How does Abe make plates?
Abe laminates oxides and enamels between glass giving each piece
texture, character, and bubbles unique
to its' own beauty. He begins by making a mold of clay. As the mold
is being prepared for slumping glass,
artwork is finalized and a separate stencil is cut for each color
in the design. Colors are ground, mixed, and
test fired repeatedly until color consistency and compatibility
with the glass are realized. Next, Abe's design is
applied by dry-sifting enamels, one stencil at a time on glass that
has been cut to fit the mold. A second piece
of glass is placed on top of the design and both are positioned
on the mold. This enamel sandwich is then fired
until full fusion and fire polishing have taken place. Upon removing
the piece from the kiln, Abe will carefully
clean, and inspect it before placing his signature on it.
An important distinction between Abe's Plates and painted glass
is that Abe's designs are fused inside the enamel sandwich
not surface painted on the glass. Therefore the beauty lasts
forever and Abe's plates are food safe,
dishwasher safe, and can even be used for microwave warming. |
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