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Les,
Very interesting and unique. Curious as to why you sliced up the tubular casting with rods if you are going to pull it into cane in the hot shop? Wouldn't one piece be easier? Also curious where the color surrounding the rods came from. I can understand the rod color and the color from the powder that you used to fill the sleeve come from, but don't understand the origin of the small amount of the third color around the rods. In the bottom picture the slices have a beautiful organic design that does not resemble the rods. If you care to share, how was that amorphous design achieved? Thanks and stay warm.

Warren

Hope I can answer all the questions. I wrapped each rod with reactive stringers first , and a few of them had 2 layers of stringers wrapped around them. Then I put into the mold , and filled with fine frit of varying layers. The glass rods and stringers that stuck up from the mold and slumped over and then most of the glass came back into the mold as it melted , moved and flowed more than the rods that were solidified in position from the frit holding it , not allowing it to flow . Why did I cut it. It was 5 inchs thick and 13 inchs long and really heavy so if I cut it it is easier to handle in the hot shop and I can add other colours or twist each section to give unique looks but will still have the same pallet to work with. I have a hard time doing things that are not complicated and that for me is the fun and thrill of it. AND I really wanted some slices in large size to be the center of a bowl perhaps or just to blend with varying sizes of the cane we pull. When you pull stringers in a long cane , you want to make sure they just do not fade away. Also a lot of the colour is the reactive quality of the glass and not actually another colour. Just the reactions between all the reactive rods and stringers and reactive glass.
Hope this answers some questions. I also think this is why I like working with very large colour bars and lots of flow so that things will always move and flow and do some really different things . Mostly know what I am going to get but sometimes a surprise is like Christmas. The colour Bar I have in the kiln now is hundreds and hundreds of stringers and rods and frit and sliced glass. Can hardly wait to slice through all the colours to make the glass look like Glacial Striations left on the stone as the glaciers receded.

Hopefully this will show better. And in the bowl you will see on the side a sliced cane I drop pulled in my large kiln. Just makes it interesting I think

I also forgot to mention that I scraped off all the outer edge even though it looked really clean from the mold so that when I pick it up out of the pick up kiln at the hot shop it will be super clean and ready to just slice and fuse with . I actually always grind each and every slice that has touched a mold before |I ever use it in a project to make sure no foreign object gets into the work that might not allow a really good fuse. Hope all this makes sense.

It all makes perfect sense. Thank you so much. I was not able to see the stringers around the rods sticking out of the mold in the photo. "Viva la complicated." It is beautiful.

Warren

HAD a wonderful day with a good friend Ryan Bavin at Bavin Glassworks in Invermere, B.c. We added some stringers to outside of the canes and now will have to be patient until the canes are out tomorrow as I left them alittle thicker . Looked so lovely though hot.

Here is my new cane as well that I got up at 7:00 AM to slice abit off to take to Hot Shop. Now to slice up the rest. yeah!

Off to the saw

Well I have a great deal of cane to play with BUT have to go to my dear son's Grad ( at 31 he is now a full time Deep Massage Therapist) so this is super for a young man that broke so many bones being a prof. Big Mountian Skier! jumping off cliffs and doing twists and turns. Now he helps others who did that for a living as he knows how to heal! Les

Well this is going to look pretty crazy but I ran out of clear frit so had to do many piece meal . BUT it is all 1401 so will flow nicely and no joins will show believe it or not. I have some nice slices and am now finally back in my studio after a wonderful holiday season. Also my husband has gone heli Ski Guiding until April so will be able to focus on creativity . That should keep me totally busy and smiling

Ready to begin the 3 stage deep slump

The first Shallow slump is done , now for the deeper one . THEN if not tooo big it will slump really big. Hmmm!

It's going to be really beautiful. I just love your work.

Dana

Well the deep slump looked super in the kiln , so now the patient time waiting to pull out and polish edge. BUT for now I am starting a new one from the same series ( slices from the same colour bar ) . It is larger but will have some issues trying to slump lovely so might have to make another nice slumping mold. Now next one will be a totally new shape so I do not keep doing the same. That is fun and challenging.

Wanted so badly to use a lovely new slumping mold that I made and take to a friends nice big kiln but had to settle; for now, to slump in my own kiln in a different shape (it will be a long slumped 27" inch by 17 " inch oval shape : deep ) . But hopefully it will work out, and I will have an interesting piece to grind , saw and polish!

Now off to the flat lap to Polish edge. AND to polish and finish Black Alabaster base. Les

Still have to polish edges and cut the Black Alabaster Stone for base but am happy so far. It does not look very deep in this pic but it is o.k.

I am excited about this new piece as the underside is really different than the top side and when slumped will give some really cool zigzag look.

Well I am happy with how it slumped and now have to grind and polish the edge. This is the last of the series of this pallet for awhile and now onto my next show colours. Can hardly wait to begin the colour bars. Les

How wonderful of you to share all of this. I've really enjoyed reading about what you are now doing. Thank you.

Happy New Year 2015.