Since glass is so expensive, creating glass art using scrap glass is a transformative process where discarded pieces are reborn into stunning works of creativity. Every piece I make always leaves some scrap glass, so why not use it?

The crushing glass experiment required using a clean plastic bucket, placing pieces of glass in the bucket, and using a 2x4 (trimmed a bit) to pound the glass to break it into smaller pieces. I sorted them into small, medium, and large containers. I  have a frit maker with various screen sizes that I also used to get smaller pieces of glass and powder.

For this project, I piled shades of blue, green, and clear on a lined shelf and fused them without a dam. The set point temperature was too low to move the glass like in boiling. I didn't dam the glass since the goal was to depict an underwater scene. I hoped the edges would expand into ripples. After fusing, I added black powder to the top to form a manta ray and fused the piece again. The end result is the piece measures approximately 9.25" x 8.5"  x .25".