Glass Objects “You use a glass mirror to see your face; you use works of art to see your soul.” —George Bernard Shaw For many years I rarely, if ever, found myself venturing into the world of glass. All I can ask myself now is “why?”

It was fear of cutting, I suppose. I can barely cut a straight line with a scissors, let alone a glass-cutter. But one day I found an abandoned bucket of stained glass pieces on my doorstep. “Okay, I see you,” I said. “Now what am I suppose to do with you?”

Being completely aware of my limitations, I was surprised to find that cutting glass isn’t as difficult as you might think. Taking a couple of classes taught me the basic fundamentals of cutting stained glass, and I have been perfecting my skills ever since.

Unlike true stained glass artists, found object artists aren’t as concerned about the type of glass we’re incorporating into a piece. If we like the sparkle and can cut it, we’ll glue it.

Stained glass comes in an endless supply of colors and textures, in precut sheets, squares, and irregular pieces. You can also use some of the oodles of clear and colored glass objects and dishes available to found object artists. With thousands of colors, shapes, and sizes to choose from, glass provides an overwhelming treasure trove of unique brilliance. I highly recommend adding beautiful glass into your material mix; it adds a depth to a piece that you will be hard pressed to find with other materials.

Working With Glass

Key things to remember when working with glass objects

1. Do not glue objects to glass surfaces that don’t have a solid frame or aren’t sturdy. If you think the frame, glass, or both might not be able to hold the weight of your completed piece, find a different surface. Larger pieces can get very heavy and can be a real hazard (and huge mess) if they fall from the wall or window.
2. Gluing to glass takes preparation and patience.
3. Always wear safety glasses.
4. Have a first aid kit handy, just in case.
5. Make sure the surfaces and glass pieces are clean and dry before gluing.

Cutting glass dishware

This is one of those cutting techniques where you should err on the side of caution. You never know how a piece of glass will react to you taking a small hammer or a wheeled glass nipper to it. ALWAYS, and I mean always, wear your safety glasses and put the glass object underneath a thick towel to keep the shards under control. First, tap the piece firmly, but not too hard, with a small hammer. This helps break up the glass into more manageable sections. After the pieces are broken down, you can attempt to carefully cut the glass into even smaller pieces with a wheeled glass nipper.

Caution: Glass is sharp and very unpredictable. Always wear safety glasses before cutting glass of any kind.

Cutting stained glass sheets into strips

I’ve had the greatest success cutting stained glass using an oiled glass cutter, running pliers, and a cork-backed ruler. Line up your ruler. Mark the line, if needed. Start the cutter about ¼ inch from the end of the glass. Keep your forearm straight. Push down gently but firmly and slide the cutter straight along the ruler, making only one pass. Line up the score on the glass with the line on a pair of running pliers. Snap it. If you did it right, it should come off in a perfect strip. If not, simply try again. Squares can be cut from the stained glass strip using the wheeled glass nippers. If the squares aren’t coming out with a mostly straight edge, the wheels on the nippers may need to be replaced. Or you can score the glass again with the oiled glass cutter and repeat the process with the running pliers.

Glass on Glass

Glass on glass is a technique that allows you to create a funky glass window or wall hanging using unique glass, plates, tiles, china, glass gems, mirrors, stained glass, game pieces, and other random materials.

Using a simple wood frame with a sturdy glass insert is the easiest way to get your feet wet with this unique mosaic style. It’s very easy to find cheap wooden frames with a ½-to-1–inch border that are perfect for this project. Many of the cheaper frames come with very thin glass or plexiglass, so you’ll have to take the frame to a local home improvement store or hardware store and have them cut you a thicker piece of glass to fit the frame. Using Weldbond adhesive, glue the glass into the frame and let it dry overnight.

Once the glass is ready, gather your materials and start designing the piece. When you’re comfortable with the design, begin gluing the pieces directly onto the glass with Weldbond adhesive. Clean up excess adhesive as you’re working. The completed piece can be grouted or left as it is.

The Kitchen Window

While driving down the California coast, I stopped to explore the little seaside village of Cambria. There in the display of an antique store was an old window frame that had been embellished with butter dishes, glass plates, stained glass chunks, gems, and random pieces of unique glass patterns. It was stunning! It was beyond my budget, so I took a photo.

Arriving home, I wanted to recreate that piece and knew that I would have to test a few adhesives to see which ones would be best for the job.

