Oil Paint Pens and Glass Fusing

oil paint pens on glassIf you’ve been around this blog for a while you may have noticed that I like to experiment…with pretty much everything.  This experiment started out as a quick scribble with my oil paint pen set to see if it would produce anything useful when fused.

oil paint pens after fusingWell now, that’s interesting.  The black lines disappeared completely, all the other colors stayed.  These pens were all solid opaque colors, but I also tested some gold and silver metallic pens:

gold and silver metallic paint pentsFor this test I drew the same design in gold on one piece of glass, and silver on the other and then rotated one so they were opposite.  I think that the metallic pens have some real possibilities for actual design.

After the tests looked good, I decided to try some actual glass art pieces.  I started with a kiln carving pattern and added some glass:

kiln carving patternI started by painting the gray parts of the pattern with an opaque oil paint pen (knowing that it would turn white when fired)

oil paint pen on glassOil paint pen on glassAfter the green was dry, I filled in around the edges with silver oil paint pen:

silver paint penAfter the whole heart was filled in, I added another layer of glass and fused the whole thing flat.  I should note here, make sure you work in a well ventilated space, the fumes are a little strong from the oil paint.

Fired Oil Paint on glassInteresting, you can see the two tones of paint, although it’s very subtle.  Here is the final piece cold worked and slumped.

fused oil paint on glass dishThere are certainly possibilities there, particularly for layered metallics and the opaque white.  I’d like to try it on glass with a color.

Red, White and Blue Star Catcher

This is a multi step project that looks much more complicated than it actually is.  There are two parts to this project: making all the stars and assembling the final star catcher.  Let's get started:Materials for making stars: 4mm (double strength) window glass for...

Jewelry Assembly Clamp Tutorial

I really love to make glass jewelry components, beads, cabs, frit balls, pendants, you name it.  I'm not such a huge fan of actually assembling the jewelry.  End result?  I'm sitting with a giant pile of shiny glass bits like a dragon.  Time to do some work with these...

Fused Window Glass Heart Puzzle Vase

Puzzle vases are multiple part projects that slot together after fusing to create a 3 dimensional design.  I love them because not only are they a fusing challenge, they are an engineering challenge.  The finished art is a little mesmerizing, how does it work??  It's...