Fused glass "fan" with multiple colour LEDs

This is a variation on a design that I first made about twenty years ago. Originally, I used this "fan" shape, and several other designs, to make kiln-fired glass panels for candle holders. I called that first design a "candle fan" because the shape reminded me of a hand held fan.

Here is one of the original pieces illuminated by a candle.

The candle flame gives a warm glow to the glass and a variable angle of illumination as the candle burns down. The hanging lead crystals give their own variation with daylight as they refract the full spectrum of sunlight into the prismatic spectrum of colours. 

The multiple colour LEDs in these new pieces, however, allow a choice of changing colours (fast or slow, or a steady white, red, blue or green) to highlight the etched and fused glass.  

While daylight can be used to enjoy the coloured glass, lead crystals and carved details, the LEDs highlight different aspects of display possibilities of these pieces.

Intricately carved details can be enjoyed upon closer examination.

These pieces can also be used as an accent light on a table or shelf.

The LEDs are powered either by rechargeable AAA batteries or directly plugged into a USB port or charger.

These pieces (and more!) are available through my Etsy shop : "CarvedglassArt".

See my new work on Instagram: "chuckstj"

Or email me for more info: nimbusglass@cablelan.net

Multiple colour LEDs for glass "ice" sculptures!

 

With the recent and rapid development of LED lighting technology, I now have an alternate lighting option to the solar panel and LED lighting (see my blog post of March 8, 2020) for my carved glass "ice" sculptures.

This new option offers a choice of mutiple colour LED (changing colour quickly or slowly) or to hold steady on white, red, blue or green illumination. The videos would not load here, so to see them go to my instagram : @chuckstj

This style is battery powered (with rechargeable batteries) or with a cord plugged into a USB charging device.

For a comparison of ambient light (from a nearby table lamp) to the multiple colour LEDs and to the solar panel with white LED, this photo (below) shows the variable effects (from left to right) on the relief carved glass images.

Working through a variety of ideas and many woodworking techniques, I finally worked out a suitable method for assembling the light boxes in wood bases.

These pieces are priced from $200 to $500 (CDN), vary in size from 15cm (6") to 30cm (12") tall and can be safely shipped with the double box technique I use for all my glass shipments.

Contact me for purchases or images of more pieces: email: nimbusglass@cablelan.net

Instagram: @chuckstj

"The Victaulic"

One of my pieces on the theme of 'balancing', which can variously be related as a 'flow' of motion (going in and out of balance), a (relatively) stable position of "equal balance", or an alternatively (and relative) stable position of being "off balance".

The Victaulic is a monitoring device for the collective zeitgeist (events happening in our (relative) space/time continuum), "measuring" or "weighing" the stability of events and indicating their likeliness to continue in the same vein as the current events or to monitor the changes that will or have occurred.

Apparently, this situation of imbalance has been going on at least since the last of the winter's snow.

Previous to that time, in early and mid-winter, indications were that things were much more in the "equal balance" mode. Even with the long, snowy winter, relative stability and repose can be seen to be the case.

Monitoring the twilight of our "post-post-industrial" age, The Victaulic is part of a series of sculptures using detritus from our culture. The aim is to create 'quasi-scientific' pieces with a feeling of mysteriousness, often with an unknown origin or purpose.

I think of these objects as "future-post-apocalyptic-pieces-for-the-present". Although that 'future' looks uncomfortably like the present.

Be safe. Keep monitoring. 

Glass "Ice" sculptures with LED lights and solar panels

I have been making variations of these chipped edge pieces with etched and carved images that I call glass "ice" sculptures for many years. Recently, I worked out the idea I have had for several years of illuminating the glass from below with a small LED light.

  

In conjunction with a small solar panel, the battery is recharged d
uring the day and a light sensor in the solar panel turns the light on at night and off in the morning. With a polished surface on the base of the glass, the LED is able to project light well up into the 19mm (3/4") thick glass, highlighting the texture of the relief carved images.

Experimenting with various tools and techniques over the years, I can create very fine detail with mostly industrial grade equipment (wet sanding belts, sandblast abrasives, industrial diamond grinding bits, etc.).

Many of these techniques are easily scaled up for work on doors, windows and other larger pieces. See my other blog posts or my website (www.artmotive.com) for architectural glass pieces.

Although these pieces can be enjoyed with ambient light (as in this photo above with natural daylight), or with light from a nearby table lamp (below):

With the light from the LED below the glass, the images really stand out at night, particularly against the dark of a window as a background.

