Thursday, October 3, 2013

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.

8 comments:

Erika said...

I love the beautiful effects of frit!

Keith@ Vintage Crab Jewelry and Crafts said...

The shiny beads are pretty but I think lately I am falling in love with the crusty beads. How about a post devoted to those?

fanciful devices said...

thats nothing- ask anyone in any tech or science field what they do and duck as a torrent of unknown terms come at you!
oh too much eye candy here! I love the idea of coarse frit used as enamel. you are too creative!

Artisan Beads Plus said...

That is very cool..... I love all of the different looks especially the stony ones!

Kelli said...

SO VERY COOL!!!!!!!!! I don't do glass, but you're using it on enameled copper too, aren't you? SO SO COOL!!!!!! :)

Libby Leuchtman said...

Yep we glass workers forget that not everyone knows our terms. Thanks for the great explanation! Beautiful collection of beads.

ciaolucia said...

All your work is beautiful!

Aimee Domash said...

I am an enamelist. I was wondering if I could put a light coat of frit over vitreous enamel or perhaps directly on to the copper itself. The COE is different but I have seen this application on the web so I know in some fashion it can be done, I am just unsure of the details. Would you have any knowledge of this process??? I can probably figure out the process if you could point me in the right direction. I see your frit you put over copper... Can you tell me what kind, brand, COE you used.... Unless it's top secret! Thanks if you can share!! ��

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