Glass-Blowing

We have discovered glass-blowing.  OK, we knew it existed; I think we watched a demonstration years ago.  But now we have had our hands on the blow-pipe, we have tried to control and form hot glass, and wow! is it fun.

Amy and I have been throwing pots in a ceramics class for years.  We thought some of those skills might transfer.  But glass is different.  When throwing a clay pot, you can go fast, or slow.  If your hands get tired, you can take a break.  The clay is willing to wait for you.

But glass won't move unless it's melting.  When it starts to cool just a little, it may be hot enough to burn you, but it's not soft enough to move.  So back in the blast oven it goes to heat up.  And when is it hot enough to work again?  When you are turning the pipe but can barely keep the glass from falling off.  When glass is just about out of control, it's ready.

The hot glass is beautiful.  It glows red and yellow.  And did I mention that it's hot???

There are two studios we have visited that offer "workshops" - basically a hands-on guided tour of blowing glass.  In the fall, Amy took us to Peter Greenwood's glass-blowing studio in Riverton (my birthday present!).  More recently, we have twice visited Ray Mathews, Jr.'s studio in Branford -- once with Rebecca and Sarah, another time with Karen and Beni.

We have learned a lot about working with glass in our three attempts.  But to be honest, we wouldn't have come out with anything but a blob of glass on the floor if the professional working with us hadn't continually rescued the glass pieces we were forming.

If you want to see a lot of the process in action, click "play" on this video (▶).  (If you're reading this post in your e-mail, go to the blog website to see the video.)

We have been enjoying our vases and tumblers.  And we'll probably be back for more -- glass blowing is quite addictive!