As I’ve been playing with glass enamels lately – and seeing how they work with oils vs. water mediums – I had the ‘opportunity’ to work with lavender and clove oil.  They sound pleasant, don’t they?  Or at least harmless and aromatic.  Ummm … NOT!  That clove oil stunk.  It stunk BAD.  Like air-out-the-studio-for-2-days-and-I-could-still-smell-it BAD!   So, I started researching – because the idea of using that clove oil again had me just a tad nauseous.  Why these stinky oils?  Why not something bland and boring, like vegetable oil?  Corn oil?  Maybe even peanut oil?  Tanning oil?  What about motor oil?  I couldn’t find ANY info.  So, I asked one of the fusing forums.  While no one addressed vegetable oils specifically, the thought was that the bland oils would be too flammable.  Hmmm.  Yeah, maybe … but that clove oil really stinks!  So – I tried the vegetable oil.  Not super thick, just enough to give the enamel some ‘character’.  Outside of the trapped air bubbles within the fused cab (USER ERROR!!!) … I like it!

In the meantime, I also discovered pine oil/squeegee oil/A8.  Which IS safe for fusing, and smells better.  (Not great, but tolerable.)

And, I’m moving along with my decal experiments.  These are three different color profile/printer settings (default, my specific profile and one I’m “not supposed to use”) … Mmhmm!  The next round of experiments are in the kiln now…

Time for a bit of sunshine –”Of relaxing in the summer sun, just lettin’ off steam.”