A Field Trip and a New Friend

I had a chance to go to a glass wholesaler here in Houston with a fellow glass artist yesterday. She and I have conversed through bulletin boards and emails for about a year, but only met today. What a dear person. We had a great time talking about glass, families, teaching classes, and much more as she showed me around the Hollander Glass wholesale warehouse. They are mostly a stained glass supplier, but they did have quite a bit of fusible glass, mostly System 96. Because of my recent cutting disasters, I was in need of several large coe90 pieces to replace all that I have wasted. She graciously volunteered to allow me to buy what I needed on her account with just a small upcharge. As usual, I came back with much more than I had intended. At wholesale prices I was able to dip my toe into a bit of Spectrum 96. I now have more to experiment and learn with. My black and white coral bowl went through its fourth firing yesterday. It's in the kiln right now approaching slump temps. Most of the offending haze did seem to be removed by the etching cream. That's a good thing! Once I have it out of the way, I can go onto other pieces I have rumbling about in my head.

So many ideas...so little time!