Glass Puddles AKA Cake Plates

We are almost done with the glass cake plates. Since the last visit to the glass studio, I decided to go with the clear molten pours because they replicate water best. They have many imperfections (size, amount of bubbles, etc.) just like the cakes. Seven of the nine are complete. I will go back later this week to make the final one with the "shield" constructed yesterday. Brent requested photographs to be taken of this event for the glass website and Elise kindly was up for the task. All these images were taken by Elise Rorick. THANK YOU!


Brent and JR figuring out the diameters of the plates before the pouring begins.


Organization (no surprise there) and ordering from largest to smallest.


... and so we begin.


Pressing out the bubbles and pushing the glass outward to make a larger plate.


It starts to smell like S'mores right about now.


Using the torch to get the edges right.


Hannah was recruited to push the plates onto the plywood.


I became an expert kiln door opener.


We weren't getting large enough diameters of plates so Ben, the grad student, stepped in to help pour as well. This photo shows the order of operation: Brent poured first with JR manning the kiln door followed by Ben with Hannah at the kiln door.



Ben's pour for the largest plate 18 inches in diameter (and I can't imagine how heavy it's going to be).


This one had the largest bubble which popped in an irregular shape. It might fit the "Slice" well but I'll find out later this week.


Of all the images Elise took, I love this one most. It captures the difficulty of this task. When I visited Niagara Falls this summer, many people talked about the lure of the river and their desire to jump. I did not have this experience AT ALL but I will say that a desire quite similar to that was recognized today. I just want to touch that glass. Of course I wouldn't but the temptation was great.


Smile and Wave (spoofing the genre of images to be found on the school's website).