Essentials I — BEGINNING FUSING

Price: $135.00                                                                                       

Skill Level:  Beginner
Focus: Skill Development
Pre-Requisite: None

Learn the fundamental techniques required for fused glass art. Compatibility, firing schedules, cold work, and other important topics will be covered. Students will experience three separate firings; Including a full fusing, tack fusing, and fire polish, while working with multiple types of fusing products including ceramic fiber, adhesives, frit, stringer, and dichroics. Additionally, students will be taught the basic operation of kilns, grinders, saws, flat grinding wheels, and other tools necessary for the production and finishing of glass art. Students will create projects including jewelry, wall art, or clocks.

Essentials II — PLATEMAKING                                                    

Price: $205.00 (2 sessions)

Skill Level:  Beginner
Focus: Technical Mastery
Pre-Requisite: Essentials I

Learn the theory and the techniques required to create functional glassware including plates, bowls, and platters. Students will design and fuse a tile, which will then be cold worked, and subsequently slumped into functional glassware molds. Topics covered include: mold preparation, firing schedules, cold work, and annealing. In addition, students will learn about using the sandblaster, wet belt sanders, lapidary grinding wheels, diamond pads, circle cutters, and more. Students will create a matching plate and bowl set. This workshop focuses on developing technical mastery of shaping glass in a kiln environment.

Kiln Carving

Price: $135.00

Skill Level: Beginner
Focus: Design Techniques
Pre-Requisite: Essentials I 

Drop your chisel and put on your thinking cap. This workshop will focus on using gravity to do the kiln forming for us. We will design and create bas relief images to transfer into iridized glass giving the glass a sculpted look. This is a wonderful technique to add dimension and pattern with only minimal cutting. Use the smooth clean surface on top and look through to the pattern within the glass. Or turn it over and not only see but feel the shapes and textures.

Dichroic Glass Jewelry

Price: $185.00

Skill Level: Beginner
Focus: Design Techniques
Pre-Requisite: Essentials I 

Do you love the sparkle of dichroic coatings, but are perplexed by the color changes, layering, and design options? If so, this workshop will help to demystify this glass and give you practical knowledge and experience to expand your options. We’ll share the best ways to get the most from dichroic glass. Some of the techniques taught are manual carving, chemical etching, making cabochons, and more. Students will create several beautiful and unique jewelry pieces.

NEW! Beginning Casting — 3-D Sculpture

Price: $355.00 (3 sessions)

Skill Level: Beginner
Focus: Skill Development
Pre-Requisite: Essentials I

Are you curious about how they create thick relief glass seen in architectural settings, sculpture, and museums? Come spend three intensive days learning to utilize simple and versatile methods of glass casting. Sculpt in clay, create refractory molds, cut and cast glass billet, sheet, and more! We’ll work with casting rings, fiber molds, and dams. Cold working, measuring glass, annealing, and more will be discussed in relation to the work created in the workshop. This class is the foundation for all your future casting!

Torch Work for Fusers

Price: $135.00

Skill Level: Beginner
Focus: Skill Development
Pre-Requisite: Essentials I

Designed for kiln workers, this workshop introduces you to the wonderful world of flame working! Flame worked elements add a unique dimension to fused glass. The workshop begins with a brief introduction to torches, and a review of basic safety. Students will learn to pull stringer and create simple murrini and latticinos. By the end, you will be a pro at making elements for your fused glass!

Strip Construction — Design On Edge

Price: $255.00 (3 sessions)

Skill Level: Intermediate
Focus: Technical Mastery
Pre-Requisite: Essentials II

Strip construction is a simple technique that delivers consistent, sophisticated design results. Glass is cut and then placed on edge to achieve crisp, specific design goals. Special tips and techniques presented will include consistent strip cutting, on edge design, component development, creating windows, working with dams, color reactions–for better or worse, and much more. Don’t miss the chance take your work to the next level.

The Glass Basket — GLASS WEAVING

Price: $205.00 (2 sessions)

Skill Level: Intermediate
Focus: Technical Mastery
Pre-Requisite: Essentials II

Learn the techniques to turn simple glass sheets into sparking textural glass fabric forms. We’ll manipulate our “fabrics” to create textural works of art, architectural textiles, or components for inclusion in larger projects. The class focuses on creating glass “threads,” using and making your own weaving molds, faux and true weaving, color reactions, using sheets, rods, and stringers, surface treatments, slumping and shaping the finished “cloth”. Don’t miss this unusual workshop designed for the contemporary artisan.