“Six Panes” (at right) was created using Weldbond, as a test. I was semi-successful with my efforts: some of the adhesive didn’t dry clear due to the lack of air under the pressed glass pieces. The affected pieces had be removed, cleaned, and reapplied. Luckily, Weldbond is more forgiving than other adhesives, so with a little patience, safety glasses, and a few tools, I pried the pieces off without breaking the window. This allowed me to reapply the bad pieces using GE Silicone II. Keep in mind that if you are using a silicone adhesive or clear Liquid Nails, you will not be able to remove the pieces once the adhesive is dry.

“Everything but the Kitchen Sink” (below) was created using clear Liquid Nails. It proved easier to apply the adhesive directly onto the glass pieces and gently press them onto the window. Be cautious about the amount of glue you are using. Try not to move the glued pieces around very much to keep glue trails to a minimum. Make sure to try and clean any excess adhesive from around the pieces after it has set up a bit. Since the piece wasn’t going to be grouted, I tried to set the pieces very close together to provide more privacy as a window covering.

Glass on glass projects are always favorites in the classes I teach.

Glass Collage

Glass collage, or “crash glass,” has hit the found object world by storm! This unique art form uses collected imagery, exotic papers, and photos, hiding them under shattered windshield and tempered glass. Papers and such are glued to the surface with an epoxy adhesive. Then pieces of shattered tempered glass and broken windshield glass (crash glass) are glued on top of the imagery, allowed to dry, and grouted. The results are extraordinary! Mo Ringey and Ellen Blakely are two artists who brought the amazing crash glass art form to life. You can check out their work on their wonderful websites, www.ellenblakeley.com and www.moringey.com.

Being a collage artist first, I couldn’t wait to learn how to blend two of my very favorite pastimes, decoupage and mosaic tile. Taking a “crash glass” class with Laurel Skye got me thinking. I’ve been gluing images behind glass for years, and I’ve been pretty successful achieving very similar results using a more simplified, less messy process. A wooden trivet makes a great “crash glass” project for beginners!

Materials

1. Wooden trivet
2. Shattered tempered glass
3. Interesting papers (don’t use inkjet copies or newspaper— it will smear)
4. Foam paint brush
5. Paint color of choice
6. Weldbond

Tools

1. Safety glasses
2. Wheeled glass cutter
3. Hammer
4. Heavier kitchen towel

Directions

1. Paint your surface. Let dry.
2. Arrange glass and images on the surface.
3. Cut glass to match up with your selected images,
4. Arrange the design onto the surface.
5. Once you’re satisfied with the design, use a foam brush to apply a smooth layer of Weldbond onto the back of each piece of glass that will have imagery behind it. Don’t get carried away with the glue. Just brush on enough to attach the picture to the glass.

   

6. Carefully apply the images so that they show through the glass. Gently smooth.

   

7. Let the glue dry completely, then glue the pieces of glass to the surface of your piece. Adding a little more drying time will allow the adhesive to turn from white to clear.

   Instead of gluing the images to the glass, I chose to decoupage background layers of selected papers directly to the surface of my trivet to cover the entire area. Covering the surface with images gives it a more uniform and interesting look, with no black holes.

8. Continue to glue images and glass around the piece.
9. Let dry overnight.
10. Grout.

Rock on Glass

Dave Beckius—The Agate Man
www.polishedagatemosaics.com

Dave and I met when he came in to register his wife and himself for an upcoming mosaic tile class. Not realizing how much the classes were, he was cheerfully pulling out his wallet as I said, “That will be a hundred ninety dollars.”

All the blood left his face, but he had already made up his mind, so he handed me his credit card.

The night of the class, Dave walked in with a bucket of polished rocks. He appeared to still be a little put off by the cost of the class—at least, that was my perception. As he sat down, he set the bucket of rocks on the table and said, “What can I do with these?” It was as though he were challenging me to come up with a completely new mosaic tile project that blended with his hobby of rock collecting.

Well, it wasn’t the class that the other four people attending paid for, but I’m always up for a challenge! Luckily, I had already glued a new piece of glass into a simple wooden frame days before. Laying the frame in front of him, along with a bottle of Weldbond and some vitreous glass tiles for the border, I responded with, “Here you go, start gluing.”

That’s all it took.

Now, Dave’s rock tumblers run 24/7, polishing thousands of extraordinary stones and slicing them to the perfect size to create breathtaking polished agate mosaics.

With his pieces flying off his garage shelves, he has earned a place in a variety of juried art shows and finds that he is now rubbing elbows with rock aficionados around the world.