Gift Redeemed

 Last weekend, Ward and I cashed in on a gift that our sons got us for Christmas at McFadden Art Works. McFadden is a glass art studio that offers classes for the general public. I have seen glass making several times before, but it was fun to be involved in the process this time. Glassmaking is very dangerous due to the extreme heat involved, so we were highly guided and coached during the procedure.

(Note: We weren't actually making the glass. We were sculpting the glass, but I will be using the two interchangeably.)

Below are photos of our afternoon.

It was not surprising that there were glass sculptures all around outside of the buildings.

There were three main parts to the buildings: two working studios and
a gallery of pieces for sale.

We were in the smaller studio where the public gets to try their hand at glassmaking. 

We could choose to make anything on this shelf. Ward chose a wine glass, and I chose a spoon rest because we need one.

Our helper of the day was Jordan. This oven held a big batch of molten glass. Jordan got a glob of glass that was just the right amount for the item I was making. 

Next, we added color. These were dishes of colored glass sand. I was doing the turning, but I had to keep my hands behind hers. They don't trust the inexperienced public to not go too far down the pontil where it is over 1000°F.

Then the glass was reheated. I had to turn it continuously while it was in this oven. The pontil was supported, so I got to do this one all by myself. :)  It was uncomfortably hot standing there, even with the shield in place to block most of the oven's heat.

I then had to roll the molten glass as it cooled. 

After the rolling, Jordan blew one little puff at the end of the pontil and plugged it with her thumb. As the air heated up, it was amazing to watch the glass expand.

My little glob of glass went back into the furnace
 with Jordan blowing into the molten glass.

We're almost there. We've started on the final shaping. First with a flat paddle.

Next, I pressed a heavy round weight into the piece to form the spoon rest shape.
It was starting to look like glass, but was still very malleable.

Jordon did one last bit of heating to smooth out the broken edge
 from the pontil separation.

The last step was to put the spoon rest into an oven to cool slowly over the next 3 days.

Ta-Da! The finished product.

And here is Ward's glass. His process was basically the same, with a few different shaping steps. We didn't coordinate colors; we just happened to pick the same ones.

Well, that's probably more than you wanted to know. 

Until next time...