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As part of the Glass Week I am posting interviews and features, there will also be contributions from other galleries as part of this week, check them out here.
Today's Special is all about glassblowing.
What is glassblowing?
Glassblowing is the art of using a blowpipe to inflate molten glass to achieve a desired shape. This technique was invented by the Phoenecians approximately 50 BC and has spread all over the world. It is still being used in commercial and artisan work.
Molten glass is a thick liquid which can be inflated by blowing a small amount of air into it. Shapes can be achieved through different techniques, for example mold-blowing in which the molten glass blob is placed on a metal blowpipe and then inserted into a wood or metal mold. This way, the finished pieces are relatively uniform and largely independent of the specific skills of the glassblower. This technique is often used in commercial tableware and vessel production.
Free-blowing was the first technique developed and requires skill and experience from the glassblower. For this technique, the glassblower shapes the molten glass with small puffs of air, swinging, rotating and re-heating the glass to achieve the desired shape. Skilled free-blowers can create almost any shape with this technique.
The molten glass can be dipped into glass fragments and re-heated to fuse various colors and other effects into the glass. Glassblowing requires a safe working area with multiple furnaces.
Today I would like to introduce four of the many glass artists here on dA who create amazing artwork. If you check out the glass gallery, you will find an abundance of stunning works from a variety of great artisans.
Hello! Could you please introduce yourself?
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wickedglass : Hi, nice to meet you, I'm Chris Arnold and I'm what's known as a lampworker or flameworker. This means I manipulate molten glass at a torch to create my pieces. I'm 41, which means I've been making glass for 21 years full time. It's strange, for years I kept saying I've been doing it for 12 years, when suddenly I realised I've been getting older, but now I own that time ... it's a lot of experience. I've been around glass all my life, my first foray at the lamp (or torch) was when I was about 10 years old. My father was a scientific glassblower and took me on as his apprentice. He told me once that I was a much faster learner than he was, but after almost 3 years of scientific glass training I realised that I wasn't suited to it ... much to his chagrin. I have this creative streak (I simultaneously blame and thank my mother) that must have an out no matter what, even if that entailed many lunches and dinners of eating 2 minute noodles over the years. Once I was away from the fetters of scientific work, I was on my own. Not many lampworkers in Australia were doing the creative thing, and the internet was an infant with not much information to be had. I ended up back at University in '97 and got experience in other forms of working with glass, such as furnace, kiln and coldworking techniques and somehow I ended up with a fine arts master degree in 2002. During that time I continued to develop my lampworking techniques, exploring what it could do, assimilating the different ways of working with glass and pushing boundaries. Working at the furnace almost lead me away from flameworking, but I ended up back in the fold, because flameworking is so much more accessible, and you can do it in your garden shed or kitchen if you have to ... and I have done. Making glass for me is not really a hobby and it's not really a professional career for me, it's a way of life, it's incredibly seductive.
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Evil-FX : My name is David Carpenter, age 39 from Virginia. I have approximately 20 years of hands on experience in the glassblowing field.
My first exposure to glassblowing was during a 3rd grade field trip to Jamestown Glass House in Jamestown Virginia. I can recall the bright orange glow from the furnaces, the intense heat and the men in funny looking costumes. Though I can't consciously attribute any of that experience to me becoming interested in glassblowing as I can barely remember it.
When I was 18 I took a job with Eastern National Park and Monument Association working at Jamestown Island. On Jamestown Island the National Park has an historically accurate (mostly) recreation set up of the very first Glasshouse in the new world. (circa 1608) I first worked as a historical interpreter for visitors and tourists that came to the site. I had to learn all about the history of the site and the glasshouse, glassblowing and glass itself. During the lulls in visitation, usually during the winter months when it was snowing, I was able to play around with the glass and tools and practice repeating what I had seen the glassblowers doing. I soon found I had some talent for working with the glass. It was a wonderful opportunity. I had the advantage of being able to watch and study the techniques of many skilled glassblowers, taking the best tips and information that each gave and finding the methods that worked best for myself.
After working as an interpreter and playing with the glass for about a year, a position for a glass "Finisher" opened up and I transferred to the glass blowing crew. (and a motley crew it was) This meant long, hot hours of actually doing production work, not just playing around. While tedious at times, production glassblowing truly helps one to refine and hone their basic skills. Make something once and that's an accomplishment, make something a thousand times and that's a skill. Over the next few years I worked at the Jamestown Glass House as well as part time at a few other small studios in the area.
In 1995 I went to work as an apprentice for the old Williamsburg Glass Company in Lightfoot Virginia. The owner and founder Frank Thacker was also an alumni of Jamestown and adhered to the traditional "old school" approach to glassblowing. Traditional apprenticeships in glassblowing run about six to eight years in length. Degrees from a college mean absolutely nothing, and often will count against you. Thus I spent the next five to six years as an apprentice, eventually rising to the level of Journeyman and in time became lead Gaffer for the shop. Mr Thacker is a very skilled artisan and taught me more than I could have ever imagined possible, not to mention he gave me the ability to try my hand at more art oriented and experimental work. He also had numerous friends and connections with some of the great glassblowers in West Virginia. I had the privilege of traveling to many studios there and learning from truly "old school" masters of the trade like the late Bob Hammond and George Williams.