For a better effect with wider designs, I am using two solar panels and light assemblies in the base:

I will be selling these pieces by direct mail order (they are 15cm to 30cm (6" to 12") tall) and can packed for safe shipment. Contact me by email: nimbusglass@airspeedwireless.ca for new designs, details and pricing, or by phone: (250) 320-3392 to make an appointment to visit me at my Shuswap Lake studio (south central B.C., Canada). 

New pieces can be seen on Instagram @chuckstj

"Fourth Dimensional Time Piece #1"

 

"Our" star certainly lined up for this unexpected surprise on Dec. 22, 2019.

Sitting inside, I noticed the low angled sunlight peeking through the clouds in the late afternoon and skimming across the deck through the the glass door. Remembering the "Fourth Dimensional Time Piece #1" in its glass box just outside the door, I stepped out on the deck and saw that by turning the whole plinth with the "time piece", I was just in time to orient the lens to focus the rays of the sun onto the pyramidal form - once again in the serendipitous fashion I have experienced many times in past years.

Originally, the components of this piece were playing with the idea of 'scaling', in which the actual shapes you are seeing can be interpreted (understood/misunderstood) to be an image of something either very large or very small. Without a 'context' to place them in, the mind,

being a pattern seeking  organ, will try to interpret the images or textures as something comprehensible.  

Plato identified five geometric solids in his view of the universe: the cube, the tetrahedron, the octahedron, the dodecahedron and the icosahedron. I referenced these shapes in the corners of the stone base with the tetrahedron and cube, with the sphere representing the other three (roughly 'spherical') shapes.   

By moving the hand held lens over various parts of the piece, micro or macroscopic vistas can be imagined. The "interstellar space" of the trapped air bubbles in the layers of fused glass, or the "landscapey" texture of the polished stone. Viewing the chaotic surface of the cast brass pyramidal form with its liquid or 'flame melted' effect reminds me of the visual texture of clouds.

I had mounted the lens to the pyramidal form at the distance of the focal length of that lens, anticipating that a light could be arranged to create something like this effect. I am surprised how often the effect has been achieved in a variety of placements.

Although this was an effect I could imagine, the random kinetic effects of light through glass (focussed, refracted or transmitted) is a continual fascination for me. As familiar and yet ever changing as watching light on water, shapes in clouds or the flames of a fire.

"Smoke and mirror" (a device for burning a candle at both ends)

Now for something "completely practical"...if you are going to burn a candle at both ends, a proper device is important.

This piece resulted from the rare time that someone says, "Hey Chuck, I've got this piece (of junk) that I thought you might like...", that I actually did like! (Thanks Chris O.!).

Some repairs and alterations were executed and after some evolutions of that, this is the result.

Originally a smoking side table, I started with the "smoke and mirror" idea. Slumping a piece of streaky white and clear glass and mounting it in one of the existing four holes for the smoke idea and adding a small mirror in another one got me started. Using a pre-formed stainless steel dish for the water, I was also thinking of the air, earth, water and fire themes and hit on the idea of burning a candle at both ends.

I fashioned a holder for the candle using one of the original metal inserts (for ashes?), adding some copper and brass pieces to catch the dripping wax.

I restored the lighting in the central glass 'globe' and made a tile and mortar 'riser' to create more 'weight' (both visually and physically), as well as making it a more stable piece.

It is important to remember that when burning candles at both ends, danger is being courted. Only operate the candle when fully rested and in a sober state of mind, with proper fire control procedures in place. Safety first!

"Transom" window

"Transom" windows were the horizontal rectangular stained glass panels above bedroom doors in many Victorian era homes. They were hinged on the bottom to tilt into the room for ventilation when the door below them was closed.

This is  a modern interpretation of that idea. Installed in an interior wall, it doesn't need to open for venting, but shows off the variable effects of light through a stained glass window very effectively.

The wall it is mounted in separates the dining room and the hallway that leads to an under the stairs sleeping alcove and to the bathroom. The light on either side is dramatically different whether day or night or with natural or artificial light.

During the day (or primarily with artificial light on the dining room side), light reflecting off the surface of the glass makes the darker shades almost opaque. Walking around to the other side, the dark glass can be seen to be a translucent aqua, with highlights on parts of the clear beveled glass.

The variable effects of light on other colours of glass can be seen between the upper and lower narrow edge pieces in this view.

Another view shows the variety of textures and 'imperfections' (air bubbles and  striations) in the hand blown stained glass. These give a vibrancy and variation to the shadows cast by light through the glass that cannot be matched by the machine roller textures of production glass. These are some of the subtle details that can make a glass panel a pleasure to live with over many years, with the enjoyment of surprise at seeing the variable effects of light.