I have just completed a brilliant week long Master class with Allison Lowry at Schoolhouse Glass near Belfast. What a wonderful creative week we had, lots of creativity, technical information and guidance on the Fabric of Pâte de Verre. I made 8 wonderful glass pieces that have given me great inspiration and ideas for future work, see images below.
Fabric of Pâte de verre, opal glass.99
Alison is a fantastic artist and tutor and is so open at sharing her knowledge, skills and techniques with others. Her light filled village studio is such a beautiful inspirational place to be. The peer critique and the discussions with the other artists was, as always, so enlightening.
Belfast is a great city to visit during the day or evening, lots of exciting creative things happening. We toured some local galleries on late night openings, went to the Irish Linen Centre and Museum and the Conway Mill for a fantastic performance and exhibition. The Linen Biennale NI 2018 was still on so there was lots to see. I am heading to FE McWilliam’s Gallery on my way home and will possibly call to Scarva Pottery while there, sure why not. Lucienn Day: Living Design exhibition is on in FE McWilliams.
Fabric of Pâte de verre. Clear glass with copper inclusion. 101
Fabric of Pâte de verre detail. Clear glass with copper inclusion. 101
Fabric of Pâte de verre. Clear glass. 101
The Pâte de verre technique is a form of kiln casting and literally translated means ‘paste of glass’. It has been used since the time of Egyptians. In this process, finely crushed glass particles (frit) are mixed with a binding material, such as a mixture of gum arabic and water. This is then applied to the inner surface of a negative mould forming a coating. After the coated mould is kiln fired the glass particles are fused together creating a hollow object. The thickness of the vessel or object is dependent on the thickness of the pate de verre layers.