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Title: Symmetry
Artist: AJGlass
Image created by: AJGlass using an Epson Perfection 1200U scanner and PhotoShop.
Medium: Glass
Type: Soft Glass, 104 Coefficient of Expansion (Moretti/Effetre, Vetrofond, Lausha)
Description: Glass Beads

Details: Clear, white, yellow, periwinkle, Windex blue, Nile green, light green, medium topaz, medium turquoise, medium blue, cobalt blue, yellow ochre, and dark grass green glasses were used to create these cased and poked eye beads – all of which have been annealed in a kiln. These medium-sized round beads each took 40 minutes to make. All of these beads were annealed for 18 hours. No image color correction was necessary. The bright white crescent-shaped lines on these beads are light reflections. The dime is provided to show scale.

Discussion: It is difficult for many lampwork artists to make symmetrically-shaped pieces of art out of molten glass. Doing so can require a considerable amount of time, skill, and patience. One wrong move and the symmetry of the glass piece could be lost forever.

The round glass pieces you see in the above image are cased and poked eye beads. In this image they are viewed from their sides where the precise symmetrical placement of the bubbles (and thus the clear glass casing) can easily be seen. The bubbles form the pupils of the eyes while the central colors form the surrounding irises. The clear glass (which surrounds both the bubbles and the center, colored glass) adds considerable depth to the eyes. When viewed straight on, each bead appears to have four eyes with only one visible at a time.

Creation: All of these beads are created using a multi-melting/multi-layering/casing process. To create the very bottom yellow bead, a rod of transparent medium topaz glass was melted onto a bead-release-coated mandrel and formed into a round bead. The bead was then randomly dribbled with opaque yellow ochre glass which was then melted in until a smooth surface was achieved. The dribbled and smooth bead was then allowed to solidify.

Once solid, the entire bead was encased in molten clear glass – being very careful not to disturb the solidified yellow ochre dribbling design. Then the encased bead was heated again in the torch flame until it was once again smooth and molten. Once fully encased in clear glass and perfectly smooth, and while still molten, the bead was then carefully, symmetrically, and deeply poked four times with a tungsten pick.

The poking left four deep impressions in the glass which impacted not only the clear glass but also the colored glasses below the clear glass. After being poked, the bead was then allowed to solidify again. Once solid, the deep poked impressions were each carefully covered over with four large (and even) molten dollops of clear glass – thus trapping air and creating evenly-spaced and evenly-sized bubbles.

Next, the entire bead (now containing four large – and even – clear glass dollops) was then very slowly and carefully remelted in the flame. This slow remelting was continued until the clear glass dollops melted into the bead and the bead was once again completely molten, spherical, and smooth. After becoming perfectly spherical and smooth, the bead was then allowed to once again solidify for the last time. Finally, once completely solid, the bead was immediately put into a kiln to be annealed rather than being allowed to cool in vermiculite.

Because of the amount of time it takes to create these beads and because of the heating/cooling/casing process, these beads are highly subject to thermal shock. However, once properly annealed in a kiln, they become completely stable.

Central Cube Optical Illusion: Some of the glass pieces in the above image appear to be round beads with cube-like structures in their centers. Those appearances are not deceiving – there actually are cube-like glass structures within the centers of some of these round glass beads. The illusion and deception comes in when looking at the jagged edges of the internal cubes.

Each internal cube-like structure is perfectly smooth. However, its outline can appear jagged due to tiny wave-like imperfections within the clear glass casing. These clear glass waves distort the light passing through the bead and make the cube’s edges appear to go from jagged to smooth (and vice versa) when viewed from certain side angles. The cube-like glass structure can only be seen when the sides of the beads are viewed – as they are in the above picture. The eyes appear, and the cubes disappear, as the beads are turned to face forward.

Legal: Copyright © Aaron J. Greenblatt. All rights reserved. Commercial use prohibited. This image and commentary may not be used for any reason without the expressed written consent of Aaron J. Greenblatt


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