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jddarkdeath : Hey! My names Jeff Rodier. I was born and raised in Calgary Alberta these past 23 years. I've always had a bit of a fascination with the process of glass blowing. Not having any idea at all makes you think up some wild possibilities! The when I applied and was accepted to the Alberta College of Art and Design(ACAD), I discovered they had a glass blowing class and was adamant to be enrolled in the class. I got the class and fell in love instantly! I've been taking classes at ACAD for three years now and am in my second year of my Glass Major.In the end I would like this to become a part time career that allows me to travel to other hot shops .
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LaughingTree : Hi there. My name's iLan Epstein. I'm 28 years old, originally from Ohio, and currently living in Seattle WA. I started blowing glass at The Ohio State University back in 2002 as an elective while I was a psychology major. That was the beginning of the end for me! I was hooked instantly. I switched my major to glass that quarter. I have had the luxury since then of not having to support myself with my art. For me, my art has remained mine. My professional career is in computers, and that allows me the freedom to blow glass for me, without any pressure to sell my work. For the past 5 or so years since I earned my BFA, my computer work has allowed me the flexibility to spend a lot of time on my artwork, and working with other artists to better enhance my skills. I have recently, however gotten a full-time job, gotten married, bought a house, and rescued a puppy and kitten, so my available free time has significantly dropped!
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What types of glass work do you create and which do you prefer?
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jddarkdeath : I think this is a good point to clarify the different types of glass work. I don't think that many people clearly see the distinction between the different processes. I work with hot glass, where we take metal blow pipes (3feet longish) and "gather" glass in a molten state from ceramic bowl that is always hot. With this process we can create large blown pieces and other fragile craft. The glass we use for this is soda lime and is fairly delicate. Torch/flame work uses a torch to heat the glass and to form it. The same process is used for scientific glass. They mostly use a hard glass like borosilicate or Pyrex.(not the same). Kiln forming , casting and fuzing use a kiln or annealer to heat the glass, and generally use a mold to form it.
I like to dabble in a little bit of everything, especially in my glass work. More recently I have create series that were sculptural, functional vases, non functional vases, and ornamental pieces. The more ornamental objects tend to be derivative of nature such as my roses, skulls, fish and birds. My process usually starts with a spark, then a few drawings and then different iterations within the shop. Other times I like to work with the flow and just let the glass speak to me. My inspiration is generally derived from what and who is around me and nature.
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LaughingTree : I create two main different bodies of work. More traditional glasswork, focused strongly on good technique and design, and also more sculptural work, which is a bit more freeform. The traditional glasswork, for me, is about exploring the material and color. Trying new things. Making things precise and striving for perfection. The sculptural work is the polar opposite. It is about making interesting objects. It is about letting go and pushing the glass to its limits. I don't think I could really choose one over the other as my preference. I think that both are integral parts of my glass exploration, and also are both important outlets for my creative voice. I feel like both aspects balance each other out.
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wickedglass : Oh, that's a good question, I love all aspects of what I do. I do some production work to keep me afloat, it's not really so interesting, but it pays the bills. Then I also get commissions for work. Often the clients have a very set image in their minds of what they want and I really enjoy the challenge of trying to see through other people's eyes, but I really love it when a client says:"You're the artist, here's a rough idea, I trust in your judgement, go for it!". Most of all, of course, I love doing my own stuff. Inspiration I get from anywhere/everywhere and it might be a very small thing that first sets it off, some concept, a technique, something I see, an experience. I follow a lead, go into a frenzy of research, I look at a lot of images, read a lot, refine things down, expand on them and eventually I'm full to the brim with information and ideas and explode into a body of work, have an exhibition and afterwards fall into a heap. During this process, I consciously don't look at contemporary glass work, because I know that everything I see will have some effect on me and the way my work manifests. My Tattoo series for example originated from a little old pocket book, depicting fin de siècle (19th/20th) flash art and travel tales, which I found buried in the back of a thrift store.
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Evil-FX : I'm pretty much retired from glassblowing now and focus mostly on costume and prop making. I still occasionally make a piece or two when I can, but the economy and government regulations make much of what I used to do now impossible. What I always enjoyed making the most was objects with a purpose. Nice ornamental vases, paperweights, goblets, things that are beautiful to look at but also served a real purpose. Inspiration for my work mostly came from what I saw other glass blowers making or what I had seen in books or museums. I liked to find very complex pieces of glass work and try to figure out how the artisan went about creating it. Then see if I could replicate it, and then incorporate some of that into my own works.
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How dangerous is it to work with molten glass?
