Jo Dovers art- casting, and painting question

[Kara]

I really admire Jo Dovers Mermaid. I too have been pondering a mermaid project, a quite different one. I love the shells, thay are just wonderful. Are they cast glass? or slumped?

The painting is very nice as well, Did you use reuche? if so was it the weather glass paint?

I was told by the stainglass store owner That slumping or fusing glass will always end up being 1/4 inch thick. she said that if I cast or slumped the shells they would be too heavy for my piece. I think possibly because she isn't much of an experimentor. There are many parts to my piece I would slump or cast if I can do it without hurting the integrity.

[Dennis Brady]

I really admire Jo Dovers Mermaid. I too have been pondering a mermaid project, a quite different one. I love the shells, thay are just wonderful. Are they cast glass? or slumped?

The painting is very nice as well, Did you use reuche? if so was it the weather glass paint?

I was told by the stainglass store owner That slumping or fusing glass will always end up being 1/4 inch thick. she said that if I cast or slumped the shells they would be too heavy for my piece. I think possibly because she isn't much of an experimentor. There are many parts to my piece I would slump or cast if I can do it without hurting the integrity.

You can cast a piece then tack fuse it onto a previously fused piece. For that, you need to ignore the usual slow ramp recommendations. Ramp slow up to 1000F and hold soak to avoid thermal shock, then about 1200 dph up to 1350 or 1375 and hold 10 to get a tack fuse - drop AFAP to anneal. The slower the ramp speed the more time the glass has to distort.

Your stained glass store owner was only partially correct. Glass will end up being 1/4" thick (actually just slightly over) IF it's fired to full fuse and left at fuse temperature long enough to melt out. A faster firing, or fusing into a mold, will allow you to fuse thicker. There is however no way to fuse thinner unless you keep it below full fuse temperature or accept having a finished product with holes like Swiss cheese. Artisans that want a thinner finished product achieve it by grinding it down after fusing. Here's an example of some exceptional work that was ground down to 1/8" thick before slumping.
http://www.glass-art.com/ArtistPages/munsen.htm

[jo_dover]

Thanks Kara! glad you like it. Yes, the shells are cast glass, and are probably around 2" thick. Yep, the paint is Reusche, which I like - I guess I've always used it as I like the range of colors. The scales are handmade roundels cut up and bevelled. It was a really fun project to do, I think one of the most fun I've worked on. It's in a cocktail bar in Portland, Or.

[Kara]

Lack of experience is going to show in this question, but how did you handle the weight of this project? Some of the glass was thinner than obviously other choices of glass. :teacher:

[bert weiss]

I was told by the stainglass store owner That slumping or fusing glass will always end up being 1/4 inch thick. she said that if I cast or slumped the shells they would be too heavy for my piece. I think possibly because she isn't much of an experimentor. There are many parts to my piece I would slump or cast if I can do it without hurting the integrity.

There are many ways to get fused glass beyond 1/4" thick. It is true that if it is thicker than 1/4" it will begin to spread out as it gets hot enough to do so. You can control this with temperature, or with dams. Each kind of glass behaves differently relative to temperature and viscosity. Learning to control this is key to making advanced thick works.

Find a more knowledgeable teacher.

[Kara]

I really admire Jo Dovers Mermaid. I too have been pondering a mermaid project, a quite different one. I love the shells, thay are just wonderful. Are they cast glass? or slumped?

The painting is very nice as well, Did you use reuche? if so was it the weather glass paint?

I was told by the stainglass store owner That slumping or fusing glass will always end up being 1/4 inch thick. she said that if I cast or slumped the shells they would be too heavy for my piece. I think possibly because she isn't much of an experimentor. There are many parts to my piece I would slump or cast if I can do it without hurting the integrity.

:facepalm: Quite honestly I couldn't understand the answers I was getting and finally I realized, I'm not asking the question properly.

My mermaid is a stainedglass window. Just as Jo's is. I was told that a fused or cast object of glass incorporated into a stainedglass design would be too heavy. Jo was capable of doing this, so I just wanted to understand the basic, structural process she did. How did she manage the weight of the cast glass in a large project of a stained glass panel without a gravity problem. Rebar my guess, but did she also include restrip. Was there some steps that made this work?

:duck: I got that she made a casting. I understand the fuse thing. Thanks

[jo_dover]

well I've got to say - I didn't really consider it too much of an issue. Now of course - I don't know whether her clams will 'droop' in 40 years time :) Its possible, but I used leading and copper foiling in the same piece, so all the casting was foiled, and I hoped this made it stronger on account of all the solder! but on construction, weight certainly didn't seem to be a problem. The cast bits were heavier - but not ridiculous.

[Kara]

Thank you, how big is this artwork?

[jo_dover]

Its about 7ft long by maybe 2.5ft tall?!