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Leigh has been working with glass and metal for over a decade. She is continuously challenging her abilities to bring the work to a place of maturity, through countless classes in the glass and metal field. The dedication and knowledge she has acquired shows through her uniquely stylistic jewelry and glass beads.
Leigh's glass has been chosen as part of an exhibition "Trajectories", progression in contemporary art glass beads, hosted by the International Society of Glass Beadmakers and The Bead Museum, in Glendale, Arizona. She has also written a step by step instructional article for the "the Flow" magazine, a trade publication for glass workers. Leigh co-curated an exhibit with the Lexington Metalsmiths and the Boston, Chapter of the International Society of Glass Beadmakers. "The Glass Meets Metal Show" held at the Lexinton Arts and Crafts Society.
Here are some descriptions of the many techniques Leigh uses to create her glass and metal pieces.
Lampworking:
Lampworking is glassworking using a torch to melt and shape the glass. It is also known as flameworking or torchworking, as the modern practice no longer uses oil-fueled lamps. Although the art form has been practiced since ancient times, it became widely practiced in Murano, Italy in the 14th century. In the mid 19th century lampwork technique was extended to the production of paperweights, primarily in France, where it became a popular art form, still collected today.
Early lampworking was done in the flame of an oil lamp, with the artist blowing air into the flame through a pipe. Most artists today use torches that burn either propane or natural gas for the fuel gas, with either air or pure oxygen (which can be produced by an oxygen concentrator) as the oxidizer. It was not until the late 1960s that lampwork became recognized as a serious art form by German born lampwork glass artist Hans Godo Frabel who utilized his scientific glassblowing training to create relatively large pieces of lampwork glass art in borosilicate.
In addition to beads and artwork, lampworking is used to create scientific tools, particularly for chemistry Lampworking can be done with many types of glass, but the most common are soda-lime glass, sometimes called "soft glass" - and borosilicate glass, often called "hard glass. Leaded glass tubing was commonly used in the manufacture of neon signs, although its use has been fading due to environmental concerns and health risks.
Different colors of glass must be carefully selected for compatibility with each other, both chemically (more of a concern with soft glass than borosilicate)and in terms of coefficient of thermal expansion (COE) {Also used is CTE for Coefficient of Thermal Expansion}. Glass with incompatible COE, mixed together, can create powerful stresses within a finished piece as it cools, cracking or violently shattering the piece. Different major types of glass, e.g., borosilicate and soda-lime glass, are not compatible with each other. Chemically, some colors can react with each other when melted together. This may cause desirable effects in coloration, metallic sheen, or result in an aesthetically pleasing "web effect". It also can cause undesirable effects such as unattractive discoloration, bubbling, or devitrification.
Borosilicate glass is considered more forgiving to work with, as its lower COE makes it less apt to crack during flameworking than soda-lime glass. However, it has a narrower working temperature range than soda-lime glass, has fewer available colors, and is considerably more expensive. Also, its working range is at higher temperatures than soda-lime glass, requiring larger torches and the use of oxygen instead of air. In addition to producing a hotter flame, the use of pure oxygen allows more control over the flame's oxidizing or reducing properties, which is necessary because some coloring chemicals in borosilicate glass react with any remaining oxygen in the flame either to produce the desired final color or to discolor if extra oxygen is present. Leigh uses Borosilicate glass to create her beads.
Precious Metal Clay:
Metal clay, is a clay-like medium used to make jewelry, beads and small sculpture. It consists of very small particles of precious metals (such as silver, gold or platinum) mixed with an organic binder and water. Metalclay can be shaped just like any soft clay, by hand or using moulds. After drying, it is fired in a kiln, with a handheld gas torch, or on a gas stove. The binder burns away, leaving the pure, sintered metal. Shrinkage of between 8% and 30% occurs (depending on the product used), but this is exploited by artisans to produce very fine detail.
Silver precious metal clay results in objects containing .999 pure silver which is ideal for enamelling. Gold clay is much more expensive to use by itself, but can be used to make beautiful accents on silver objects.
Metal clay is sold in sealed packets to keep it moist and workable. It is also sold as a softer paste in a pre-filled syringe which can be used to produce extrude forms and as paper-like sheets, from which most of the moisture has been removed. Silver metal clay is also available in a dry powder form to which the user adds water to obtain any desired consistency.
There are two popular brands of this material, Precious Metal Clay (PMC) and Art Clay Silver (ACS). Precious Metal Clay or PMC was developed in the early 1990s in Japan by metallurgist Dr. A. Morikawa.
The material consists of extremely fine precious metal powder and a water-soluble organic binder which burns off during firing. Success was first achieved with gold, and later duplicated with silver, PMC Original which had to be fired in a kiln and had a very high shrinkage rate. Mitsubishi Materials Corporation, a subsidiary of Mitsubishi, later developed two additional versions of silver called PMC+, which displays less shrinkage, and PMC3, which fires at lower temperatures in a kiln or by using a torch. A 22k gold coating material (Aura 22), and a 22k yellow gold alloy are also manufactured.[1] PMC also manufacures an 18k gold clay and a platinum clay, but these latter two are only marketed in Japan.
Art Clay or ACS was developed by AIDA Chemical Industries. Art Clay followed PMC Original with their Art Clay Original clay, which allowed the user to use a handheld torch or gas hob for firing. The clay also shrank a lot less, only 8-10%.
Further developments introduced the Art Clay Slow Dry, a clay with a longer working time. Art Clay 650 and Art Clay 650 Slow Dry soon followed - both clays that can be fired as low as 650C, allowing the user to combine the clay with glass and sterling silver which had previously been affected by the higher temperature needed to fire the previous clays. AIDA also manufacturers Oil Paste, a product only used on fired metal clay, and Overlay Paste, which is designed for drawing designs on glass and porcelain.
In 2006 AIDA also introduced the Art Clay Gold Paste, a more economical way to work with gold. The paste is painted onto the fired silver clay, then refired in a kiln, or with a torch or gas stove. When fired it bonds with the silver, giving a 22ct gold accent. The same year also saw Art Clay Slow Tarnish introduced, a clay which tarnishes less rapidly than the other metal clays. Leigh uses Art Clay Products to create her metal clay creations. Definitions came from Widipedia.
Cold working:
Cold Working refers to methods that work the glass in it's "frozen state". It includes Sandblasting, Engraving, Cutting, Grinding, and Polishing. Each of these techniques allows by itself an array of possibilities in Art Glass. Cold Work often results in pure geometric forms. Some artists consider the cold work as an extension of their "hot work". But most Cold Work artists use glass that was produced for their needs in specialized places in the US and in Europe. Borosilicate and soda lime glass is often used in Cold Work sculptures.
Other Techniques:
Forging, soldering, fusing, Keum Boo, texturing, embossing, electroforming and beading.
Leigh exhibits both nationally and internationally, teaches workshops in lampworking, cold working and Precious Metal Clay.
"I feel extremely lucky to be able to do the things I do, in spite of all the chaos in the world today. There is nothing, more simply gratifying, than to create something beautiful and share it with someone who appreciates it. I love to share and make others smile!!!I am also a Mother, Wife and Chef, cooking is my other passion in life, I love to share food and make others say yum!!!!
Thank you and I am looking forward to hearing your thoughts."
Leigh H. Keenan
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