further change. The cracks, for me, represent both the fragility of relationships and the bond that supportive friends provide. .
I selected pink and white background glass which accented the bowl nicely. The flow of the pattern around the bowl was important so when one of the four pieces broke badly, I had to start again with a fresh sheet of glass. While soldering, I heard one small heat crack but was not concerned … until, in the cleaning process, the main part of the bowl came free in one piece!
This presented two challenges. The first was to break the remaining edges of the bowl out so it could be replaced. The second was to find another piece of heritage glass that suited the oval shape left behind by the bowl. I trimmed the edges of a clear glass plate and was pleased with the result.
This left the off-cuts from the clear glass plate which I used to create two additional pieces in my ‘Out of Chaos – Trees’ Series. This introduces a whole fresh perspective to my series of trees…I am excited about where this will go next.
The story would not be complete without a stellar ending. With the edges broken off of the original bowl, the risk of further cracking was eliminated. Rather than go back to the original pink and white background, I found another unique piece of glass with subtle motion and blended colours and created ‘Her Majesty’.
There are a few pieces remaining from this last project which will be added to the ‘chaos’ in my storage bins for another day!