Lin Sweeten has been working in fused glass for five years. She originally went to Ghost Ranch in Aibiqui, New Mexico and learned under Olive Smith of Santa Fe, New Mexico. After working with Ms. Smith for three years, her husband bought her a glass kiln. Over the years, Lin has given most of her jewelry art away to friends. Once she got her own kiln, however, she decided to start her own jewelry “shop” and sell the art work she makes.

The Process and Materials

All of the fused glass pieces are made of a special fusible glass that has annealing properties. Each piece is carefully cut, ground and assembled into what Lin refers to as “glass sandwiches”.

There are three kiln fuses but she uses mostly “full fuse” – where the entire piece slumps down into one piece, or the “tack fuse” where the pieces melt enough to bond to the piece below it giving it a three dimensional effect. The pieces are placed in the kiln and stay there for about 16 hours. The kiln heats up slowly and cools slowly so as to prevent breakage of the glass. Each firing produces surprises, meaning, some pieces turn out exactly as planned and some don’t. No two pieces are alike, although one can achieve some similarities with the pieces.

A special glass known for its sparkling attributes that is used in many of the pieces is called dichroic glass. This glass contains 30 – 50 micro layers of different metals and metal oxides. The dichroic has a transmitted color and a reflective color depending upon how the light hits it and the angle. Each piece of dichroic glass is unique. Over 45 colors of dichroic glass are produced.

Art items available for sale and Our Gallery is Online

• Pendants

• Earrings

• Bracelets

• Wine Stoppers

• Pet jewelry

• Rings

• Glass tiles

• Letter opener

Other items available for purchase:

• Silver chain – 16”, 18”, 20”

• Gold chain - 16”, 18”, 20”

• Satin cords – available in black, taupe, brown, pink, lavender, purple, beige, red, green.

Contact

Email     sales@sweetlinjewelry.com
Phone (856) 547-8789