Description of the Technique Fusing is the process of melting together sections of glass (assembled cold and spot glued beforehand), by controlled firing in a kiln at approximately 800°-900°C, thus yielding a homogenous whole. During this procedure, the glass becomes soft but never reaches a thoroughly liquid state. This technique is often accompanied by the technique of slumping, thereby facilitating the shaping of the sheet of fused glass with appropriate molds. The first step in the fusing process is to prepare the glass sections, which must be cut, cleaned, ground and glued, before being placed on the kiln shelf. The firing must then be controlled in accordance with the required rate of heating, annealing and cooling.

Fusing is a direct derivation from the ancient technique of mosaic glass, practiced by Hellenistic glassmakers in the third century BCE, then throughout the Roman world. The mosaic pieces were executed in two steps. The first consisted of assembling the segments or sections of glass cane, juxtaposed cold on a plate, then firing and annealling, to perfectly fuse them together. The second step consisted of placing the still soft mosaic glass on a form or in a mold, before re-firing it in order to embrace that shape. Revisited by contemporary glassmakers since the 1980’s in the wake of the Studio Glass movement in the United States, fusing offers a very simple and pictorial means of expression. Current technology puts at the glassmaker’s disposal two types of glass particularly well suited for fusing -- Bullseye and Wasser -- even though other kinds of glass can be used as well, provided they are compatible.

Toots Zynsky has developed a very personalized technique which consists of assembling, fusing and slumping very thin strands of glass ( rather than fragments ), heir to the “fili” of Murano. She creates in this manner powerfully pictorial vessels of supple form and intense coloration.

TOOTS ZYNSKY NICOLE BARONDEAU

EBERLE Bettina, “Creative Glass Techniques”, Lark Books, Asheville,1997 DE MIRBECK Xavier, “Technique du Verre”,Dessain et Tolra,Paris,1992