My friend Dylan sent Flat Stanley to me in Sebastopol, California for a visit as part of his second grade literacy and community building project.
I couldn’t talk Flat Stanley into getting his face painted, so he watched while my husband and I did some fused glass art. We use special glass that comes flat (Stanley’s favorite) in chunks or powder called frit, and in skinny sticks called stringers.
The different colors come from minerals and chemicals in the glass. For example, cobalt makes blue. Sulfur makes yellow. Pink is a very expensive color because real gold goes into making it.
We spread out the flat glass on the kiln shelf, then sprinkle layers of frit. When it’s melted in our kiln (a giant, really hot oven for heating glass or pottery) the glass gets red hot, and flattens into one big smooth piece. After the glass anneals (cools slowly so it won’t crack) we’ll take it out ofthe kiln, clean it, cut it into a shape and make something out of it. Maybe a bowl or a dish. Do you think Flat Stanley would like it better flat?
Auntie Stacey's Face Painting 