Gorgeous Glass Lamps for Christmas

For all of Rob’s sisters for Christmas, we took the opportunity to play with glass lamps. There have been a few done in our studio, but we haven’t really experimented very much with the technique. What a perfect opportunity since he has so many sisters. We got going and even made too many. Some of you witnessed the steps in the studio. We even heard some complaints about slumping them into lamps (because you wanted them as flare dishes), but see, all turned out gorgeous. We learned a lot and can pass it onto to you.

All of these are on the same light base and using the same bulb. We think it would be better to use a lower watt bulb. So the lamp glows rather than being a significant source of light. This is especially true since all of these lamps use some transparent glass. But they sure are gorgeous!

This gorgeous lamp uses all black & white and grays. We just got in 2 new shades of opal gray that are beautiful. The above picture shows what it looked like before we put in the kiln. This was probably the most elaborate lamp. Lots of curves and specialty glass (iridescent & adventurine). I used lots of frit and pebbles. We fused the glass at medium heat so you can see and feel the texture. Even when frit is used solid, you get to experience the texture.

 

 

This gorgeous lamp was an experiment in texture. Again we fused the glass at medium heat so all the texture can be felt. Because you “feel” your lamps, don’t you? The picture above shows what it looked like after the first firing. This would have made a gorgeous flare dish! In the last picture, you can see how the pebbles and squares became distorted when the piece is slumped. This was right on the edge of overdoing it – but the result was wonderful.

 

This is the first lamp I did – and I loved it! I found out later that several people didn’t think it was the best, but changed their mind when it was fused. We fused this one on high heat so you wouldn’t be distracted by the texture – you experience the nuances in color. I used a lot of frit in little bits (coarse frit) so you see each dot rather than a solid block of color.

 

 

 

This was a mindless project, making it very relaxing. The only color choice I made was to limit the number of times I used each color. All the piece were dug out of our mardi gras bins of scrap. I then surrounded everything in white frit – this made the transparent glass really pop. Notice on the orange square I used a lighter transparent piece of glass over an opal and it makes it look like it is recessed. My first impression of this piece was that I should have made it into a bowl.

 

 

This so easy and I think it turned out to be the best lamp. It goes to prove that simple can be good. Random colors cut to fit together with mardi gras frit in between. The picture above shows how it looked after the first firing. Gorgeous.

 

 

 

 

 

All of these are very doable – some even easy. I’m not saying all were easy though. I think I got a little carried away with the black & white one and the blue &  green one. But, I was able to make this without a lot of glass knowledge.

The next time I make a lamp, I will try to make sure that the center has opal glass so the light doesn’t show through as much. We also learned that pebbles and “thicker” glass make the final piece “stretch” longer.  We also learned that complex doesn’t necessarily result in a more beautiful piece.

Come and give any of these a try! We are here to make it easy for you.