The second course at London Glassblowing was so insightful into the ways you can experiment with colour and effects in glass. I used this day to experiment as much as I could with materials, moulds, effects and the most reactive colours. I made a coloured blown bowl with
a curved in rim first using the colours: ‘Gaff Orange K3’ and ‘Irisgelb K3’. I was advised against this as the colours supposedly resist one another which did make it hard to swirl the colours. Thinking it would come out of the kiln brown, I was thoroughly impressed but the colours formed.
The second piece I made was a coloured blown vase into a mould then twisted with a turned out rim. I wanted to try blowing into a mould just for the experience which was very fun. I asked which colours would react the most unusually with one another and was told the colours: ‘Silver Blue K1’ and ‘Hyacinth K2’. The blue and the purple reacted to make a bea mix of those two colours along with teals, turquoises and yellows. It was amazing to see how colour theory doesn‘t matter when it comes to colour in glass. When the compounds and metals within are heated and combined with one another, they react unpredictably. I was very happy with the result.
My favourite piece is the last one that I made. I made an abstract coloured blown vase with
red splotches. I experimented with bicarbonate of soda which created an unusual bubble effect. Some of the bubbles popped so have created an amazing layered texture in the glass. I used the colours: ‘Opal Schwartz K1’ and ‘Mountain Blue K00’ which came out very dark and subtle, so having it on a window sill for natural light to flow through highlights those beautiful colours. Overall this day of brilliant experimentation has shown me a glimpse into the vast abilities glass holds to take so many forms.
