My name is Debbie Jansen and I have lived in beautiful Victoria, British Columbia for most of my life after emigrating from England as a child.
I became interested in glass after taking a course in making a stepping stone from glass and cement. From there I have taken various courses with stained glass, using both lead came and the copper foil method, but after learning about fusing glass in a kiln, I was hooked.
The process of fusing glass has been around for centuries. To fuse glass there are sometimes as few as two steps or many more depending on the desired outcome. The glass, which is specially designed for fusing, is first cut into the desired shapes and then reassembled on a kiln shelf and fired in the kiln at approximately 1460 F, for up to 12 hours, as you have to wait until the kiln has completely cooled down (as I learned by opening it too soon and having my plate break because it cooled too quickly). Then the flat fused piece of glass is placed on a ceramic mold and “slumped” into your desired shape at a lower temperature of 1150 F, this again takes another 12 or so hours.
I have had many successes, and a few oopses that I display proudly in my home and I am always learning and trying new techniques which include sandblasting designs onto the glass, using powdered glass to make very interesting visual effects and some works that have a raised 3D relief.
You can see more of Debbie Jansens beautiful work at Side Street Studio in Victoria, B.C. and at Debbies web site.
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