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Evil-FX : One of the most asked questions at Jamestown was do you ever get burned. The answer is yes, but usually only when you do something stupid. When learning the trade you quickly learn what not to do. In my experience getting cut is generally a higher risk than being burned. I've been pretty lucky, other than the standard "bad back" that most glassblowers eventually develop I haven't suffered from any serious injuries over the years.
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LaughingTree : Working with glass is really not nearly as dangerous as most people would think. In fact, as far as all the materials I work with, aside from painting, it's actually probably the safest. You WILL get burned. There is no way around that. You will get burned a lot actually. But for the most part, they are all just little burns here and there. Working in a metal shop, or wood shop are way more likely to injure you badly than working with glass. Perhaps not as often, but when you get injured in one of those other shops, it's generally a much more significant injury. Most glass studios these days have excellent ventilation systems as well, which is another worry of a lot of people. Really, it all comes down to common sense. If you're paying attention and are aware of what's going on, your chances of injury are pretty small.
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jddarkdeath : While the material and equipment is quite dangerous, safety and being aware play a huge roll in the hot shop. Especially when there are as many people working in the same area (like schools and factories.) it can get dangerous if your having an off day or are just not being aware. Working with the material is again, dangerous, few major accidents happen. I've never had a major mishap happen to me, although I've had some good ones and some near misses. The best burn Ive ever inflicted on myself was when I inadvertently reached for and picked up a piece of hot kiln shelf. This was from not checking for heat and being tired at beginning of term. The near miss was during a long production night when a hole got burnt right through a synthetic fabric shirt by an oxy-aceteline torch. One of the only times I've ever worn synthetics to the shop, never again. Pure cotton T's or long sleeve shirts are the least flammable.
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wickedglass : Working with glass can be very dangerous for someone inexperienced and the first lesson should be about safety, sounds boring but it's essential, you don't want to end up blowing ourself up. Glass burns and bites, there are sharp edges to watch out for and the torch gets up to about 2200C ... I still sometimes burn myself or cut myself, but not very often and not badly. You learn quickly, because it hurts when you screw up. I've had 3 quite bad injuries, a 3rd degree burn, I've severed the tendon in my thumb completely from a cut (thanks to micro surgery my thumb is as good as it ever was) and I've slashed my scalp open 5 inches. A momentary lapse of attention is usually the cause, but obviously not everyone gets injured badly like that, I just wasn't paying attention. Even minor cuts and burns become less common with experience. The best way to prevent such things from happening is to be well rested, pay attention and practice good safety in your environment. One of my favourite questions is:"What happens when you suck instead of blow?" ... the answer is disappointing for those looking for a macabre tale, the glass cools too quickly to ever run into the danger of ending up with a molten gobbet in your mouth ... inhaling through a hot open tube however is a different story ... never do that!
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When you create a glass item, how do you go about it?
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LaughingTree : Glass is such a versatile medium that there are really infinite ways to work with it! There is so much complexity within the material itself and how you choose to work with it, that there are so many different paths to the same goal. That being said, my process will vary significantly depending on what I'm working on. I don't really make anything using molds the way I think most people would think of molds as being used in a hotshop. My anatomical glass and metal sculptures do use molds in the sense that I blow the glass directly into the metal, but it's more of an armature than a mold. And they are not reusable without breaking the glass out of the metal. As far as my traditional pieces, there are a few different color application techniques that I use. Glass color can be applied in a few different ways. In the shops I work at, all molten glass starts out clear. To add color, you may apply colored glass powders to the surface, roll the glass in crushed chunks of colored glass called "frit", or you may melt colored glass rods and apply them over the entire surface of the glass evenly. I don't ever use frit in my work. Just a personal preference. In addition color may be applied by trailing on colored bits of molten glass or using cane (thin colored strips rolled up to create lines). Once the color has been applied, there are countless ways to alter the glass to create different patterns. Attaching multiple bubbles together, or removing color in the coldshop, or how thin you blow the glass will all affect how the final piece will look. Some of the specific techniques I use are covered in my descriptions, but I don't do this for all my glass work. All my glass shapes are hand sculpted using traditional glassblowing tools, or tools that I have created. I rarely work from detailed drawings. I like to let the glass do some of the talking. Sometimes while working on a piece the glass may not want to cooperate with you. It may want to go in a different direction. I find it's best to listen to the glass... Let it guide the piece, and if I had strict detailed drawings, then I would be fighting with the glass more than I'd like to. Of course sometimes you do need to make the glass do what you want, and have detailed drawings, but if I can help it, I'll listen to what it says.
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wickedglass : Creating glass starts like anything else, an idea. Once I've refined the idea down enough to my liking I bring some glass to it. I've dropped the practice of sketching and drawing on paper, which was so important back at Uni, because I'm finally at a stage where I can translate ideas in my head directly into glass, although after saying that, sketching is still important to communication during collaborations. I'm a very visual person and I've also been told I'm very literal in my approach and in a way that's true. When an idea forms in my head, I generally start looking at images. I stay away from looking at anything made from glass when I'm researching, because I know it will find its way into my work subconsciously even when I'm consciously working against that and I'd rather not start making someone else's work. So, I spend hours just browsing images, text, following leads, until I've refined it down to something very specific. I look at it from as many angles as I can and it gets to the point when I'm so full with this particular "thing" that it has to come out.
