PrairieFireFlies

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Fused, also referred to as "warm" glass.

This classic art form has been around for over 4,000 years. Needless to say, though I am now officially a senior citizen, the art form was well established when I started teaching myself to fuse glass in 2008. Each piece is cut free hand and chipped from a rainbow selection of colors, starting with Bullseye art glass panels two feet by three feet in size. The original glass designs are then either fully fused or tack fused in a kiln one to three times at temperatures ranging from 1400 to 2100 degrees.

Dichroic glass has also been around for a long time but became available for the current choice of glass creations due to discoveries in NASA research. Science and ART do mix!! They offer an additional dimension of design creativity. This glass captures and reflects the color of light, sparkling like crystals or diamonds. Dichroic glass is composed of up to 50 layers, each as thin as a strand of human hair, of a special metal coating or film on the glass. Dichroic glass is several times more expensive to make, and there are only a few manufacturers in the US.