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Creating the Goddess Collection
By Catherine Thrush

     As with any creative process, the first step is the idea. With the Goddess Collection we let the personality of the goddess dictate the design. We choose colors and patterns that suggest something about her strengths. Once the design is established the work begins.

   First the glass must be cut. A template is created for each part of the goddess and adhered to the colored glass. For the heads and bodies a standard glass cutter is used to cut the glass to the rough shape, then a glass grinder cleans up the edges.

   The glass ring for the arms is much more complicated. First a small lens cutter is employed to cut a circle out of glass. A lens cutter has a flat base on which the glass sits. An arm with a cutting wheel is rotated to score the glass and a pliers is used to break off the scrap around the outside. Next the circle 's edges are cleaned up with the glass grinder, a ring template adhered, and the next step is ready to begin.

   Anyone who has worked with glass will agree, cutting something from the middle of a piece of glass is difficult. It couldn't be done without the use of a glass saw. The Taurus 1 Ring Saw has a very thin, diamond encrusted blade, shaped in a ring. The saw spins the blade through a water bath to cool it and remove the glass dust. The glass is pushed gently against the blade, cutting slowly. The ring saw cuts out the center of the glass ring and, with a small bit on the glass grinder, the inside of the ring is cleaned up.

   Then the glass is prepared for the kiln. Cleaning is crucial, any glue, fingerprints or dirt left on the glass will be permanently fired into the glass. Some types of glass tend to devitrify in the kiln, meaning they lose their shiny surface. Pieces likely to devitrify are air brushed with a chemical compound to prevent that from happening. Once the pieces are prepared they are set in the kiln on a sheet of fiber paper. Fiber paper is actually made of minute ceramic fibers and so works to keep the glass from adhering to the kiln shelf.

   For the purposes of jewelry and sun-catchers I want only to fire-polish the pieces. Fire-polishing means heating the glass enough to round and smooth the edges without heating the glass enough to make it molten. Most glass will fire polish at about 1300 degrees F while a full fuse requires 1500 degrees.

   Stresses build up in the glass as it expands and contracts while passing through temperatures between 700 and 900 degrees. To reduce stress while heating and cooling, the digital controller slows the speed at which it passes through those temperatures. By holding the kiln at 900 degrees for 30 minutes during the cooling process we can anneal, that is, remove all the stress and strengthen the glass. The entire process of fire polishing can take 5 to 6 hours.

   Once the pieces have been fired, a sheet of fine grain, wet-dry sandpaper removes any irregularities around the edges. Then the dremel tool is brought into play. The high speed drill, using a .8 mm diamond drill bit, quickly drills the holes for the wiring. Glass can shatter if heated quickly or unevenly so the glass is kept cool during drilling in a water bath.

   From here sun-catchers and jewelry go their separate ways. The jewelry in now ready to be wire-wrapped in either sterling silver or 12kt gold-filled wire. The sun-catchers require another step. The sun-catchers are now painted with gold, silver or copper paint and once more prepared for the kiln. After the paint is fired onto the glass and those that require etching are dipped in acid etch they too are ready to be wired.

   The process is both pain-staking and time consuming, but we here at Bella Lumina feel it is well worth the effort. The result is a beautifully crafted and meaningful piece that can be enjoyed for years to come.