My general practice doesn't involve making or blowing into molds, but I have that option when I want it. My schooling gave me a good understanding and practical experience of mold making for glass, but I find that to blow and shape without molds allows for more freedom.
My colour comes in rod form, about 5mm to 7mm is standard diameter. These colour rods are then applied to the inside or outside of clear tubing or around clear rod and melted in at the torch. Colour is expensive and getting it shipped to Australia makes it even more expensive, so there are ways of applying it to clear which will look like the whole piece is solid or transparent colour.
Glass is one of those mediums which is intensively technique based and there are a lot of techniques out there to play with and build on; the manufacture of glass by humans is after all over 5000 years old. It's an interesting notion to be standing on the shoulders of so many generations who went before. Sometimes I've spent a lot of time developing a technique only to find out it's already been done, but on occasion I develop something quite unique rather than just divergent. Mastering technique is the needle and imagination is the thread, if there's an absence of either one of those it's impossible to make stitches.
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jddarkdeath : Well again, most pieces start with an idea that has been recorded, usually in a drawing. These drawings usually are expanded with other ideas for the piece, symbols and meanings in the pieces, and other thoughts . All pieces that I make right now are hand made from start to finish. Some of these pieces do go through a texture mold, or optic mold, but not very many mostly goblets. I am hoping to start making 2-3 part blow moulds this year year using ceramic original.
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Evil-FX : I think I have used just about every method and tool there is. Mostly I preferred to free blow pieces but over the years I have worked with press molds, paste molds, cast iron molds, wooden molds, steel molds, optic molds, sand molds, plaster molds, aluminum molds, graphite molds, etc, etc. I not only created some of my own molds but also all of the furnaces, equipment and many of the tools that I used.
Some of my favorite experimentation was coming up with interesting patterns and designs inside paperweights and marbles. Also experimenting with many rare (and sometimes dangerous) chemicals to create special luster and surface effects on glass. At Williamsburg Glass we often formulated our own colors and batch using very old formulas and equations scribbled down in notebooks that Mr Thacker had accumulated over his many years in the business. We made some very rare and unique types of glass like White Burmese, Neodymium, Ruby, Amberina, Milk glass and many others that most have probably never even heard of.
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Where do you work and where do you get your materials?
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jddarkdeath : I am fortunate enough that I am still at school and that their shop is very nice. ACAD provides a lot for their students in both opportunity and in resources. We have almost anything a blown or cast artist could need, from kilns to glory holes(reheat stations), Belts and wheels (for polishing), pipes, shears and a wall full of tools. We do end up buying our own color and a fair bit of our own material and whatever special tools we would like. I really like using a tag (Metal version of the traditional wooden paddle). This tool is fairly versatile, has different edges, and never looses it shape. Its my idea tool for working bottoms of pieces. In my area I only know of a few. Tyler Rocks and Julia Reimer have a shop near black diamond that students (from anywhere) can apply work at. Jim Norton's shop, Double Trouble, have an interesting set up. And much like many places in the north USA, there is a full top to bottom glass studio in Ontario called Geisterblitz.
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LaughingTree : As far as glass goes, I'll work at any one of a few rentable studios in the Seattle area. Generally most studios will provide you with the clear glass, a bench torch, and a basic set of hand tools. I have my own hand tools and pipes which I bring with me. You also need to supply all your own color as well as your own assistants. My most worked at studio in town is definitely PRATT and I definitely recommend it to anyone in the area either looking to take a class, or rent a shop. They offer classes in EVERYTHING! Not just glass. Anyone in the Seattle area should look them up if you have any interest in any artistic medium! Pilchuck up in Stanwood, WA is an amazing place if you can afford to take a class there, do it. Back east, Penland or Haystack are also amazing experiences and I'd recommend going to any of those places! As for colors, I use gaffer color whenever possible. It is without a doubt far superior in my opinion. I find it more consistent and equally soft/hard between its color range. Lately, however, I have cut back on my glassblowing quite significantly. I am building a metal shop at my house, and metal, wood, and 2d have become much more frequently used materials for me lately. This is primarily in response to becoming more environmentally aware of the impact my activities have on our world. Glassblowing is one of the worst things you can possibly do in terms of wastefullness. The furnace needs to be maintained at over 2000 degrees 24 hours a day 7 days a week. It uses an amazing amount of resources. In addition, the availability of other materials has caused a gentle and slow transition away from glass. I haven't quite said no entirely just yet. It's a bit of an internal struggle I've been having lately.
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Evil-FX : As I previously mentioned, most of the materials and tools we used were fabricated in shop from raw materials, but we often used a lot of the standard supplies like Spruce Pine batch and glass tools from various manufacturers. A lot of the equipment we used were antiques acquired from old West Virginian studios. Antique presses and molds, blowpipes, ect. The older stuff always seemed to hold up and do a better job than the new.
