I intend to use this blog to help me work through my Masters Degree which I will be starting in Sept 09. I may also log my ideas/plans & previous experience before the beginning of my course.


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I am now nearing my first assessment for my Independant Study 1 module.

I have looked at various ways of using glass in ways relating to body modification of various types. I have tested some new methods and looked more closely at some I have explored previously.

I have used hot forming, blowing and hot casting to achieve the results.

Typically the one I want to explore further is the most expensive one; hot casting. This requires blown pieces which are sandblasted, coldworked and re-heated before being added mid-pour to the main piece.

I have tried carving in to the clay which I made a mould with and liked the effects I can achieve with this although they need some refining.

I aim to persure this line of thought for the time being whilst also looking at wayd of combining glass and leather. I did a few tests with leather (because I wanted a material that responded as our skin does when we put it under pressure to modify it) and found that I like the justaposing of the qualities from both materials.

Im not really sure where this project is going to take me but Im excited for the possibilities!


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Huzzah!

I am officialy inducted in the important places and have made some new glass work! If nothing has cracked in the lehr I should have 12 test pieces out by now! :)

I need to spend more time in the hotshop because my skills have somewhat dwindled over my year out. I cant wait to get stuck in there again! Hopefully I should pick things up relatively quickly again, for example; plates, I made so many plates at the end of my third year, I could do them almost perfectly, now I cant do one without screwing it up. I need more practice as plates will probably feature heavily in my new work.

As far as my project goes I have settled upon the main theme of body modification. I am looking at all its forms from common things such as hair dye and make-up, ranging to the lesser known practies such as scarification and eyeball tattooing. I am also going to look at the way in which we use clothing to modify our shape/look/silhouette. At this point the project may or may not lead to a glass-boned corset, I am happy to let the development lead me.


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I have been at uni (technically) for three weeks and am going nuts because I missed the Health and Safety induction on the hotshop (because I didnt know when in was) so Im stuck unable to do anything. I can coldwork but thats boring…. I did a little today but its cold and wet and I didnt want to.

Least Im settling in a bit now, get on well with a few of the people around me which is nice! :)


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First day of Uni today, went ok, I have a desk now. I plan to start filling it up tomorrow. A tad frustrated that I can’t start any glass until next week though.


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Ok, I have done some (very rough) sketches of the sort of things I am hoping to have a go at making. I dont have access to a scanner at the moment so I only have photos of the drawings. They are done with markers because that is what I happened to have to hand at the time. I really need to practice my figure drawing. Obviously these are just a few rough ideas of what I will base my work on, I hope for the glass bones to run the entire length of the corset but if that proves to difficult then I will have to make ‘pockets’ near the top for them to fit in to. I may have to create a seperate piece to fit around the top of the corset to get the desired effect.

Some of the sketches are based on sections of armour and one is a kind of bustle idea (yellowish one) which would be amazing if it can be pulled off without breaking the glass. Highly unlikely but I can give it a go cant I? It wouldn’t actually be yellow, it would be clear with speckles or trails of colour runing through it so it distorts the fabric underneath.


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