He’s a keeper
In today’s post I’ll be sharing with you my thoughts and experience with glass blowing. You know your husband is a keeper when he plans a date night around your love for creating and making things. Glass blowing was not on my radar but my husband stumbled upon a Groupon for a local class. He asked if it was something I would be interested in doing, of course I said yes. I was fortunate enough to see a glass blowing demonstration in Italy and I just remember how cool it was. So how could I pass up an opportunity to be creative and make something unique?
What is glass blowing anyways?
Glass blowing is the process of inflating molten glass into a bubble with the help of a blowpipe. This process dates back all the way to the 1st century BC (basically forever ago). Glass is made up of silica, otherwise known as sand, that is melted in a furnace at 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Sounds like something you might need a little bit of experience with before trying, right? Here’s a little bit about the class and how anyone can participate in glass blowing with little to no experience.
The class
Class was held at the Luke Adams Glass Blowing Studio. We were greeted by an instructor, filled out a waiver, and discussed safety precautions before being escorted to the sample projects area. We opted for the 3 hour long class which meant that my husband and I could make two projects each. The projects ranged from paperweights, pumpkins, ornaments, tumblers, and bowls to name a few. Along with choosing your project you would also make color selections for your projects. Some colors were included in the cost of class while others had a small up charge. I’m a sucker for anything glittery.
After selecting our colors and projects it was time for the actual class to begin. There were 4 students per instructor and he gave us the layout of the land, the equipment we would be using, and additional safety precautions. After all we are dealing with molten glass that’s 2,000 degrees! My husband was up first with his pumpkin. I’m not going to lie I was way to intimated to go first.
The Process
There were many steps and techniques involved with creating the projects. I won’t bore you with all the details, but I’ll give you the gist of it from the bullet list and photos below.
- It starts with gathering some glass on the blowpipe from the furnace.
- Once the glass and pipe have cooled down a little it’s time to add some color with guidance from the instructor.
- The glass is placed in the second furnace to reheat and melt the color.
- The instructor takes over to melt, shape, mold, and begin the initial glass blowing.
- Work is transitioned to the bench where tools and glass blowing are utilized to shape the glass with hands on assistance from the instructor.
- The instructor does some final touch ups with tools, reheating in the furnace, and blow torches to achieve the final look.
- The glass work goes into the annealer where it is slowly cooled over time to prevent cracking.
- 24-48 hours later your project is ready for pick up.
Overall Experience
I have to say that I really enjoyed the glass blowing class. It’s not something that everyone can say that they have done. The class was very intimate due to class size and everyone was involved in each others project. I did feel a tad bit intimated but it was fascinating to see the project evolve from start to finish. It was a great experience to share with a friend, significant other, or family member to create lasting memories. I also really love the aspect of having a finished piece to put on display in our home. Here is our finished pieces. What do you think?
Final thoughts…take the class! I highly recommend taking a glass blowing class in your area.
