The Crafty Fox
Heather Richman
www.facebook.com/The-Crafty-Fox-725130504248592/
Glass, as an artistic medium, best expresses my personal vision at this time. I fuse it, slump it, work it at a torch, and sprinkle it in powdered form onto metal sheets and fire it in a kiln. I love the qualities of glass. Hard, sharp glass is cut, ground, and fired to become smooth and inviting to touch. Solid glass rods become molten and can be stretched, stretched, manipulated, shaped, layered, mixed and reshaped to form specialty decorations for fusing, or beads for jewelry. Crushed glass can be heated to create glass lace with large or small holes throughout. Inclusions of metal and organic material can create interesting and surprising results. Glass reflects and shines,but it can also be transparent and layered. There are many techniques that can bring out various qualities of the medium. My creations are inspired by the colors, shapes and themes of nature – from the Monterey Bay area, from my travels, and from my imagination. My work is about seeing, experiencing, and imagining, while often providing a pictorial representation of recognizable objects. My creations focus on the qualities of color,line and texture. Through my creations I strive to engage the viewer,evoking a sense of excitement and interest in the subject matter. Illusions of movement,depth,and luminosity are common to many of my pieces. I intend for my glass creations to be seen and enjoyed by others, and provide a source of pleasure to those who see, touch, and wear them.
I begin my fusing process by making “design elements” by cutting small pieces of glass and fusing them together to create “stones", fusing frit to create “lace”, and pulling glass rods in a torch to create shapes and twist colors together. I also create custom glass sheets to use in my designs. These are created by using combinations of ground glass (frit), very thin broken glass (confetti), and thin rods of glass (stringers) on sheet glass and firing it. I cut my base glass then layer additional glass to create the piece. The stacked glass is transferred to the kiln to be fired. After this fusing step, the flat glass piece can be shaped by a slump firing to allow the glass piece to relax into a ceramic mold. I intend for my fused glass creations to provide a source of pleasure to those who see and touch them. Most of my slumped pieces are food-safe and can be used as well as displayed. Fused glass should NOT be used as hot plates, or for very hot or very cold items, as the glass cannot withstand extreme temperature changes.
My lampwork pieces begin by making design elements at the torch - multiple colors twisted together, colors striped over other colors, colors encased with other colors, etc. When all elements are prepared and cooled, I begin the bead. This entails wrapping molten glass onto a clay-coated metal rod. Glass is layered, pressed, pinched, pulled, twisted, and raked, to create the final design. The cooled bead is removed from the rod, cleaned, and made into jewelry using sterling silver wire.