Hot Stuff I — POT MELTS & PATTERN BARS

Price: $205.00 (2 sessions)

Skill Level: Intermediate
Focus: Technical Mastery
Pre-Requisite: Essentials II

Discover "hot" new ways to incorporate twists, turns, lines & designs into your fused glass. This workshop is perfect for fusers who are ready to make the artistic leap beyond the ordinary. Students will explore creating pattern bars and pot melts using frit, stringer, rod, and sheet glass. Additionally, students will learn to manipulate molten glass threads directly from a vitrograph kiln. Come prepared to experiment and take home a wide variety of components that can be used for future work.

NEW! Hot Stuff II — HIGH FIRE & COMBING

Price: $205.00 (2 sessions)

Skill Level: Intermediate
Focus: Technical Mastery
Pre-Requisite: Essentials II

Working at high temperatures has never been so exciting! In this workshop, we’ll high-fire “boil” our glass and “rake” or comb through it to create your choice of projects including plates, bowls, and more. Students will experience dam preparation, color mixing, combing set ups, mold filling, working in a hot kiln, plus cold work. This workshop focuses on technical mastery of working thick at high temperatures.

NEW! Get A Reaction — Color Chemistry

Price: $205.00 (3 sessions)

Skill Level: Intermediate
Focus: Technical Mastery
Pre-Requisite: Essentials II

This exciting workshop will introduce you to working with glass that chemically reacts during the fusing process. These reactions create fantastic effects that are unmatched anywhere else. Students will receive reaction charts as references for their home studios and will produce sample tiles to catalog the reactive combinations. We'll complete the process by creating a composition that incorporates color reactions as a part of your design. We'll use a large palette of reactive glass colors, frit, stringer, rod, foils and leaf. Be prepared for the unexpected!

The Power of Powders

Price: $205.00 (3 sessions)

Skill Level: Intermediate
Focus: Technical Mastery
Pre-Requisite: Essentials II

Want to get the most out of working with glass powders? Learn to create imagery, depth, and drama in your work by incorporating exciting powder techniques. Students will learn to create Powder Wafers for small and large projects, explore crackled powder techniques, experience Intaglio and Cameo Carving of Powdered Layers, and utilize sandblasting to enhance your work. This specialty class will show you the true power that adding powder can have!

Cast Glass Sinks — BASINS AND MORE

Price: $695.00 (5 sessions)

Skill Level: Intermediate
Focus: Technical Mastery
Pre-Requisite: Essentials II

Vessel Sinks are the newest trend in contemporary home design. Until now only the professional glass casting companies knew the secrets to creating these functional masterpieces. Now you can learn too! Activities include; creating our vessels, beveling edges, sandblasting, preparing molds, slumping into our vessel molds, and drilling our holes. This class focuses on technical mastery of creating large vessels, creative surface treatments, unique designs, and more. Class size is limited.

Kiln Academy                                                             

Price: $40.00

Skill Level: All Levels
Focus: Information/Operations
Pre-Requisite: None

Learn the basic operational skills that will allow you to become comfortable and familiar with a kiln. How it works, simple programming, basic troubleshooting and maintenance are all topics that will be covered. Additionally, we’ll discuss and demonstrate preparation techniques for firing, special electrical issues, controlling and determining temperature variations, and more. Don’t miss this opportunity to figure it all out! No pieces will be fired.

Open Studio for Glass                                       

Price: $10.00 per hour

Skill Level:  All Levels
Pre-Requisite: Essentials I

Firing Only, Kiln Fees: $25 fills a small kiln or $50 fills a large kiln

Need space to work, coaching on a technique, or just need a fun place to play? If so, Open Studio is for you! The studio is open once per week exclusively to Wired Designs’ students. No guests are allowed. Students may use studio tools and equipment, and we’ll fire your pieces. Bring your own supplies or purchase them here, it’s up to you! A studio techs are on site to help! Studio fees are hourly; 4 hrs includes a small kiln firing, 5 hrs includes a large kiln firing.

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