I made this piece years ago. "Blue Dragon" is a favorite of mine. It's in my studio because it needed a little repair. Two solder joints came loose. It's repaired and goes back to the owner this weekend. Working with the dragon reminded me how much I enjoy working on these pieces.
This glass, made in France, is two colors, blue on top of clear. One layer glass is sandblasted away and reveals the color underneath. I use layers of contact paper for the protective mask. I cut the design out with an X-acto knife. Very tedious work, but it's worth the effort. Only parts of the mask are removed each time the piece is sandblasted. The deeper and whiter parts of the design were taken off first - the border, wings, horns, whiskers, and teeth. The last part to be removed was the face. The light dots on the face were applied with a fine sandblasting nozzle.
I don't use sand, but 220 aluminum oxide blasting medium. It is much finer and allows for great detail. I have a good booth, vacuum and ventilation system, a compressor, an excellent mask and ear protectors. So much equipment to make something so small and delicate!
I don't use sand, but 220 aluminum oxide blasting medium. It is much finer and allows for great detail. I have a good booth, vacuum and ventilation system, a compressor, an excellent mask and ear protectors. So much equipment to make something so small and delicate!
I took some of my pieces out of storage.
And decided to put a few around the house.
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