Memories of Whidbey: Heron

Memories of Whidbey: Heron fused glass ar
Memories of Whidbey: Heron
fused glass art



During the 2017 Glass Craft and Bead Expo in April, I took a screen printing class with Gail Stouffer. The course material covered selecting and editing images for screen printing and one of the processes Gail uses for transferring those images to glass. A few months after I returned, I started working on one of my latest finished pieces, Memories of Whidbey: Heron. I've worked on this piece off and on over the summer between other projects and travel, and recently had a chance to put the finishing touches on it.

I thought I would share a few photos I took during the making. I won't cover the entire process (I'll leave that to Gail!), but here are some photos that provide a glimpse of what goes into creating a piece of my fused glass art.

Close-up, Heron
Close-up, Heron
The image I chose for screen printing was from a photograph I took during a visit to Whidbey Island last year when I was taking a class from Richard LaLonde (see this blog post for more information about my mandala class with Richard: Mandala Workshop, Richard Lalonde). The photo was taken just before sunset while I was sitting on the beach. I took a couple of photos, including a close-up. The close-up image of the heron offered excellent contrast for screen printing. 


Heron on a rock out-crop, Whidbey Island photo by Dana Worley
Heron on a rock out-crop, Whidbey Island
photo by Dana Worley
The image was edited and then burned to screen. I had purchased a used Lectralite UV exposure unit from another glass artist. Since this was my first test drive, I created a couple of screens to experiment with exposure time.

Screen print after exposure and washout

I screen printed a 5" circle of glass with black glass enamel, and then combined it with a lovely piece of System 96 opal art glass (these opal art glasses are no longer in production -- I am going to miss them!).

Screen-printed image on blue fusible glassLayup of glass, ready for the kiln

Into the kiln the piece went, along with two other pieces screened with the same image.

Screenprinted fused glass images,  in the kiln and ready for firing
Screenprinted fused glass images,
in the kiln and ready for firing

I tack-fused frit and fused glass pebbles in a second firing. Finally, the glass was mounted in a stand. Here is a close-up of the finished glass.

Close-up of finished fused glass piece
Close-up of finished fused glass piece

Memories of Whidbey: Heron was delivered to a gallery today for inclusion in the Logan Fine Art Fall Salon. If you would like to know more about this piece or any of my other work, you can leave a comment below or contact me via email.

Best, 
Dana

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