More stuff from the kiln

Ages ago, I posted about a new melt pot setup that I had bought and I showed the results of the first disk that I had created using the melt pot. A while back when I was slumping some other bowls I put the melt pot disk onto my wave bowl mold and finished it off.  It turned out great!  You can click the image to bring up a larger version.

Another piece I'm working on is a square bowl done with a new technique I got off the web, called swiss cheese.  By putting clear glass pebbles on top of opaque glass, you can create a really interesting effect that does look like swiss cheese.  I didn't have clear pebbles, but I did have some transparent colored ones and I thought they might work just as well.  Unfortunately they didn't, but they created a very retro looking glass blank.  Click to enlarge this one too.

The red pebbles actually looked pale green before firing, so it seems that the heat of the kiln changes the color of those particular pebbles - that's called striking.  If I had known in advance, I wouldn't have chosen those, since I was trying to keep to blues, greens, and yellows.  I do like the result, even if it wasn't anything like what I was expecting, but I'm curious to hear what you think of it.  Please leave a comment sharing your thoughts on it.  It will be going into the kiln either tomorrow or Monday, depending on when the current batch of glass that's in the kiln now gets done.

More to come in a few days...

State of Ease

The Institute of HeartMath has produced a new article that may be of interest to many who follow my blog, so I wanted to offer it to you.  It is entitled "The State of Ease" and it is a quick 4 page read that gives you a technique for connecting heart and mind to create a state of ease and flow.  When we come from this place of ease, we are more likely to make better decisions, recover quicker from stressful situations, and to "prep" more effectively for creative or complex situations because we are more centered, balanced, and able to engage our creativity and wisdom.  Since many of us are being bombarded with rapid changes, stressful, increasingly complex, and out-of-the-ordinary situations, such a quick and easy technique -- assuming you don't already have an effective one that you're using -- may be helpful in assisting you to keep your balance, focus, and connection to heart's wisdom in any situation.

Click here for the article.