outdoor sculpture

[Ann Demko]

As you may have surmised by my disjointed questions, I am trying to convert an idea to reality but keep having insecurities creep into my psyche. Latest one, is there any contradiction to using bullseye glass in an outdoor setting long term. It gets cold, sometimes icy, sometimes hot, sometimes hot with high humidity in KY but isn't glass stable as long as it's secured well? What do you think?

[Morganica]

I talked with Bullseye awhile back about this, when someone wanted to use a few of my pate de verre tiles in an exposed installation. Two things:

--Water expands when it freezes so if your work has crevices that collect water, there's a risk that the expanding ice will be trapped and crack the piece
--If there's a high likelihood that the setting will allow uneven heating and cooling of the glass (for example, if one part is in shadows all day while another is in hot sun), the glass could thermal shock

The first one seems more likely--it was going to be a real problem with mine, anyway. I'm sure the architectural artists have additional considerations.

[GrinderGuy]

I live in Texas, and it snows once or twice a year... I have several fused daisies in my yard of BE glass. The longest daisy "planted" has been out for about 2 years. I have pictures of one that is aimed upward, and it is cupped and heaping with snow. We've had ranges over time from 7 degrees F to 112 degrees F...

The daisies do have gaps in the design for drainage...

GrinderGuy
(Forgive me, no signature yet... This is my first post)

[Valerie Adams]

I made some glass koi that were installed around my parents' pool as part of a mosaic, so they were grouted in. Granted, our coldest here is about 26° and hottest 110°, but they survived several years of exposure. We removed the pool a few years ago, so I chiseled off my koi, and they were all intact.

[Ann Demko]

Thank you all so much. I think I'm gona be fine. No place for water to collect and freeze in the glass disc to cause problems, thanks Cynthia that was great advice. If I was doing concrete I would have thought of that but probably never would have considered it for glass. Will remember that for future projects.

[Bert Weiss]

I have 7' tall 1" thick float glass sculptures that have lived outdoors in ME and NH for 2 decades, without mishap. There are always a few days in Feb and March, when the sculpture is buried in 3' of snow and there is a warm sunny afternoon with direct sunlight on the glass.

Bullseye is a little different. You have 2 factors to worry about, one being contrasting colors, and the other being differing COE's amongst the various glasses in your piece. These can both create some more stress with intense sunlight. That said, You should be just fine.

Keep in mind that draperies in building windows cause, even, tempered glass to break once in a while, by uneven reflection of the sun's heat to the glass. Given the number of windows with drapes on earth, this is a pretty rare occurrence.