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Artistic inscriptions on glass & crystal

Whenever we hear the word “artist” we always picture this amazingly talented individual with his own studio to paint or sculpt in. He surely has little time to invest in anything else, because he is busy doing exhibitions for his newest $240,000 dollar piece somewhere in Amsterdam. While a very few artists do fit in that genre, one would be amazed to find that a large majority of artists work from the home and pull in between 10 and 100 dollars for their masterpieces. You see; all artists aren’t famous. Many sit on their talents throughout their entire life, never allowing their muse to come out. Are you one of these? There is a way to find out and it’s relatively inexpensive, free in some cases.

The art that we speak of is that of artistically placing inscriptions and engravings on glass and crystal. You’ve seen the work in every gift store, but have always just assumed that it was done by machine. You know pieces we’re talking about, the wine glasses beautifully engraved with an ocean or a mountain scene, glass paperweights with images etched onto them, etc. It is amazing how fast our perception of these items turn from products to art once we learn that there was a human hand in it.

Of course, your initial thought is that you are not talented enough to ever be able to do this. You might be surprised to find out how many people actually do this artistic craft from their home or garage. Do an Internet search of the words “engraved glass” and sit back and marvel at the massive amounts of online glass engraving sites that are run from someone’s home. These people are actually making money at this. You can too, with little cost.

The first thing that you will require is a Dremmel. That’s right, a simple Dremmel tool that you can purchase for twenty-dollars or less at any hardware or department store. After you have this, go buy some nice wine glasses. They may cost your ten dollars a set, max. Don’t buy anything too expensive at first until you have had time to practice your newfound artistic ability.

Now, at this point you will need a picture of whatever it is you are wanting engraved on the glass. As we stated before, start with something basic and simple, such as a cross. Tape the picture of the cross on the inside of the glass. This gives you the ability to merely trace over the picture from the outside. Alternately, you can also use a marker to draw the design on the outside of the glass if you would rather.

Next, put a diamond burr bit tip into your dremmel. Before you start panicking at the thought of buying anything diamond, these will run between three and five dollars apiece. Tighten the bit in good and turn your dremmel on. Make sure you are wearing safety glasses and some sort of respirator mask. You can get them cheap at any paint shop, usually no more than a quarter each.

Then, you merely start engraving. Be patient as no one starts out as a professional, yet most people are very pleased with their initial artistic expression. Always keep a damp rag around to wipe the glass dust off your work so you can see what you are doing.

Haven’t you kept your artistic muse penned up quite long enough? Wouldn’t it be grand to have everyone looking upon your art with amazement? For less than fifty dollars you can be a true artist, and even sell your work.

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Related topics:

Glass etching
Metal art & design

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