Windy Hill Glass
Fused Glass
Anna and Julie Rumbles first discovered the art of fused glass when they took a class here at Art in the Loft. They fell in love with it right away, and started looking into what they would need to do to make this their hobby. They made a trip to Lansing to get the supplies they needed; lots of different kinds of glass, cutting & grinding tools, and even a kiln! They set up their workshop in the basement with a table to work at, a cutting station, cubbies for all of their glass, and a spot for the kiln. Fused glass became a weekly event. After a while, Larry Powell (Julie’s father/Anna’s grandfather), became very interested in what Anna and Julie were making. They invited him to give it a try one weekend, and he’s been hooked ever since!
The process of making a fused glass piece begins with cutting the glass. This is done either by using a hand-held scoring tool, or a diamond-blade band saw. The cut pieces of glass are arranged and placed in the kiln to be fired. The kiln is heated up to 1450°F, melting the glass pieces together. The kiln can be brought up to a slightly lower temperature to keep the glass from completely smoothing out, adding some texture to the finished product. The kiln reaches it’s peak temperature over about an hour, but is then brought back down to room temperature very slowly in order to prevent the glass from breaking later on. The piece is now flat, and can be left as such, or it can be put back into the kiln on a mold and heated up to a lower temperature to allow it to “slump” into a shape such as a bowl, plate or vase.
The process of making a fused glass piece begins with cutting the glass. This is done either by using a hand-held scoring tool, or a diamond-blade band saw. The cut pieces of glass are arranged and placed in the kiln to be fired. The kiln is heated up to 1450°F, melting the glass pieces together. The kiln can be brought up to a slightly lower temperature to keep the glass from completely smoothing out, adding some texture to the finished product. The kiln reaches it’s peak temperature over about an hour, but is then brought back down to room temperature very slowly in order to prevent the glass from breaking later on. The piece is now flat, and can be left as such, or it can be put back into the kiln on a mold and heated up to a lower temperature to allow it to “slump” into a shape such as a bowl, plate or vase.
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