Undersea Gardens Plate Using 96 Cane and Sumpy's New Ripple Swoop Mold

Carrie Strope Sohayda ~ "Undersea Gardens" 12" x 6"

Materials:

• 1/4 lb 96 Fusing Canes Alternating 3 Red 2 Aqua Inner Helix
• 1/4 lb 96 Fusing Canes Green 5 Line Inner Helix
• 1/4 lb 96 Fusing Canes Cobalt 5 Line Inner Helix
• Spectrum System 96 Dark Blue Transparent
• Spectrum System 96 Clear
• Spectrum System 96 Cherry Red Transparent
• Spectrum System 96 Medium Green Transparent
• Spectrum System 96 Deep Aqua Transparent
• Slumpy's SM-6130 Ripple Swoop Mold
• HoneyDoo Zuper Glue 

Tools:

• Mosaic Nippers
• Fine Tip Sharpie
• Ruler
• Glass Cutter
• Running Pliers
• Safety Glasses
• Kiln
• Papyros Shelf Paper
• Kilnwashed Kiln Furniture

1. Begin by cutting glass and nipping cane.
•Cut two 2” x 12” and two 1½” x 12” pieces of clear glass.
•Cut two 1½” x 12” pieces of dark blue glass.
•Cut two ⅜” x 12” strips each of dark blue, cherry red, medium green, and deep aqua.
•Mark fusing cane at 2” lengths. Using mosaic nippers, cut fusing canes in each color to 2.”

2. Layout pieces according to pattern.
•For the first layer, lay down smaller piece of clear glass in the middle. On either side, place the
strips of glass on edge, and then lay down the  dark blue pieces of glass to the outside.
•For the second layer, place the two remaining pieces of clear glass on top of the dark blue, and lay the cane out across the clear piece in the middle, securing the outer pieces with a dab of glue.

TIP: If you build on a piece of cardboard, you can easily transport and load the pieces into the kiln.

3. Full fuse & then slump.

Pattern Alterations: •To eliminate strips, add ½” to
the width of the dark blue and clear rectangles.
•To avoid using kiln furniture or fiber paper dams,
cut two ½” x 2” pieces of dark blue & clear to hold
the fusing cane in the middle section.

FIRING TIPS:
•To prevent the fusing cane from shifting off of the base layer of glass while firing, use kiln dams
against the ends. If you don’t have dams or fiber paper, you can alter the pattern using the above
instructions.
•If you want to eliminate bubbles from between the canes, space the canes so that there is a little
wiggle room between the pieces.

Suggested full fuse firing schedule:

200 dph to 1000ºF hold for 45 min
50 dph to 1250ºF hold for 25 min
500 dph to 1450ºF hold for 45 min
full to 1000ºF with no hold
200 dph to 950ºF hold for 60 min
100 dph to 800ºF with no hold
300 dph to 120ºF  with no hold

NOTE: This is a fairly conservative firing schedule, but you may need to make changes based on your kiln.

NATA 2013 Youth Art Month Exhibit at the State Capitol

In my recent wanderings at the Nebraska State Capitol, I happened upon an exhibit of art organized by the Nebraska Art Teachers Association on the first floor of the capitol rotunda.

NATA 2013 Youth Art Month Exhibit

The pieces on display not only showed artistic talent, but told the stories of how they were created. I ran across many great lesson plan ideas. (NOTE: I forgot to write down the names of the pictures I took, and so I only have two teachers quoted. If you happen to know the teacher whose lesson plan is listed, could you let me know?)

"Dog portraits made with newspapers seemed like a great idea. I had both the first grade and fifth grade do this lesson. The fifth grade created them first. They worked from a photograph of a dog they found on the internet. There was lots of trial and error as the children tried to created the shapes they saw in their dog's photograph. After all the shapes were glued down pastels were used to give their dog more dimension. I simplified the lesson for the first grade and their projects turned out as nice as the fifth graders." ~from the paper accompanying the piece

Living Art ~ Nebraska's State Capitol

The state capitol building was built between 1922-1934 with funds from a special assessment tax and was completely paid off by the end of construction. The architect, Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue died 2 years into construction which laid the way for the incorporation of Native American symbology (as Goodhue is referenced as saying the incorporation of American Indian symbology would make the building look like a tipi.)

 I grew up in Nebraska and took many field trips to the State Capitol building. The building is quite amazing and you hear several stories and references to it if you live around here. I won't go into the rather colorful nicknames it's been assigned due to the fact that Nebraska is rather flat and the capitol building is tall and upright. I'll leave that to your imagination...