As Co-President of the National Art Honors Society, Mira Loma, I helped organize several events for members where we bring local artists to campus to teach a new skill. The first was Deanna Marsh, a glass fusing artist. She came in and brought all the materials necessary, and helped us make some art with glass! We learned about glass and fusing and firing, how to cut, how to place, and how to do different things.
I've never done glass fusing, though my grandmother does and she's showed me some of her work, and it was interesting to see what goes into it. One thing I definitely learned was patience. I can't just cut the glass, slap it together and be done. I have to plan it out, cut the class carefully and in a way that conserves as much as possible, put it in place, glue it down, wait for it to be fired and cooled, and then do something with it. The pieces I made are jewelry, two pendants and a pair of earrings, so they still need to be attached to a chain/ hooks to be worn. Glass fusing is something I really want to explore more in the future, and now that I have the basics down, I can explore it on my own and develop better skills.