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wickedglass : I have a studio with my partner and life mate, Laurie. She is also a glass artist and specialises in casting, fusing and other kiln techniques. I'm also teaching her flameworking. We're in the basement of an old Victorian building from the 1870s called the Old Melbourne Meat Market, there are arts administration offices upstairs and a great main hall used for perfomance based disciplines. I'm currently rebuilding our website and I'll have some images of our studio up soon at www.flameworker.com. There are also two other visual art studios comprising of a woodworker's association and printmakers. Our studio is fantastic, it's quite large and it's able to house 5 kilns, all our cutting and grinding machines, sandblasting equipment, a gallery space as well as our flameworking benches, not to mention a small kitchen and lounge area. On a very basic level, the only tool essential for lampworking is a hot flame, but other tools really help make the process faster and easier. There are a variety of shears, tweezers, paddles, jacks, as well as graphite tools, such as molds and shapers at our disposal. My most commonly used tools, however, come from the glass material itself and are created as part of the process.
The raw material glass comes in tubular and solid rod form in various shapes, sizes and thicknesses. I use a German made laboratory type glass as my basis for everything I make. The glass itself is called borosilicate, after the flux which is used in its composition and most people are familiar with the american made commercial glass named Pyrex. My colours I import from the States and my favourite colour maker is Momka Peeva. Momka is in her 70s, has been a glass chemist all her life and she's obsessed with producing absolutely magnificent colours. There are other American colour manufacturers such as Northstar and Glass Alchemy, which produce several beautiful specialty glasses which I also use to extend my pallette. The other option is colour from China, and while I have used Chinese glass, I'm not particularly fond of it due to issues in quality and compatbility. I've also made my own colours using the came oxides which ceramic artists use to colour their glazes, but it is time consuming to do and I'd rather spend my time making work.
If you are interested, here are some retailers of glass and torches I've used in the past:
winshipdesigns.com
www.mountainartglass.com
www.vaporglass.com
www.generationsglass.com
www.cornerstoneglass.com
www.trevsglass.com
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Do you have any tips for beginners?
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Evil-FX : Practice, practice and practice. That is about the extent of it. No amount of schooling or book learning will substitute for real hands on experience. There are many college's that offer glassblowing now and that is always a good start. If at all possible, and your truly serious about learning old world style glassblowing, nothing can compare to a true long term apprenticeship under a skilled master glassblower.
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wickedglass : To someone intending to start out in flameworking I'd probably say:"Be careful, you will love it, you will get obsessed, you will dream about it, be prepared for that!". I don't know anyone who, once started, has ever not loved doing it. It's one of those things that's with you all your life, it's a job, it's a passion, it's a hobby, it's a love affair ... after 21 years I'm still in love with glass! If you're serious about starting out in flameworking/lampworking then there are several companies offering a beginner's kit (google lampworking kit). Doing a beginner's class is a good way to start and beadmaking is often a very unintimidating way to get a good introduction into working with glass without having to invest in equipment straight off the bat (but be careful, you will love it and you will want to get your own equipment ... did I already mention that?). If you google for a lampworker in your area, I'm sure you'll find that there are classes offered not far from you. Starting out is not extremely expensive, about US$500 will buy you a small torch (I recommend GTT torches), special eye protective didymium glasses, some tools and glass. You will also need to find a source for LPG and Oxygen.
Those starting out now are lucky, there are so many resources available to budding flameworkers. Back when I was starting out in glass, there was precious little around compared to now. Bandhu Scott Dunham's books on Contemporary Lampworking are excellent and very informative and will spell out many of the basics as well as some more advanced techniques. It's quite comprehensive and deals with health and safety issues, suppliers, some chemistry and physics of glass etc etc etc. There are several forums (www.lampworketc.com and www.talkglass.com to name just two) catering to lampworkers in particular and they're a great source of information and some are downright entertaining to watch. There has been an increase of youtube videos showing how to make glass at the lamp as well, which can be very informative, but beware of hacks showing you bad techniques (on youtube as well as the forums) ... nothing replaces the teachings of a competent master glassblower. And remember, you will need patience and practice, perseverence and dedication if you want to pursue glass in a serious way. It helps to be disciplined enough to master one technique before moving on to the next, this will build up a rock solid foundation for you, it's time well spent and you will never regret having gone about it this way.
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LaughingTree : For anyone interested in glassblowing, if you are in college, check if they have a glass program. That is without a doubt the most affordable and hands-on approach to glassblowing you will get. Keep in mind that glassblowing has one of the steepest learning curves of anything I've ever done. Skilled glassblowers make it look so effortless, while every single beginner will struggle for the entire first year. There's just no way around that. Eventually, you just start to understand the heat, and how the glass behaves. You start to become accustomed to the 2000+ degree heat. It all just comes together. I think one of the most important things you can learn is that glass breaks. A lot. The best ones will always get away... Don't get too attached to any one piece.
