Fanglasstic was founded in 2010 by two sisters, Ronel and Janette, and Willem Sr., Ronel's husband. They bought a couple of glass fusing kilns and after a quick tutorial, they signed up for their first craft market.
They quickly realized they needed some help, so they hired Victoria, who quickly became a talented artist in her own right and now does most of the artwork at Fanglasstic.
In 2015, Ronel and Willem's son, Willem, and his partner Robin joined the business, just as Janette decided to go her own way. From there, Fanglasstic started to move away from craft markets and towards their dream of letting people create their own glass designs.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Fanglasstic had to make a big change or risk closing down. That's when they found the Simondium Guild, which became their new home.
Now, thanks to their wonderful neighbors and the scenic surroundings of pastoral life in Simondium, they can offer creative experiences with all kinds of other activities.
Ronel and Willem Sr. are now happily retired, trekking across South Africa and Southern Africa, while Willem, Vicky, and Robin are taking Fanglasstic into the future.
Our journey to creating beautiful glass art begins with float glass sheets, which are delivered to our studio. We then carefully cut the glass into the smaller shapes that we need for our designs.
Next, we airbrush one side of the glass with a white powder paint. This creates a canvas for us to express our creativity and bring our designs to life.
Once the paint is dry, we flip the piece of glass over and place it on another piece of glass that is the same size. We then carefully place the two layers of glass in the kiln.
The kiln heats up to around 800 degrees Celsius, fusing the two pieces of glass and paint together into a single piece of glass. This process can take several hours, and we carefully monitor the kiln to ensure that the glass is fused perfectly.
The next day, once the glass is fused, we remove it from the kiln and let it cool completely. Then we place the fused piece of glass into the kiln again, this time on a ceramic mold.
This process, called slumping, helps to shape the glass into the desired form of a bowl or plate. The slumping kiln is heated to a lower temperature than the fusing kiln, around 700 degrees Celsius.
Once the glass has slumped into the desired shape, we remove it from the kiln and let it cool completely. And voila! Our finished glass art is now ready.