Steider Studios Glass Medium™ Now Available!
June 25, 2010
It’s finally here! Today is the first day Steider Studios Glass Medium™ is available!
I’m happy to announce the following tiered pricing schedule with two sizes available: (shipping not included)
Regular size makes 12 cups:
Economy size makes 21 cups:
Non-domestic orders welcome.
Steider Studios Glass Medium™ a thickening agent and binder for mixing with powdered glass.
Applications: Glass Paste or Clay, (sculpting, modeling, pattern bars), Freeze in Candy or Soap Molds then Fuse, Liquid Lines, Traditional Pâte de Verre techniques and more.
Advantages: No residue after firing, no odor, non-toxic, easy to use, ability to carve into and ‘cold work’ dry but not yet fired glass paste or clay; inexpensive; easy to use, just add water.
I’ve spent 10 years searching for the best binder with little or no residue after firing, then 2 more years testing this one. I proudly offer it to you with the following tutorial so you can see some of the ways I use it:
I asked friends across the US and Canada to try it and here’s what a few of them had to say:
“I wanted to let you know how impressed I am with Steider Studios Glass Medium™. I have used CMC before, but your product is definitely better. What I am working on is small sculptures to incorporate into some new pieces. I can eliminate pouring waxes and making plaster molds, and go straight from the rubber mold to the kiln. What a wonderful time saver, but more importantly, the sculptures are shiny and not matt, which at times I prefer.” Avery Anderson, Avery Anderson.com
“Hands down I will buy this product because the results produced are of the highest quality. There is no comparison to any of the other binders on the market. Clear and smooth!” Karina Cross, The Glass Muse
“I’m very impressed with your new binder! It was very easy to get the right consistency to it, and easy to work with…wasn’t sticky or dry, held nicely.” Nicole Hanna, Nicole Hanna Designs
“I find the end result color to be SPOT ON. I am doing a variation of “freeze-n-fuse” and will continue to tweak and play. It’s fun to work with and has some great potential for exploration!” Nancy Barry, Barry Glasseworks
“I found using Linda’s Medium made the glass clay mixture much easier to work with. I have some new projects on which I plan to use the medium.” Shirley Hendel
“I love the product. I have carved my own designs, used it in homemade molds, done a little miliefiori, made shapes using candy molds, cut shapes using small cookie cutters, and my favorite way is to pipe it out of a flexible plastic bottle. My mind races with opportunities that this product presents to my glass fusing!” Shirley Jones, Heart & Soul Studios
I can’t wait to see what YOU do with Steider Studios Glass Medium™!! If you’d like to share your projects using SSGM, please send photos not larger than 3″ on one side. 300 dpi if you’d like your project using Steider Studios Glass Medium™ considered for future publication; or 72 dpi just to share. Thank you!
Try it! I think you’ll like it!!
Effective 4.1.15 this part of my business is for sale. I have just sold the last of SSGM and will not be re-ordering supplies to continue selling it. If I find a buyer I will re-direct all links to the new owner so that my hard work doesn’t fade away. Thank you so much for supporting my efforts all these years.
If you like this post, sign up to receive an email for future posts so you don’t miss anything. It’s easy, just click the box at the top right of this page that says ‘Sign me up!” and type in your email. It’s right under the yellow close-up photo of my work.
Using Steider Studios Glass Medium in Candy Molds
June 24, 2010
After mixing my glass paste, or glass clay as discussed here, I might choose to use candy or soap molds to form little critters instead of hand sculpting them. I can make multiples in minutes instead of painstakingly trying to reproduce each one by hand.
When using candy molds, I can’t always find the shapes I want. Recently I discovered that a friend from high school has a candy mold store, “Get Suckered” with thousands of molds to choose from!
