Cubes 1

The first 'dimensional' piece I made on the course was a 4 inch cube to my own design standing on a cut off corner.

Once I established my home studio this piece led to more three dimensional pieces that I refer to as my 'Cubic' series. So far there are four designs in the series, worked on at different times and interspersed with other designs.

Cubic 2 was a fairly obvious development, with four corners shaved off.

Part of the fun of working with glass is seeing the effects of light on the piece.

 It is light that brings the work to life.

The body was made in transparent glass with textured green swirls, while smokey grey originally used in Cubic1 was used for the corner panels. When I revisit this design I will use stronger colours to see how it changes the look.

During the course I had planned to make a large piece with all bevels, 4 inch squares and triangles. I'm not sure if I lost the triangles or did not purchase them, as I was selecting quite a bit of glass at the time. Anyhow, Cubic3 now has the square bevels and art glass triangles. The triangles were made from smokey grey and strong wispy blue.

 

While working on the piece I discovered that it looked quite good standing on one of the triangular sides.

An incidental effect is the depth of image provided by the mirrored base.

Bevels add extra dimensions to the light that is transmitted and refracted through the sculpture.

On first sight Cubic3 does not look like a cube. However, imagine that the beveled glass, base and open top are the faces of a 6 inch cube, then cut off all 8 corners to give equilateral triangles.  

I have also been playing with different ways of treating the solder seams. In Cubic1 the solder joints were cleaned and polished. However, the bright silver lines tend to be visually dominant and detract from the glass.

The next step is seen in Cubic2 with the application a copper patina (also used on its contemporary, the three dimensional star). This is an improvement on polished silver, and seemed very good at the time.

Black patina was used on Cubic3. When first applied this is a dead matt black, but finishing compound brings up a deep polish that can be so reflective as to appear silver. Neither was the finish that I was looking for.

Cubic4 came about as an amalgamation of the last of the suspended sculptures and the Cubic series. In fact it is the only true cube! I had set up a cutting jig for the last of the suspended sculptures and cut more two inch squares that were needed. After finishing that piece I decided to try something simpler - so built a cube with a lift off lid. The lid was made from two pieces of glass, laminated together. The glue joint showed in the clear glass so, having just invested in a fusing kiln, I decided to try a fused lid.

  
With this piece I arrived at a suitable treatment for the solder joints that complements the glass. The solder joint is cleaned then polished, copper patina applied and buffed, then black patina is brushed on and quickly washed off. Once dried it is cleaned and polished with two coats of finishing compound. The result is close to weathered bronze with a polished finish.