Here at Vitreus Art we offer many different types of glass fusing workshops and we know it can be a little daunting to know where to start your glass fusing journey, but we are here to advise.
Primarily we use the same materials in each workshop, the difference comes on how you layer up your glass and then fire it in the kiln.
Glass Fusing for Beginners
Although, we are happy to teach all our workshops to beginners, the one that we believe is the best starting place, is our ‘Glass Fusing for Beginners’ (formally known at Vitreus Art as Fusion/Inclusion).
On this one-day workshop you will learn not only how to create some lovely pieces of glass art; but we will also teach you the basics of how the glass behaves in the kiln, and more importantly what glass fuses with what glass – you may be surprised to learn that not all glass is the same!
A question we get asked a lot is, ‘Is it just glass that you can fuse together?’, the simple answer is ‘no’, but there are things you do need to know, you can’t just put any old thing into your glass!!
Take a look here to see everything that is included in our ‘Glass Fusing for Beginners’: Vitreus Art Glass Fusing with Vitreus Art (vitreus-art.co.uk).
Tack-Relief Glass Fusing for Beginners
If you fancy adding texture to your glass art (JT’s favourite), then you might like to try our ‘Tack Relief’ workshop. We work with the same materials as on our ‘Glass Fusing for Beginners’, but this time we only work with one layer of base glass. In addition, we will also work with coloured sheet glass, so you will add glass-cutting to your skill set – always a helpful thing to know when working with glass. It’s not as scary as it looks once you have been taught how.
More information on our ‘Tack Relief’ workshop can be found here: Vitreus Art Glass Fusing Tack Relief (vitreus-art.co.uk)
Fused Glass Slumping for Beginners
‘Glass Slumping’ is like our ‘Tack Relief’ workshop, but we then add a 3d dimension to our work. The starting point for this is a 30x30cm sheet of fusible glass, and you can decide if you want to make one large piece, a large bowl or platter, or we can cut the glass into smaller sections and you could make several pieces, the choice is yours.
Click on the link to find out more Vitreus Art Slumped Glass Fusing Workshops (vitreus-art.co.uk)
Fused Glass Lanterns, Pocket Vases, Tealight Holders, Fused Glass Jewellery
If you are looking to make something that is a functional piece of glassware rather than a piece of artwork, then look no further than these classes: –
Fused Glass Lantern – Vitreus Art Fused Glass Beginners Classes – Make a Lantern (vitreus-art.co.uk) this one is similar to the ‘Tack Fusing’ workshop with lots of lovely texture, but you get to make something that will give lovely light in your room and/or garden.
Tealight holders & Pocket Vases – If you fancy having a go at glass fusing and don’t have the time to devote a whole day then these two might be up your street.
Vitreus Art Tealight Holders Glass Fusing Workshops (vitreus-art.co.uk)
Vitreus Art Pocket Vases Glass Fusing Workshops (vitreus-art.co.uk)
These two workshops are run as a morning or afternoon session, so if time is tight these will be a perfect fit for you. Or if you want to try your hand at glass fusing, but not quite sure, these will give you a little taster.
Fused Glass Jewellery workshop where you create pieces of glass art that are wearable – Vitreus Art Fused Glass Jewellery Making with Jenny Timms (vitreus-art.co.uk) this is similar to our ‘Fusing for Beginners’, just on a much smaller scale.
Pebble Bowls made from Fused Glass
Pebble Bowl – (For me, JT) a pebble bowl is more a piece of art than a useable item, but if you wish to use yours than it would work perfectly as a fruit bowl or similar, not great for holding your soup though!!
This workshop is run over a course of 3 sessions of 2.5 hours, the first session you create your glass sheets of colour, 2nd session your can let go of all your inner tension and have a smashing time with the hammer and your glass. All the smashed glass goes back into the kiln to make your ‘pebbles’. On the final session you will take the time to carefully place your pebbles in the mould, to create you bowl!