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jddarkdeath : Take a class, watch some videos, and practice. Most of the glassblowers history is passed down from word of mouth, and most of the books on glassblowing contain nothing more than pretty pictures and history. Most beginner classes will have the tools you need for your first class, but generally the first thing someone will buy is color. After that, tool wise, I suggest shears or jacks for hot glass. In term of practicality I suggest people try out flame working first as there is generally more access to it. "Hotter, faster, more." as one of my new friends told me. Its better to melt a piece to oblivion in your first try, then to work with cold glass. Lessons are offered in almost any major city, just search for glass lessons or ask around the art colleges or any gallery that has glass on sale.
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Which glass work are you most proud of and why?
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wickedglass : I think "proud" is probably the wrong word. Usually if I make something which is labour intensive, mind intensive and time intensive and it comes out well, I feel a sense of achievement ... I suffer from that affliction which many artists suffer from ... I see the flaws in my work. Speaking of labour intensive, both my partner and I are keen scuba divers (I'm sure you can tell from the amount of aquatic based work) and when we collaborate it's usually something based on sealife.
"Ode to the Sun King" was one of those, Laurie made the bottom part with the shells and urchins on it; collaborations like that are always great, like a mini relationship within a bigger relationship, there's argument, compromise, agreement and the joy of creating something together. I had to approach my part in stages. I made the center first and once done I had to hide it away. It scared the living daylights out of me ... how to proceed from there? It took me a couple of months to go back to it. Just think, the whole sculpture is just over 80cm tall and there are a few kilos of glass there. I don't work with jigs, braces or yokes, so when I was working on it, I was holding and supporting the whole thing in either one hand and sometimes both, something as complex as this, you can't just put down, either. I also wrapped myself in towels and worked inside our large kiln, adding bits with a hand torch, hoping I wouldn't catch on fire. Added to all that is the stress of knowing that at any stage in the glass making process you can screw up and completely destroy the piece you're working on.That was a big job and I got a lot of satisfaction (as well as pain in muscles I didn't even know existed) out of it. Glass is a great teacher if you push your boundaries and comfort zones with it, the greatest return you can get out of a piece like that is the greater confidence with which you emerge after making it. It's really something to build on for the next piece. The companion piece to this one is called "Venus Rising" and was made afterwards.
Although it's more complex in different ways, after having gone through making "Ode to the Sun King" it didn't scare me at all. Both those pieces were made for entry into the 2007 Ranamok Prize for Contemporary Glass, which is open to Australian and New Zealand glass artists, and they were both accepted into the finalist short list.
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jddarkdeath : My pieces "Goddess and Goblet" has been one of my most cherished since inception.
Upon completing it I was ecstatic! The feeling did not last long as It was not well received by my peers nor my professors. It hasn't stopped me though, I plan to continue working with these ideas and developing this as a series. This piece tested the limits of skill, patience and courage for me. With 20+ hours, 5+ different mediums including experimental texture and paint, and first fully assembled blown goblet, there were a lot of firsts.
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Evil-FX : Probably the piece that I'm most proud of is my Egyptian themed Burial Urn.
I was always attracted to Egyptian history and art and I spent quite a while researching to find just the right images to incorporate into the piece. It also took me longer to create than any other. Weeks of carefully sandblasting the details into the colored layers of glass, repeatedly staying at the shop into the wee hours of the morning. Eventually the running joke was if I would complete it before I had to be cremated and placed into it. Which I suppose was a bit morbid, but stressed the point of how long it was taking me to finish. I have gotten several offers to buy this piece over they years, but the price required for me to part with this one would be quite extreme.
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LaughingTree : I think my sky tree series will always hold a special place in my heart.
Whenever I play with a new material, whether it be drawing, painting, sculpting, glassblowing, trees are probably going to be the first thing I try to make... It took me 6 years of glassblowing and many many failed attempts before I got a glass tree I was happy with. And I'm really happy with them.
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Thank you so much for taking the time to participate in this special feature! I hope you go on creating amazing glass works for all of us to enjoy.
Cheers,
MyntKat
Today's Special is all about glassblowing.
What is glassblowing?
Glassblowing is the art of using a blowpipe to inflate molten glass to achieve a desired shape. This technique was invented by the Phoenecians approximately 50 BC and has spread all over the world. It is still being used in commercial and artisan work.
Molten glass is a thick liquid which can be inflated by blowing a small amount of air into it. Shapes can be achieved through different techniques, for example mold-blowing in which the molten glass blob is placed on a metal blowpipe and then inserted into a wood or metal mold. This way, the finished pieces are relatively uniform and largely independent of the specific skills of the glassblower. This technique is often used in commercial tableware and vessel production.
Free-blowing was the first technique developed and requires skill and experience from the glassblower. For this technique, the glassblower shapes the molten glass with small puffs of air, swinging, rotating and re-heating the glass to achieve the desired shape. Skilled free-blowers can create almost any shape with this technique.
