Life has other plans

Twice, lately, I've had either disasters in the kiln or pulled out something entirely unexpected. Both times the unexpected was pretty wonderful. I think that's what keeps me addicted to glass - that element of not quite knowing what will happen. Okay, sometimes (like last weekend) it's that I've forgotten to put the thermocouple in the right place and the kiln is now glowing red-hot (and goodness only knows how long it's been glowing like that!) and the elements are now melted into the ruined mold. (Note to self: order new element and be more careful.) But other times, like today, I pull out an entirely unexpected effect and fall in love all over again.

Last year I made Christmas ornaments (hey, they're red & green, they're Christmas) that didn't...quite...succeed. In theory they were great, but in reality...well, reality bites, as the 90s movie goes. So this year, I re-melted those ornaments (another thing I love about kiln work - endless reuse/recycle opportunities) and made another piece of green, red, and white glass. And off to one side, as if it were from a separate batch of glass, was this wonderful piece of clear with narrow ribbons of red, green and white running through it, some combination of reticello and ribbon candy. Wow. Now there's another batch of glass in that kiln, trying to create something to resemble this happy accident.

What's not to love about glass?