Montoya's Progression Thread~

[Montoya]

Just over a month into my journey so I figured I might as well start a thread before all of my stuff makes it to the trashcan.
Having a blast learning but, sometimes overload my brain with too much different stuff and then start combining shit and end up laughing at myself.
Few cuts and burns but nothing even worth noting...
Except maybe how skin sizzles when it touches hot glass and smells like chicarrones when they're cooking.

I've been working on marbles pretty much and more specifically, flowers.
Any tips, comments or critiques would be appreciated.
Thanks for taking a minute to check out my stuff.

These are from the first couple of weeks and before I got my kiln...
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[Montoya]

Those are pretty sweet, huh?

Getting better....

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[Montoya]

Tried a couple vortex marbles while I was at it too...
Not a lot of Vor on my Tex, if, ya knowwutI'msayin'.

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[Montoya]

Made this tonight for my Momma...it's her birthday today.
I left a flat spot on the bottom so it could sit on her desk. Mini paperweight I guess.

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[Montoya]

And then I finished off the night with this one...

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The last pic, I made yesterday and I used pomegranate but it doesn't show well.
I ran in thru the kiln cycle and that's how it looked.
Ran it thru again tonight so I guess I'll see if it gets better/turns red.
I used it again tonight over cotton candy boro stick and it still didn't look like it was gonna show much to me...
Any tips on using that stuff would be appreciated.

[Montoya]

I don't know how I attached that image...or how to remove it.

[Montoya]

Used the same color and made a pendant for the ol' lady last night.
The pomegranate showed a little more this time but I guess I was just expecting it to be redder.
Steel wool for the loop.
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[hashmasta-kut]

ruby and elvis strike much darker than pommy, but if you rekiln strike that it should darken up a bit.

[Montoya]

Stopped by D&L and grabbed a foot of silver for $5 so I could try and mess around with that a bit...
Started a marble that was switched to a pendant and then it cooled too much as I tried to make a loop (*Note to self: dumbass, use the kiln.) so it exploded when I put it back in the fire.
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And then my second attempt was little better...
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Looking forward to playing with some more silver...
Hope you're having a great first spring weekend.
:flame:

[Montoya]

Maybe I'll run that thru tonight again then, Thanks hmk.

I saw this old Fuel album cover the other day and laughed because that's how I felt like when I dropped the marble in my lap last week.
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[Loki Glass]

Very nice progression on those flowers, and nice bail on that pendant!
That seems to be one of the toughest things for people first getting into pendants. Best tip I can give you is to keep melting and keep having fun. :)

[Montoya]

Thanks Loki. I'm having the most fun I've had in years. I hope you are well and your glass is bubble free. :D
Added these pics to the Fume thread but figured I should add them here too.
I need to get some gold...I want to try and create some of the other colors...
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[OceanMelt]

Those flowers are definitely coming along great, nice work.

[Montoya]

Missed a couple of weeks on the torch being sick. Tried a few times to get out there but just couldn't hang for any length of time.
Was at it again the past couple of days though and ran into a problem I was hoping someone might be able to advise about.
Making a fumed tube implosion, I made the gather shaped like a vortex plug.
Added cobalt backing. It was too big and would've left just a little lens if I had left it so I added clear to the lens.
That wasn't clean and made a few bubbles.
At this point, the marble is a little bigger than a golf ball but, the cobalt side seems much heavier.
I switch axis numerous times but could never get it straight.
I tried to paddle it, L marver and gravity for over an hour but it just wouldn't get round.
You can see it was much bigger than my little marble mold in the pics.
Gonna have to get a bigger one soon.
So my questions: Is cobalt hevier/denser than clear?
Was I doing something wrong to make it so uneven and is it fixable if so?
Also, when I try to get bubbles out of glass I mangle whatever I'm working on, any tips would be greatly appreciated.
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[Loki Glass]

It definitely is one of the stiffer colors for sure. Finding a balance is key, knowing you'll have to put a little extra heat into the blue/black/whatever side to match heat bases takes a fair amount of practice. Some colors are stiff and work more like metal than glass while others are buttery smooth. You'll get it, just keep melting. :)

[Montoya]

Thanks Loki. I'll probably leave the cobalt alone for awhile. Plenty of other things to keep me baffled for now.
Playing with fume could probably keep me busy forever...
Made these 2 last night:
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