Landscape in Miniature

Today I decided to go small, and create some miniature Alaskan landscape scenes. Each of these strips is 1 1/8" high and about 7 inches long. I sifted black frit powder across each, then used a small brush, a sculpting tool and an Xacto knife to carefully remove the powder to create stands of trees, mountains, water, and islands. It was a tedious exercise, but I was happy with the result.

Of course, when you're working with powdered glass you don't have the luxury of being able to sneeze. In fact, I wear a respirator and even then sometimes catch myself holding my breath while I work on a particularly detailed spot.

I will fire these tonight and the bottom strip of forest will probably end up as a "part sheet", which means I will cut it into smaller chunks for use in other projects. The upper strip will be incorporated into a larger piece with other glass. I never run out of inspiration when it comes to the landscape here in Alaska.