Nikki O'Neill, the Co-Winner of the Winter 2004 Bead O'the Quarter
"My tree spirit leaf was made using traditional methods for casting p�te de verre sculptures and bas relief tiles. P�te de verre in the early 1900's Arts and Crafts style is a wonderful way to capture a little bit of nature to wear or display. After sculpting the leaf and face in clay, a rubber negative mold is made. From this mold, several positive molds were made using Gelflex flexible mold material. These were placed on a glass surface, dammed, and invested by pouring in a refractory plaster mixture. After removing the Gelflex from the plaster, the cavities were filled with opaque and transparent Bullseye frits and powders, and then fused in a kiln. A little grinding and smoothing was needed to remove a few spiky needles on the bottom edges."

For more on p�te de verre:

February 2004

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