Frit, What's That?

by Kimberly Rogers of NuminosityBeads

Some of us artists who specialize in certain techniques such as lampworking tend to forget that not everybody is as familiar with terms as we are and maybe throw some words around thinking that folks will understand what we are talking about.

Recently I have been asked a few times "What is frit?"

In lampworking or glassblowing terms it's just a crushed glass that can be applied to the hot glass that will give a very organic spotted look.

It can be a slivered glass that will produce more metallic and ethereal effects such as these by JsavinaBeads

or simply a more colorful confetti-like array of colors

Here is an example of frit that has been applied and not fully melted in for a unique texture by

                                                                    CabariBeads

or these more ethereal and organic spots on these rounds by the same artist.

I applied some very coarse frit to this enameled copper here

and  I used some multicolored frit called "raku" although it has nothing to do with actual raku ceramic technique other than the oxides that cause this frit to vary in color when introduced to the heat.

Some of my headpins with some coarse silvered metallic frit

The smaller frit can produce a more granite- like stone effect in conjunction with the baking soda treatment I use to "crustify" my beads

Shiny or crusty it's an effect that I employ for a large part of my handmade components.

Some of you might recognize this from my NuminosityBeads avatar. It's an extreme close-up of a cased bead (meaning a layer of clear glass has been applied over the base and frit to achieve magnification)

So now next time you hear or see the word frit you'll be in the know.