This is the biggest thing people get wrong when they use a badger blender (the big flat one: not the small round one). They hold it delicately. They hold it as if it were a feather duster.
Last week when I was teaching a very promising beginner, I was reminded of this useful point.
Namely, it’s easy to take a rule (“Do it like this …”) and generalize it to an incorrect situation.
Here’s an example.
It concerns how you use your painting bridge.
Firing shouldn’t be a problem. ‘Shouldn’t be.’ Yes, I know there are times when, no matter how experienced we are, everyone gets anxious about it. I’m just the same.
But really it’s far easier and more predictable to fire glass paint than ceramic glazes for example. There’s also much less to think about than if you’re fusing. What I’m saying is, glass painters are actually very lucky here: it’s important to keep things in perspective. So here are 12 quick points I always run through before settling on a particular stained glass firing schedule. These points let me get a good night’s sleep (because I mostly fire overnight, you see).
When you buy a kiln, you also need a shelf (or shelves if there are several levels in your kiln).
But you don’t fire your glass directly on this shelf.
All this defines your quest: you want a non-stick, smooth surface which expands and contracts with your glass.