I went on a kiln carving course last year and have had a couple of goes at it. I have an owl, a celtic knot – of which I am very pleased, a Christmas Tree – a bit out of season, and a flower. However, when I recently attended a craft fair I was asked for a penguin and…..a sloth. I hope you’ll agree that they came out rather well. Now I have been asked for a ballerina! I still have the original four for sale but that’s the way of things.
To do kiln carving you need fibre paper of various thicknesses and to have prefired two 3mm pieces of glass (clear in this case) or a piece of 6mm unfired glass. The image can be made from fibre paper in two ways, either carved out or built up. 3mm fibre paper can be carved with a craft knife and through as many layers as you wish. If you want to use the building up method you can cut the pieces out of 1,2 or 3mm paper and put them on top of each other. This is how I made these. Some of the fibre paper leaves a rougher surface than others and this can lead to very interesting and useful imagery.
You can also use lettering to spell a message. These are wedding coasters made in the same way.
Have carving
