Flame-working, Kinforming, Kilncasting (fusing, slumping) we offer various workshops on how to work with glass! August Pate de Verre workshop listed below.
Pate de Verre workshops – Participants learn how to fill a pre-made mould of a small bowl with glass paint, glass powder and fine glass -frit-, the moulds are then fired and participants return to the studio to divest and finish their bowls. $150/pp Materials included, no experience necessary! Weekend workshop: TBA, Sat: 12-3pm/Sun: 1pm-4pm
Students learn the basics of pâte de verre from start to finish while making a thin-walled, kiln formed bowl. Students have access to a broad palette of coloured frit (crushed glass) and samples to help predict and understand fired qualities. Demonstrations include various techniques of working with glass powders against the mold, working with color reactions, as well as how to back-fill a packed mold to support the walls of the piece during firing.
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Glass Kiln forming workshop Saturday & Sunday, TBA $380pp+(optional) lab fee 12pm start. Note the first half of this workshop starts up with the Pate de Verre class! 
This intensive class introduces fundamental concepts of creating glass objects in the kiln either through lost wax casting, Pate de Verre or a combination of the two. Learn the art of lost wax casting glass, and the pate de verre process. From paper thin to thicker lost wax models, adding metal inclusions, and more. Students will learn how to make moulds from existing objects using Alginate and/or silicone, as well as model new ones from clay and wax. Hand built moulds and box moulds will be made with various refractory materials. Students will learn different firing and annealing schedules for casting & pate de verre. Hand cold-working without the need of expensive equipment! No experience necessary! All materials are included. Students are required to bring in their own half-face respirator with particulate filters. Aprons are available for use at the studio, as are all tools and equipment necessary for sculpting, firing and cold working glass, however, students are welcome to bring in their own tools, etc., just make sure your items are marked. kiln casting workshop
Size max 18cm in any direction.
Day 1: Replication. Students will make silicone or alginate moulds from items they wish to cast in glass. Examples: plastic/vinyl toy/action figure, anatomical models or small branch, unusual vegetable/fruit, seed pod. Items could also be modelled from Sculpey clay and fired ahead of attending the workshop. Glass options are discussed. While the silicone moulds cure, students build a small bowl form out of clay (add texture/details) and from there build a refractory mould, once set-up the clay is removed and students are shown how to apply glass to the mould a la Pate de Verre. Colour samples are also made on this day.
Day 2: Wax pouring and hand-built moulds. Students pour multiple waxes from their silicone moulds, refine their wax models (add or subtract). Models are then weighed and various glass options are revisited. Once glass choice is determined pouring gates are added to models and then a silica based refractory mould is built around the wax models. Once moulds set up the wax is then steamed out. Meanwhile, glass is weighed, and cleaned. -Items are cast & annealed over the week.
Day 3: De-mould kiln castings/cold working Students remove their kiln cast objects and start the cold working process. Various methods and equipment are discussed and demonstrated.
Day 4: Finish cleaning kiln cast objects.
Size max 18cm in any direction.
Day 1: Replication. Students will make silicone or alginate moulds from items they wish to cast in glass. Examples: plastic/vinyl toy/action figure, anatomical models or small branch, unusual vegetable/fruit, seed pod. Items could also be modelled from Sculpey clay and fired ahead of attending the workshop. Glass options are discussed. While the silicone moulds cure, students build a small bowl form out of clay (add texture/details) and from there build a refractory mould, once set-up the clay is removed and students are shown how to apply glass to the mould a la Pate de Verre. Colour samples are also made on this day.
Day 2: Wax pouring and hand-built moulds. Students pour multiple waxes from their silicone moulds, refine their wax models (add or subtract). Models are then weighed and various glass options are revisited. Once glass choice is determined pouring gates are added to models and then a silica based refractory mould is built around the wax models. Once moulds set up the wax is then steamed out. Meanwhile, glass is weighed, and cleaned. -Items are cast & annealed over the week.
Day 3: De-mould kiln castings/cold working Students remove their kiln cast objects and start the cold working process. Various methods and equipment are discussed and demonstrated.
Day 4: Finish cleaning kiln cast objects.
What’s included:1.5 kg of glass, silicone/alginate materials necessary for mould building, Refractory materials, Wax, Nitrile glove, sn95 Particulate respirator, Cold-working consumables
Lab fee (optional): $100 covers Gaffer crystal colours*, Bullseye colours: sheet, billet or coarse frit, metals, & mould kits. Students are emailed concerning glass colour choice, otherwise everyone works with clear glass and coloured frit.
Glass: we will be working with Bullseye glass (clear).
For the Pate de Verre project participants work with clear fine frit, and may add colour through painting onto the mould surface using glass Powders. The studio has a basic colour palette of Bullseye Glass Powders in red, orange, yellow, greens, and blues along with black and white.
For the kiln casting part of the course participants are working with Bullseye glass Crystal Clear Kilncasting Cullet. Or Gaffer crystal (please see below).
Projects: we will complete several projects
1- colour samples for cast items.
Working with Alginate or Hydrogel
1- Pate de Verre- thin walled ‘casting’, open-face mould.
1- Solid kiln cast form, discuss refractory materials, mother moulds, face coats. Venting/gating/sprueing up your wax model.
Note:
If you want to work with coloured Bullseye Glass Frits (fine, medium, course, etc for Pate de Verre and/or casting), Billets (casting only) or Gaffer Crystal (Not compatible with Bullseye, only used in solid casting part of course))> that is extra (the Lab fee) and would need to be ordered ahead of the class. This is not mandatory at all, though.
That said, if you are unfamiliar with Bullseye and/or Gaffer glass you of course would ask: …what’s the difference, why would I choose to work with one over the other?
Bullseye glass is made from Soda Lime, and depending on colour various oxides, metals, pigments are added. Gaffer is created similarly however it has a low viscosity at normal casting temperatures and has virtually no tendency to devitrify -at all- at top casting temperatures, nor on its descent in temperature down to the annealing range. Furthermore, its very low viscosity,
and low surface tension at 780-900°C. (1426-1650°F), leads to very good surface definition. This makes it especially suitable for jewelry scale pieces, as well as large work.
Bullseye Glass is offered in various forms: Sheet, billet/cullet, Frit, Rod, stringer, Powder.
Gaffer casting crystal is offered in: Billet, chunky ‘frit’.
There will be items on display at the studio made from both Bullseye and Gaffer.
Links to view glass colours (Frit, Billet), and Gaffer crystal.
Glass Fusing workshop: Friday afternoons TBA noon-3:30pm $140pp This 3.5-hour class introduces many fundamental concepts of creating glass objects in the kiln. After a brief overview students will learn kiln forming/carving and make an approximately 5″x7″ window piece or a bowl form (fused/slumped after class) and 2 pendants, enjoying a wide range of glasses to choose from. Items will be fired after the workshop and available for pick-up a few days later. No experience with glass is required for this course—recommended for beginners.
Multidisciplinary Studio Toronto 