Implosion Pendant Tutorial
So I finally got some time and studio access and I make a new pendant. While the pictures in this tutorial aren't extensive (it is difficult to work with glass and take pictures at the same time) I did take a few pictures along the way.
Here is the final product, but I'll walk you through the process.
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This process all starts with a rod of clear glass and a torch. The torch emits a mixture of oxygen and natural gas which burns at a very high temperature.
The trick is to melt the clear rod into a small ball shape.
Next, we press the ball into a graphite pad. This flattens the sphere into a hemisphere shape. The flat part of the hemisphere will allow an easier application surface for color in the following steps.
At this point we have a flat surface to apply dots of color (these are the dark blue dots in the final product picture). This step requires glass rods of color, which we melt and then press quickly onto the bottom of the hemisphere.
After we apply the color, we can melt this into the hemisphere.
After this we melt the rod with the color applied into a sphere shape and press it down on the graphite pad again. This forces the color dots up inside the now hemisphere shape. After doing this a few times we apply another layer of color (this will be the lighter blue).
Here, I wasn't able to take many pictures because I didn't have a photographer and needed both hands. But the next few steps involve melting and then pressing the piece onto the graphite pad until the colors are satisfyingly imploded.
Then we use powdered glass (the white background) to create the backdrop for the implosion. This step involves heating the bottom and pressing it onto white powdered glass (this is on the graphite pad in the background of the picture).
After this, we attach a small glass rod to the bottom of the piece and flame cut the large glass rod off the top of the pendant.
Lastly, we attach a small piece of white glass to the top and melt it into a hook (the part of the pendant that the string goes through on a neckless).
If everything goes well you end up with a pendant like this!
Thank you so much for reading!
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