Monday, March 31, 2014

Alligator Pot Melt

I made a pot melt last year and couldn't figure out what to do with it. After returning from a recent trip from Florida, the turquoise water inspired me. I used a stainless steel ring around the original pot melt and filled it with light aquamarine transparent coarse and clear frit to create a border all the way around. After the second firing, it then went into the sandblaster to remove small bubbles and imperfections. I fired it again to get a smooth fire polish and then slumped into a bowl.  

3/8” thick by 9-3/8” diameter, 2 inches tall, weighs 38.9 oz
Here is the finished bowl. I call it up to my ears in alligators. They remind me of an alligators with their mouths open.




This is how it was made. There were 7 holes drilled in the pot. This was a clay pot that was used before to make another pot melt. So there was already some color in the bottom of the pot. I added mostly scraps of clear, white and french vanilla from another project. This is how it was set up in the kiln.



This is what the pot looked like after a long hold in the kiln. Below you can see the melt.
I cut the top off the clay pot using a tile saw because it was too tall to fit in my kiln. I used this piece from clay pot to contain the melted glass which I lined with fiber paper so it wouldn't stick to the pot. 

This is the piece turned over and I filled a stainless ring with clear and turquoise frit. By turning the piece over and firing it on fiber paper you get a nicer finish. After this was fired, I took it to the sandblaster to get off any imperfections.



This is the front of the piece before slumping into a mold


















This is the back of the piece.

The finished piece.





No comments:

Post a Comment