First attempt at Pate De Verre

 

Todays demo was on Pate De Verre (Paste of glass)  and I thought I would have a little go myself!

What you need for this is a plaster mould, a teaspoon, some frit (fine or powder is better) and a mix of 50/50 Glasstac and water.

You mix up the frit and glasstac mix to a thick gritty paste, almost like sugar topping.

Then you take the teaspoon and press the paste into the mould, compacting it as much as possible.

 

I also added a little blue glass mix at this stage too to make it a little more interesting.

Once you are happy with the thickness of the glass paste, you pack the remainder of the mould with a pre-fired plaster to stop the glass collapsing during firing.

Then off to the kiln to be fired at 765 degrees for an hour.

When it is cold you shake the powdered plaster out – wearing a mask so you don’t breath in any nasty particles.

Then you can carefully chip away and break the mould off to reveal your glass work underneath.

Not bad for my first go.  Not sure it will be a favourite technique as it’s not hugely tactile to tough and hold, but I enjoyed trying the process.