Working With Color

This week I have been focusing on form and color. So far, I have been using clear glass, however, now I am starting to add color to my work. Silica, or sand, is the main ingredient in glass and it is able to move with a flux and soda ash added to it. Glass coloring can be obtained by adding different colorants such as iron, chromium, cobalt, and manganese. Color is manufactured into rod, frit and powdered forms and can be applied in several different ways. Each color is made up of different properties. Blue, green and purple colors are considered “soft” glass, as they are easily manipulated and heat quickly in the furnace. The clear glass that I have used so far melts fairly quickly and drips easily. Red, orange and yellow colors are considered “stiff” because they take longer to heat up and hardens quickly while out of the flame. Working with color is a challenge, especially when you are mixing soft and stiff colors together in a piece. I have experimented with using an aqua glass and a red glass which gave me more of an understanding of how to work with colored glass. I have also started to combine the two colors. This has been a challenge as the blue melts a lot quicker than the red, which is hard to control and heat evenly. I have tried picking up color on the marver as well as in the furnace. Working with color has taught me a lot about control and heat. I am playing around with shapes and experimenting how much I can manipulate the glass, such as swinging the glass, letting it hang, pulling on it, and using wood to shape it. I have learned a lot this week through using color and want to experiment using more colors. The color aspect of glassblowing teaches me how technical this material really is. I am interested in making functional pieces, such as planters, combining both glass and clay. This next week, I will attempt to blow glass into ceramic vessels.