The molten glass can be dipped into glass fragments and re-heated to fuse various colors and other effects into the glass. Glassblowing requires a safe working area with multiple furnaces.
Today I would like to introduce four of the many glass artists here on dA who create amazing artwork. If you check out the glass gallery, you will find an abundance of stunning works from a variety of great artisans.
Hello! Could you please introduce yourself?
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wickedglass : Hi, nice to meet you, I'm Chris Arnold and I'm what's known as a lampworker or flameworker. This means I manipulate molten glass at a torch to create my pieces. I'm 41, which means I've been making glass for 21 years full time. It's strange, for years I kept saying I've been doing it for 12 years, when suddenly I realised I've been getting older, but now I own that time ... it's a lot of experience. I've been around glass all my life, my first foray at the lamp (or torch) was when I was about 10 years old. My father was a scientific glassblower and took me on as his apprentice. He told me once that I was a much faster learner than he was, but after almost 3 years of scientific glass training I realised that I wasn't suited to it ... much to his chagrin. I have this creative streak (I simultaneously blame and thank my mother) that must have an out no matter what, even if that entailed many lunches and dinners of eating 2 minute noodles over the years. Once I was away from the fetters of scientific work, I was on my own. Not many lampworkers in Australia were doing the creative thing, and the internet was an infant with not much information to be had. I ended up back at University in '97 and got experience in other forms of working with glass, such as furnace, kiln and coldworking techniques and somehow I ended up with a fine arts master degree in 2002. During that time I continued to develop my lampworking techniques, exploring what it could do, assimilating the different ways of working with glass and pushing boundaries. Working at the furnace almost lead me away from flameworking, but I ended up back in the fold, because flameworking is so much more accessible, and you can do it in your garden shed or kitchen if you have to ... and I have done. Making glass for me is not really a hobby and it's not really a professional career for me, it's a way of life, it's incredibly seductive.
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Evil-FX : My name is David Carpenter, age 39 from Virginia. I have approximately 20 years of hands on experience in the glassblowing field.
My first exposure to glassblowing was during a 3rd grade field trip to Jamestown Glass House in Jamestown Virginia. I can recall the bright orange glow from the furnaces, the intense heat and the men in funny looking costumes. Though I can't consciously attribute any of that experience to me becoming interested in glassblowing as I can barely remember it.
When I was 18 I took a job with Eastern National Park and Monument Association working at Jamestown Island. On Jamestown Island the National Park has an historically accurate (mostly) recreation set up of the very first Glasshouse in the new world. (circa 1608) I first worked as a historical interpreter for visitors and tourists that came to the site. I had to learn all about the history of the site and the glasshouse, glassblowing and glass itself. During the lulls in visitation, usually during the winter months when it was snowing, I was able to play around with the glass and tools and practice repeating what I had seen the glassblowers doing. I soon found I had some talent for working with the glass. It was a wonderful opportunity. I had the advantage of being able to watch and study the techniques of many skilled glassblowers, taking the best tips and information that each gave and finding the methods that worked best for myself.
After working as an interpreter and playing with the glass for about a year, a position for a glass "Finisher" opened up and I transferred to the glass blowing crew. (and a motley crew it was) This meant long, hot hours of actually doing production work, not just playing around. While tedious at times, production glassblowing truly helps one to refine and hone their basic skills. Make something once and that's an accomplishment, make something a thousand times and that's a skill. Over the next few years I worked at the Jamestown Glass House as well as part time at a few other small studios in the area.
In 1995 I went to work as an apprentice for the old Williamsburg Glass Company in Lightfoot Virginia. The owner and founder Frank Thacker was also an alumni of Jamestown and adhered to the traditional "old school" approach to glassblowing. Traditional apprenticeships in glassblowing run about six to eight years in length. Degrees from a college mean absolutely nothing, and often will count against you. Thus I spent the next five to six years as an apprentice, eventually rising to the level of Journeyman and in time became lead Gaffer for the shop. Mr Thacker is a very skilled artisan and taught me more than I could have ever imagined possible, not to mention he gave me the ability to try my hand at more art oriented and experimental work. He also had numerous friends and connections with some of the great glassblowers in West Virginia. I had the privilege of traveling to many studios there and learning from truly "old school" masters of the trade like the late Bob Hammond and George Williams.
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jddarkdeath : Hey! My names Jeff Rodier. I was born and raised in Calgary Alberta these past 23 years. I've always had a bit of a fascination with the process of glass blowing. Not having any idea at all makes you think up some wild possibilities! The when I applied and was accepted to the Alberta College of Art and Design(ACAD), I discovered they had a glass blowing class and was adamant to be enrolled in the class. I got the class and fell in love instantly! I've been taking classes at ACAD for three years now and am in my second year of my Glass Major.In the end I would like this to become a part time career that allows me to travel to other hot shops .
