Failed Experiments Are Learning Experiences, Right?

Scott holds the glass up to show me the colors and flow pattern.

Scott had high hopes for a project that would showcase flowing glass.

First he tack fused strips of deep purple and clear glass so they became 2+-inch blocks of glass. He then created a border with stripes of clear, lavender, transparent green and aventurine glass into a 12-inch square. In the center, he set the previously tack-fused blocks standing up with plenty of open space around them, and programmed the kiln for a full fuse.

When he checked the kiln the next morning mid-cycle, he saw that there were still some empty spots so he added some extra time to the program hoping the glass would finish flowing.

But when the fuse was done, the glass still had a few open spaces where the flowing glass hadn't completely filled in.

You can see two of the places the glass is pierced near the center block.

While we admired the glass, holding it up to the light to see things better, we heard a ping. And then another one. And another one.

At first, we couldn't figure out what was making the sound. I thought maybe it was Scott's wedding ring hitting the glass. Since one happened as he set it down on the work table, Scott thought maybe there was a piece of glass underneath it and it was the sound of glass hitting glass.

And then it happened again, and Scott spotted where a crack had suddenly appeared. We went to bed knowing there were several cracks, and I planned to take more photos today and this weekend we would take the piece into Bullseye Glass to find out what the experts thought had gone wrong.

Sadly, overnight, the cracks continued to progress. This morning, it had completely broken in two.

So pretty, but so flawed.

Scott will undoubtedly be back to the drawing board for another attempt after we get some feedback from the good folks at Bullseye.