Photos & Words by Sophia M.R.
On our second day of the Clay and Glass Fusion experiential program, we explored different kinds of glass art. We headed over to the SMUS derby building, where our second cohort leader Ms. Tobacco had set up an entire room dedicated to our glass-making experience. Tupperware bins sorted with different colours of glass covered most of the tables. Before today, most of us had not worked with glass in a creative context, so we were all quite curious about how on earth we would be cutting it. Would it be difficult? Would we have to use some fancy tech to do it? The answer was immediate. We were each given a little handheld tool with a dull metal roller at the top. And apparently, all we had to do was use that metal roller to create a scratch on the glass surface – then we were able to snap the piece in half. It was that easy. I was quite shocked at first watching Ms. Tobacco snap the glass between her fingers as if it were a cracker.
The first project was to make sea stars. Then we moved on to stained-glass ornaments, which involved cutting five wedges of glass and placing them inside a metal frame to later be bonded all together using lead. We got to experiment with silk-screening as well, using thick ink to transfer delicate illustrations on to our glass pieces of choice.
Ms. Tobacco owns a glass kiln at her home, which is where our projects will later be fused. She has a kiln because she makes glass creations for art galleries and local markets, which is really cool!
I think we all enjoyed this expedition; it was an excellent balance of chill time to discuss, create and get to know each other better as well as try cool new art techniques none of us had done before. I can't wait to see how all our glass projects turned out!