blowing glass

When I knew that I was going to be staying around Tacoma and I found out that Tacoma was glassblowing central, I knew that I wanted to get in on the action. I love blown glass and, when I saw that I could actually take classes, I immediately added it to my must-do list.

Tacoma Glassblowing Studio offers the glassblowing experience, which is a 30-minute, one-on-one session with a glassblower for $65, and I signed up to do it first thing on my first day here. (I was sorely tempted to do the 4-hour session, but the $300 price tag was just too steep, especially since I have a lot of other things planned for this trip.)

On this brisk and windy morning, I showed up at the studio at 9am. My first task was to choose a shape--a paperweight, a float, a votive, a bowl, and a wall plate (I can't remember what the other choice was). Right off, I couldn't decide which I wanted to do. I was drawn to the paperweight and the float, but then I thought maybe I wanted something more utilitarian as well as pretty. When the person who worked there said the paperweight doesn't really include blowing (though you learn other techniques), I decided not to do that. I also decided not to do the float/ornament because it seemed too fragile. So I went for a small votive.

Then I had to pick a pattern. There were spirals, swirls, a flowery looking one, and another one I can't remember. Though I was thrown off by the appearance and color of the sample, I went ahead and choose the swirl design.

I then had to pick colors. I can tell you that this was just too much deciding so early in the morning, especially for someone like me who takes forever to make decisions. I decided to go with an oceany theme. So I picked deep blue with a slight hint of purple, two shades of what I thought were sea green, and white. I hope that that was a good combination.

With my goggles and gloves in hand, I went to the shop, where I was introduced to Brian, my instructor. Brian told me that he was actually going to do most of the work, and I would just be assisting. I was a little bummed about that, but you know, you have to take what you can get.

So first, he explained some things to me and showed me some of the equipment and materials. Then he picked a metal pole and gathers a blob of molten glass from the furnace (which is about 2400°F). Then, we moved over to the "glory hole"--the furnace to the left of David in the picture below. This furnace is 2000°F and is where the glass is reheated between steps.

He showed me how to slowly roll the pole back and forth to shape the glass a little and to make it workable. I then did some of the rolling, though I can see the glass dropping. But David then took it back and rolled it a little bit more and made sure it didn't turn out a mess. (lol)

Then we rolled the glass in the color--first one way, then back, then flat on top. We put it back in the glory hole to reheat, then rolled it some more in the color and reheated it again. Then, David rolled the glass onto this steel surface to shape the glass.



When the pole got a little too hot, then he cooled it off in this water apparatus thing.

After another reheating, we then shaped it with a block, a ladle-like wooden tool that helps to shape and round out the glass. At this point, or maybe it was the step before, we created the swirls. Basically, you pinch a bit of glass with the tweezers and twist it around and around then take off the tweezers. We were supposed to do 3 swirls, but we did 4 or 5.

David then gathered another layer of molten glass. This makes the piece bigger and, I would think, gives it more depth.

He blew a short puff of air then covered the hole. I can't remember what that was supposed to do. Then he added this tube extension thing with a blowhole. And while he rolled the pole on the rail, he asked me to blow softly for a while then stop. Then he had me blow harder then stop. Then he asked me to blow as hard as I can until we heard the glass popped. That's what created the bubble in the piece.

He tooke the tweezers to create and widen the opening before reheating the piece yet again. Then he shaped it some more.

The shape I had initially asked for was a votive that was more straight-edged, but while he was shaping it, I actually really liked it more rounded. So while he was still opening up the mouth, I asked him to stop while the edge was still a little bit inwards.

Once we had the right shape and size, then we had to split the piece from the pole. He tapped a couple of times at the seam. That, I think cracks the glass. Then he went back to the steel table, puts the piece on a piece of towel, taps the pole, and--voila--the piece came off. To finish it off, he gathers a small piece of molten glass and smashes it flat to make the bottom. He stamps the studio's stamp, and I stamped a "J" on it.

The picture below is what my piece looked like before the bottom was added. You can see the swirls already, but this is isn't the real color yet. While we were working, the glass was mostly orange. It only got some color was it was cooler.

The process isn't over yet though. We put the piece in a 3rd furnace, which at 900°F will cool off the piece. Then it will cool all the way down overnight. My piece should be ready to pick up after noon tomorrow. I'll post a picture once I see it. I'm excited!

Addendum (3/8/2008): Well, I picked up my piece today. It was a bit of a letdown. I was going for an ocean theme, and it turned out greener than I wanted. Then I had added white on top as a final color, but that actually turned out to be the predominant color of the piece. I think that tells me that the top part gets stretched out more So, if I do this again, I should put broader strips of the colors that I really like.

I think I liked the piece better when it came out of the furnace. That's partly because it's upside down, and all the colors I like are at the bottom. For all it's worth, here are pics of my finished piece.