The new Hebridean Whale Trail celebrates that the ocean around Scotland’s west coast is prime viewing territory to see whales, dolphins and porpoises. The trail features 33 sites across the Hebridean archipelago and aims to encourage low-impact whale-watching from land, a new way of thinking about viewing marine wildlife. People can experience the thrill of watching a fin breaking the surface in the distance, and the challenge of identifying which type of whale they’ve seen. The trail offers interpretation to help and includes 12 special Tiree Glass Whale Trail plaques.
The plaques were made from 3 layers of recycled 4mm float glass, bottle glass was used to create the coloured detailing. A textured base, with the whale motif, was created using ceramic fibre paper. The lettering was achieved by way of screen printed enamel transfers in a separate firing.
I had my own Hebridean journey making the plaques…..It was the first time I had made work using the transfers, or decals to achieve lettering. My first attempt used a digitally printed ceramic decal but the finish was not opaque enough. (They look great fired onto mugs though!). Another set of decals was ordered. This time screen printed glass enamels from BD Transfers in Cornwall. They worked a treat. I fired them at 600 degrees C for 15 minutes, while the plaques were fused at 818 for 10 minutes.
https://whaletrail.org/explore