| DIY People: Making Glass Jewelry |
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"I'm a person who likes to work with her hands," says Evette Everette. "I like to create and make things. And I like unusual objects." It is that love of working with her hands that ultimately led Evette to begin making jewelry.
"I felt a void in my life," she says. "So I started taking some creative classes. I took a writing class but that wasn't it. I tried basket making. It was fun but I didn't want to continue making baskets. Papermaking was also fun. But when I took a glass jewelry class, that was it. Once I started working with glass I never stopped."
"I really like the way glass feels," she says. "I like the colors and I particularly enjoy fusing different the colors of glass together in a kiln (figure A) to see what I can create." Evette does admit, however, that working with glass can be tedious and a little dangerous. "The glass comes in sheets," she explains. "You do a lot of cutting and the edges of the glass are sharp. My fingers have paid the price for my art. But when I see a piece that I've created ... it's all worth the trouble. Working with glass is very rewarding.
According to Evette, fusing glass is a simple process. You purchase your glass and cut (figure B) it to size. You glue the different pieces together, put them in a kiln and fire. "Fused means melted together," she explains. "The individual glass pieces actually become one with the heat of the kiln."
"You can't do this in your oven," Evette says. "Often you need temperatures of 1,500 degrees or more, depending on what you're fusing and how big it is." Evette offers a word of caution. "You have to know your glass," she says. "Different types of glass melt at different temperatures. In fusing, you can't combine two different types of glass. It won't work. They have to have compatible melting points."
Evette also cautions about overheating. "You need to be careful not to apply too much heat because you can cause a stress fracture in the glass," she says. "Even though your piece may look just fine and appear solid, a stress fracture will eventually cause the glass to break."
Although Evette feels that most people could learn to fuse glass without assistance, she does recommend taking a class. "There's a lot of information about glass that's very useful," she says. "And taking a class will help you to learn faster and give you more confidence."
"The wonderful thing about making glass is that you can make whatever you want," Evette proclaims. "You can make earrings, pins, necklaces, bowls or wall hangings. The list is endless. The only thing that will limit you is what's in your mind."
"One of the main reasons that I like glass is because it melts," Evette says. "When you put it into the kiln, it turns into something else. You never really know what it's going to look like until it's finished. And the results are often very surprising. The only down-side I see to working with glass is that often I'll get a wonderful surprise and then I'm never able to create the same result again."
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