Joe and Donna
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Joe and Donna
| Joe Bray and Donna Black are glass artists who have a small studio in Asheboro, NC, called Iron Mountain Glass. They have been making exquisite lampworked beads, pendants, marbles, sculptures and earrings since 2003.
Here is some information from Joe and Donna about the process by which they create their intricate glasswork:
"We use Boroslicate and Moretti glass. Our glass is fully annealed in a kiln overnight.
Lampworking (also referred to as flameworking or, more recently, torchworking ) is the process of using an oxygen-propane torch to melt and use raw glass materials to make finished items.
Raw glass typically comes in tube and rod forms of various diameters in clear and many different colors. Glass also comes in powder and frit (crushed up glass bits) form. Clear sheet glass is also available.
Dichroic glass is a special material that comes in sheet glass form with a thin metallic coating on one side. The coating is made up of various precious metals which are applied to the glass in a complicated vacuum process - in a very expensive machine.This machine was originally developed by NASA to create the reflectors on satellites. Dichroic glass is expensive and the metallic coating burns very easily. It is very susceptible to heat, making it fairly difficult to use. Once NASA realized how easy the dichroic coatings burned entering and leaving the atmosphere, they lost interest in the material. Science's loss has been artistry's gain, as glassworkers have been exploring the possibilities of dichroic glass ever since.
The flame from an oxygen / propane torch reaches temperatures up around 5000 degrees F, and the glass itself is around 2300 degrees F in its molten state. Glass, like most substances, expands and contracts while it is heated and cooled. After any glass item is created, it must be annealed in a kiln. The kiln brings the entire piece up to the same temperature. Annealing is the process of slowly cooling the glass so the entire piece contracts or shrinks together. Otherwise, the the thinner parts would cool much faster than the thicker parts, creating stress between the thick and thin regions. Glass items that have not been properly annealed can, in fact, be glass time bombs!! They can crack 4 minutes, 4 months, or even 4 years later, out of the blue, for no apparent reason to the untrained eye."
We are so pleased to add Iron Mountain Glasswork to our superlative collection of handcrafted items. Welcome to Southern Art Show, Joe and Donna!
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