Digitry Company, Inc.
188 State Street, Suite 21, Portland, Maine 04101
207-774-0300 FAX: 617-484-5220

Susan preparing fish	Blackened Powdered Mola Fish

BLACKENED POWDERED MOLA FISH

This recipe is inspired by the "mola," a colorful layered and cut-away type of stitchwork produced by the Cuna Indians from the San Blas Islands off the coast of Panama. The combination of red, orange, blue, and black are traditional, with fish being a typical motif.

Ingredients and Equipment
2 pieces Bullseye glass, the same size (0321, pumpkin orange)
Bullseye #8 powders (0124 red, 0114 cobalt blue, 0100 black)
Tea ball
OSHA-approved mask
Newspapers, stilts
Tape
Small sable brush
Resist
Sharpie, pencil
X-acto knife
Shallow mold
Sandblaster
Kiln

Steps
1. Fire 2 pieces of glass together, top side down, to 1450F.
2. Clean the fired piece.
3. Place on stilts on newspaper, with the face that touched the kiln shelf now up.
4. Scoop 0124 powder into the tea ball.
5. Cover fused piece with 0124 powder, with a steady back and forth motion until the entire surface is covered. Turn the piece 90º and repeat the process.
6. Repeat two more times. Each pass should be a slow, steady tapping on the tea ball. Refill the tea ball as needed. Be sure to wear a mask. Clean up any unwanted powder with the small sable brush.
7. Fire at 1325F.
8. If the base glass shows through the powdered layer, repeat the process. The goal is to have each layer thick enough so that you can blast TO the layer unless you choose to blast THROUGH the layer. If you want areas of the 0124 red exposed, cover the desired exposed area with any easily removable tape, such as blue painter's tape.
9. Cover with 0114, making 4 passes.
10. Carefully brush the powder off the tape, then carefully peel the tape. Clean up any unwanted powder with the brush.
11. Fire to 1325F.
12. Cover with 0100, making 4 passes.
13. Fire at 1325F.
14. Cover fired piece with resist.
15. Draw fish as desired.
16. Cut entire pattern with the X-acto knife.
17. Sandblast pattern, blasting deepest areas first (to base glass).
18. Place in shallow mold and fire to 1150F.

Sources
Glass and mold: www.bullseyeglass.cvom
Temperature Controllers: Digitry Company, Inc. www.digitry.com
Mask: www.calsafety.com
Resist: www.freemansupply.com

Firing Schedules

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