Glass fusing is easy. If you weren’t ready to learn, you wouldn’t be searching for resources to teach you. You would not have landed on this page. I’ll be your guide if you so desire. While glass fusing is easy and provides relatively quick gratification, it’s all the cutting, cleaning, and assembly that can be tedious but more on that later.
I’m self-taught in the art of glass fusing. I didn’t make all the mistakes in the book(s), I just made the kinds of mistakes that no book had documented yet. Mistakes in this medium are heartbreaking for the disappointment you feel and expensive to boot, but they are really eye-opening experiences for practical learning. There are mistakes that you make as an artist and then there are the unexpected “mistakes” that arise when the medium doesn’t behave in a way that you had hoped or expected. Sometimes it’s not easy to tell which is which when you finally open up the kiln to look at your results. Don’t beat yourself up for botching things up; so long as you learn, it’s all for the better.
Just so that you’re forewarned, glass is not an inexpensive medium to work in. The basic equipment really doesn’t cost much to get started, but to start to really play in the medium in the way that allows you the fullest range of personal expression in the medium requires an investment. Start small, just don’t think small. See whether glass resonates with you as the medium of choice.
All creativity is about the journey – your journey, both as a human being and as one who creates arts and crafts. What emerges from your work or play, for that matter, is the equivalent of the tracks left behind in your wake. The tangible items are the symbols of your creativity, not creativity itself. Give yourself the permission to grow and explore with a beginner’s mind. Enjoy the trip!
plate from the "Spring Celebration" series
