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i am making tiny fused glass angel ornaments and would like to paint delicate eyes on their faces. i'm wondering about what kind of paint would work? can i paint before i fire the piece? or are there some type of markers that would last that i could put on afterwards?
thanks!

Glassline paint would work well. They come with a fine tip for detail work. I believe you would fire them on your last firing but Ive seen some complex stuff using glassline. They might be suitable for more than one firing.

I happened to see this video the other day. It's rather fun but for you, Joan, most importantly focuses on a paint product https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZNUTjSnIoU. This is the AAEGlass website listing for the paints http://www.aaeglass.com/show/category/Original/131. They also have a pen for applying dots and lines which is currently out of stock http://www.aaeglass.com/show/product/3945/123.

If you want to paint after firing you could use either acrylic from the tube or standard auto paint (spray can a small amount into lid) can apply with small brush or straight pen nib.

In my experience Glassline paints need to go up to a full fuse in order to shine up.

You can mix small amounts of enamels with clove oil, and they'll keep forever. I use tiny glass jars to store. The key is to really grind the enamel (I use Reusche) with the clove oil on a sheet of float glass using one of those glass mullers.

I create landscapes with several firings. Wanting to add small highlights, like your angels' eyes, I really didn't want to do a long tack fire again.

Recently found that Pebeo Vitrea 160 glass paints, applied with a natural soft brush for a fused glass look, work beautifully for this purpose. Bought mine at Dick Blick.
These instructions are from memory as I am not in my studio: Place dried work (usually overnight) in room temp cold kiln or oven and heat up to about 300 degrees and hold for 40 minutes and cool down to room temp.

http://en.pebeo.com/Creative-leisure/Pa ... Vitrea-160

I've used those Pebeo paints too. As long as it's not a food-safe item, I think they're great. I had a project awhile back that needed to have vibrant colors to match my customer's graphic. Played around with my enamels and various paints before deciding on the Pebeo. I used both the 150 and 160 paints.