Vitreus Art Pebble Bowl Glass Fusing Workshops (vitreus-art.co.uk)
These bowls are things of beauty – not sure I’d be putting anything in mine (just saying).
Screen Printing on Glass
A new workshop to Vitreus Art for 2022 is our ‘Screen Printing on glass’, here we get to use glass powders and stencils to create 2 or 3 dimensional images on to sheet glass. Most of the work for this class is in the preparation in creating your own stencils Screen Printing with Fused Glass workshop with Vitreus Art (vitreus-art.co.uk)
New workshops – fusing with Float Glass
Mike is also venturing into the glass fusing arena – he has now expanded his glass range to include a different type of glass to that used in many of our fusing workshops.
Using ‘Float’ glass Mike is now offering Glass Fusing workshops in:
Glass Flowers – Fused Glass Flowers – Vitreus Art Glass FusingCourse for Beginners (vitreus-art.co.uk)
Ocean Wave – Fused Glass Ocean Wave Making workshop with Vitreus Art (vitreus-art.co.uk) we have a feeling this is our most popular fusing class currently!
And Christmas Decorations too –
Fused Glass Icicle Christmas Decorations Making workshop with Vitreus Art (vitreus-art.co.uk)
Wreath Making workshop with Vitreus Art (vitreus-art.co.uk)
Fused Glass Sunflower
Mike and I are very lucky to know some very talented glass artists, and we have invited one of them, Roger Loxton, to come and teach the fused glass ‘Sunflower’ workshop here at Vitreus Art.
Roger has been creating these sunflowers for some years now and they are always a hit in the gallery. So, we thought we would give those of you who wish to try making your own the opportunity Fused Glass Sunflower workshop for Beginners with Vitreus Art (vitreus-art.co.uk)
You will learn how to cut glass (if you don’t already know), one the first day you will make the centre of the sunflower, and this will be fired overnight and will be ready for the next day. On day 2 you will cut our all your petals and assemble your sunflower ready to go into the kiln.
Longer courses in glass fusing
For those of you who would like to jump in the deep end, we run a 6-week evening course. The first 3 weeks are spent learning several different techniques in glass fusing and the final 3 weeks are spent creating your own glass fused project using the skills you will have learnt in the first 3. Vitreus Art Glass Fusing Intensive Evening Course for Beginners (vitreus-art.co.uk)
Finally, for those of you who have done some glass fusing before, whether it be at Vitreus Art or elsewhere we are running our ‘Turning up the heat’, two-day intensive workshop.
If you are possibly thinking about purchasing your own kiln, but not sure where to start, or find it a bit daunting when you have looked then this course might be the one you need before making that large purchase. Or if you have purchased your kiln, but it’s just sitting in the corner of your studio as you are too scared to plug it in, or not quite sure how to programme it!!
This workshop is taught by both Mike and Jenny (me). Mike will give you a good grounding in all things technical from the kilns to how and why glass behaves at different temperatures, whilst Jenny will run you through the pretty stuff along with the how’s are wherefores of how to prepare your kiln before firing it up. We will work on small projects making notes of what we are doing and why, and what part the kiln plays in the process.
We hope this has helped you decide on which course would be best for you, but if you do still have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
At its most fundamental level, PMC is particles of fine silver bound up with an organic binder and a little water to make a malleable clay-like material.
The upside of PMC though, is that a starter kit of tools isn’t expensive to buy, and small pieces (like earrings or small necklaces) can be fired with a chef’s blow-torch instead of a kiln.
You’ll also learn about rolling and shaping, taking a lump of silver clay and making the basic shapes for your pieces.
First, you’ll make a pair of earrings (like Jenny’s).
This is a tricky assignment but worth it as rolling and shaping is a key technique, applicable to many jewellery design elements.
You’ll also learn about making bails and securely adding them to a pendant base as well as polishing and finishing.