Just some pretty pictures of the final pieces completely assembled Really love that you can see the movement on the top of the glass Pictures on the wall at the back are the ones I feel were the best representations of the inspiration for this piece of work. #Mountkeen #rivermark #flow #contrast #colour #texture #rivers #gorges #nature #glass #metal

Kiln opened and casts removed! Pictures of the kiln during opening There was some glass round the outside but with the way that it had melted together, it appears to have fallen off pre-melt staging. For some reason despite the fact the melt time was longer and there was less glass to fall through, there was some stalks of glass still in the middle of melting. The additional mix ratio of clear to colour has meant the colour mix and visible depth is much better. These pictures

Prepping second layering Mould had to be cleaned which involves hammering off the glass fused to the moulds, scrubbing off the fire scale and removing anything that can possibly fall into the glass. Fibre paper and kiln paper then cut to specifications and moulds lined Due to the firing process, the fibre paper shrinks slightly which means that it is slightly tricky to get the cast back into the mould with the fibre paper, and because of the clean up process, dams are slightl

Looking at a way to light up the inside of the glass Really like how the strip lighting defuses through this piece I like this effect, but diffusion isn't as good through the bigger pieces. The concentrated light effect on specific points is really nice but is more deep sea aquatic than peat river in the Scottish Mountains... Might be different with final pieces which will be thicker. #Mountkeen #colour #colourandlight #glass #kilnformed #refraction #scotland

Looking at how the colour schemes work with the colour of the metal and different textures I think the diffusion of colour in this piece means that the copper works really well I think this colour scheme works ok, but I don't think it's deep enough for the colours to disperse enough. The way the colours have fallen with this particular test, I think, make it slightly too 'samey' for the copper to work Works slightly better with the silver going through the copper as the colo

First cast in the finished dams with the wire melts ... checking they work and also how the different colour schemes work within this process Prep for casting Casts post firing Results Colours work in the different forms, but I think these need to be thicker to allow for more movement in the glass Kiln bed is also leaving a texture which will need to be dealt with #MountKeen #kilnformed #handmade #colour #process #test #decisions

Next stage in the proofing process Cut fiberpaper lower to reduce waste Lined with kiln paper Longer soak Some clear glass put in the bottom of the dam before firing Really please with the way the glass has flowed through the melt, sides are a lot nicer. Still bubbles but much reduced since test 1 kiln paper fell on top of glass after it cooled and has left a shadow, but easily fixed. #Mountkeen #glass #tests #process #colour #wiremelt

Initial testing dam wire melt combination issues Pre firing Dam put onto of a piece of kiln paper and lined with fibre paper. Fibre paper cut to shape and glass put on top (approximate colours to number 4 from the colour palette) Post firing Fibre paper stuck to edges, kiln paper fallen through so is fused in and has left a shadow on the surface as it cooled. Lots of big bubbles, lots of spikes. Not good. #Mountkeen #colour #tests #warmglass #bullseyeglass

Using shapes from drawing sketchbook to create relief sculptures in glass Using a mixture of 6mm and 3mm fibre paper Playing with colour on top of the carving to see if the two aspects work together The Carving becomes very subtle under the colour I think as it stands with the colours being put into the mould rather than melted from above the carving works better when it is a really deep carve and when there is less colour. Next stage of the carving process is to work out w

Testing colours that match up with the colour sketchbook Test tile with a range of colour to see which might be suitable Colour palettes I am aiming for. Glass melt with the desired colour scheme. Potmelts looking at how they appear with light under them Now to try and get rid of some of the big bubbles! #Mountkeen #colour #tests #glass #scotland #heritage

Mixing specific quantities of coloured to clear glass to look at different colour tints Used transparent coloured powder with clear glass powder in four different colours. As you can see the colour is not transparent ... While the results are interesting the colour will never be transparent while being combined the way I was planning to use it, so a very useful test! #Mountkeen #colour #glass #tests #honoursyear

A few pictures of my days in and around Mount Keen and searching for Balamoon's cave Pictures are not in any particular order Wonderful colours on the hill side, and an amazing river Had an amazing few days wandering around Invermark in the height of the summer during the heat wave, managed to get very burnt and found out that my boots didn't fit properly anymore causing me fairly horrendous blisters. Was also shouted at by the sheep as I unknowingly camped in their normal be