By the way, you can mix colors to produce almost any color under the sun. Keep in mind you still can’t mix red and blue and expect purple…no you can’t… you’ll get brown. You’ll also get brown if you mix any of the reactive colors together, but there are some lovely browns to be had. You CAN, get hundreds (maybe thousands) of shades of green. And blue. You can get rich shades of each color by mixing in a small portion of it’s opposite. You can also alter the color by mixing in small amounts of colored mica. I use one heaping spoonful of powdered glass to one tiny spoon (see the tiny spoon on my website) of mica. You can also dilute colors by mixing with clear. Start with a 50:50 mix, then add more clear in repeatable increments. The color possibilities are endless.
When you have your glass paste, or clay mixed (see this post for mixing the medium and powdered glass – don’t forget to wear your respirator or disposable particulate mask) use a palette knife to press the paste firmly into your mold. If using clear molds, you can carefully turn it over (or hold it above your head and look up at the underside) to be sure you’ve pressed out all the air bubbles. If you see a bubble, press firmly into that spot until you press the bubble out. You can also pack the paste a little at a time, in layers to avoid trapping bubbles. This method is especially helpful for larger molds.
Place the filled mold into a baggie and seal it so you don’t have granules of glass escaping into your freezer. Freeze for an hour or so, then promptly remove and pop the components out by gently pressing on the back of the mold. Carefully place the frozen components onto paper towels to dry.
I like to use a food dehydrator to speed up the drying process. When teaching a one-day workshop, we have to use hair dryers to speed up the drying process. If you don’t have a dehydrator, simply set your pieces aside for a few days and let them dry naturally.
Once dry, glass clay is very fragile, like a meringue cookie so use care in handling it. Gently peel off the paper towel from the bottom. Using an emery board and wearing your respirator, file off any rough edges along the bottom. Use a wooden skewer to sand off any rough spots in your details. You can use a skewer or a dental tool to carve in additional lines if desired. Just remember to take care as it’s fragile. Did I already say it’s fragile? It’s very fragile!
Refer back to my original tutorial for finishing techniques and firing tips.
The advantage to using Glass Medium instead of a slurry without a binder is that you can coldwork your edges and carve in additional detail prior to firing. You end up with a nicer finish on your fired glass candy mold sculpture.
What to do with them? I like giving them as a token to someone who has purchased my work. I put them in my garden, Use as drawer pulls; openers on jewelry boxes; glue a bail on, wire wrap, or drill a hole and wear as jewelry, ….what do you do with yours?
By the way, my next post will be announcing the product launch, at long last … Steider Studios Glass Medium!
This small herd of turtles is how it felt waiting for the finish line, aka launch date!
Effective 4.1.15 this part of my business is for sale. I have just sold the last of SSGM and will not be re-ordering supplies to continue selling it. If I find a buyer I will re-direct all links to the new owner so that my hard work doesn’t fade away. Thank you so much for supporting my efforts all these years.
If you like this post, sign up to receive an email for future posts so you don’t miss anything. It’s easy, just click the box at the top right of this page that says ‘Sign me up!” and type in your email. It’s right under the yellow close-up photo of my work.
William Morris Exhibit at Maryhill Museum
June 13, 2010
While waiting for the finishing touches of my new Glass Medium to be finished up so I can start distributing, life goes on….I was hoping my next post would be ‘Available NOW’, but alas, it’s not…but it is almost….almost ready!
In the meantime… If you haven’t seen it yet, you MUST go see the ‘Native Species’ exhibit by William Morris at Maryhill Museum in Goldendale Washington. It runs through September 6th, then I believe it’s traveling to Colorado next.
Last night Maryhill Museum put on yet another sumptuous evening with great food catered by Nora’s Table and entertainment by the Mobile Hot Shop from Tacoma’s Museum of Glass. The afternoon began with a Gallery Walk led by Linda Tesner, curator of the George R. Stroemple Collection, then a wonderful lecture by William Warmus on Émile Gallé and William Morris whose work we were all there to see.
It was the opening reception for ‘Native Species’ and a few glass artists were lucky enough to be on the invitation list. A highlight was visiting with William Warmus and having him sign our copies of ‘William Morris – Native Species‘, a gorgeous hardcover catalog of the collection.
Heralding our departure and the evening finale, a choir of peacocks on the museum grounds. Thank you so much Maryhill for another fabulous evening!
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