Techniques of Glass Casting

The first of dicastglass Techniques of Glass Casting Workshops was held on the 8th, 9th and 15th of March '08.

Eight keen students attended coming from close and afar (Hamilton, Waikato, Auckland, New Plymouth and Oamaru). They proved to be a very creative bunch and the group included a jewelery maker, 2 potters, 2 stone carvers, a mosaic artist.

Di and the students were fortunate to have Colleen Ryan-Priest as Technical Assistant. Di and Colleen regularly share the glass studio and one student commented "I really enjoyed the informal partnership between Di and Colleen - 2 different styles and approaches, both really generous with your knowledge/space and materials".

Each student was able to create 2 glass pieces. Project #1 was a small piece. Di got the students to work quickly with a piece of clay and mould this using the 'pour' method. Colleen then loaded these into the kiln for firing overnight. (A system glitch however, meant these were not ready the next day, but were fired along with Project #2 in the week)

Project #2 was a piece that Di had encouraged the students to think about for a couple of weeks. Each student bought a few ideas to the table, and from these an idea suitable to working in modeling wax was selected. The wax was started on Saturday afternoon and completed on Sunday morning. This time the moulds were made using the layering method as the shapes were more intricate. The wax was steamed out and the student selected and loaded there glass ready for firing.

The students returned for the 'unveiling' of the work the following weekend and to do some finishing work to the glass.

Some absolutely fabulous results were achieved and everyone was pleased with the final product. Di said " I am really impressed with the quality and range of ideas the students produced".

Student quotes
"It was a thoroughly enjoyable workshop Di. Thank you. You and Colleen are so well informed - it gave me great confidence in what I doing. I didn't even panic too much about my creative abilities! I would recommend the workshop to anyone". Toni, Auckland

"Thanks to you both for a very enjoyable and educational workshop. I would really love to continue with casting glass under tuition and would like information about future courses. Good luck with your upcoming classes". Michelle, Hamilton