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LaughingTree : Hi there. My name's iLan Epstein. I'm 28 years old, originally from Ohio, and currently living in Seattle WA. I started blowing glass at The Ohio State University back in 2002 as an elective while I was a psychology major. That was the beginning of the end for me! I was hooked instantly. I switched my major to glass that quarter. I have had the luxury since then of not having to support myself with my art. For me, my art has remained mine. My professional career is in computers, and that allows me the freedom to blow glass for me, without any pressure to sell my work. For the past 5 or so years since I earned my BFA, my computer work has allowed me the flexibility to spend a lot of time on my artwork, and working with other artists to better enhance my skills. I have recently, however gotten a full-time job, gotten married, bought a house, and rescued a puppy and kitten, so my available free time has significantly dropped!
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What types of glass work do you create and which do you prefer?
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jddarkdeath : I think this is a good point to clarify the different types of glass work. I don't think that many people clearly see the distinction between the different processes. I work with hot glass, where we take metal blow pipes (3feet longish) and "gather" glass in a molten state from ceramic bowl that is always hot. With this process we can create large blown pieces and other fragile craft. The glass we use for this is soda lime and is fairly delicate. Torch/flame work uses a torch to heat the glass and to form it. The same process is used for scientific glass. They mostly use a hard glass like borosilicate or Pyrex.(not the same). Kiln forming , casting and fuzing use a kiln or annealer to heat the glass, and generally use a mold to form it.
I like to dabble in a little bit of everything, especially in my glass work. More recently I have create series that were sculptural, functional vases, non functional vases, and ornamental pieces. The more ornamental objects tend to be derivative of nature such as my roses, skulls, fish and birds. My process usually starts with a spark, then a few drawings and then different iterations within the shop. Other times I like to work with the flow and just let the glass speak to me. My inspiration is generally derived from what and who is around me and nature.
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LaughingTree : I create two main different bodies of work. More traditional glasswork, focused strongly on good technique and design, and also more sculptural work, which is a bit more freeform. The traditional glasswork, for me, is about exploring the material and color. Trying new things. Making things precise and striving for perfection. The sculptural work is the polar opposite. It is about making interesting objects. It is about letting go and pushing the glass to its limits. I don't think I could really choose one over the other as my preference. I think that both are integral parts of my glass exploration, and also are both important outlets for my creative voice. I feel like both aspects balance each other out.
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wickedglass : Oh, that's a good question, I love all aspects of what I do. I do some production work to keep me afloat, it's not really so interesting, but it pays the bills. Then I also get commissions for work. Often the clients have a very set image in their minds of what they want and I really enjoy the challenge of trying to see through other people's eyes, but I really love it when a client says:"You're the artist, here's a rough idea, I trust in your judgement, go for it!". Most of all, of course, I love doing my own stuff. Inspiration I get from anywhere/everywhere and it might be a very small thing that first sets it off, some concept, a technique, something I see, an experience. I follow a lead, go into a frenzy of research, I look at a lot of images, read a lot, refine things down, expand on them and eventually I'm full to the brim with information and ideas and explode into a body of work, have an exhibition and afterwards fall into a heap. During this process, I consciously don't look at contemporary glass work, because I know that everything I see will have some effect on me and the way my work manifests. My Tattoo series for example originated from a little old pocket book, depicting fin de siècle (19th/20th) flash art and travel tales, which I found buried in the back of a thrift store.
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Evil-FX : I'm pretty much retired from glassblowing now and focus mostly on costume and prop making. I still occasionally make a piece or two when I can, but the economy and government regulations make much of what I used to do now impossible. What I always enjoyed making the most was objects with a purpose. Nice ornamental vases, paperweights, goblets, things that are beautiful to look at but also served a real purpose. Inspiration for my work mostly came from what I saw other glass blowers making or what I had seen in books or museums. I liked to find very complex pieces of glass work and try to figure out how the artisan went about creating it. Then see if I could replicate it, and then incorporate some of that into my own works.
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How dangerous is it to work with molten glass?
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Evil-FX : One of the most asked questions at Jamestown was do you ever get burned. The answer is yes, but usually only when you do something stupid. When learning the trade you quickly learn what not to do. In my experience getting cut is generally a higher risk than being burned. I've been pretty lucky, other than the standard "bad back" that most glassblowers eventually develop I haven't suffered from any serious injuries over the years.
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LaughingTree : Working with glass is really not nearly as dangerous as most people would think. In fact, as far as all the materials I work with, aside from painting, it's actually probably the safest. You WILL get burned. There is no way around that. You will get burned a lot actually. But for the most part, they are all just little burns here and there. Working in a metal shop, or wood shop are way more likely to injure you badly than working with glass. Perhaps not as often, but when you get injured in one of those other shops, it's generally a much more significant injury. Most glass studios these days have excellent ventilation systems as well, which is another worry of a lot of people. Really, it all comes down to common sense. If you're paying attention and are aware of what's going on, your chances of injury are pretty small.
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jddarkdeath : While the material and equipment is quite dangerous, safety and being aware play a huge roll in the hot shop. Especially when there are as many people working in the same area (like schools and factories.) it can get dangerous if your having an off day or are just not being aware. Working with the material is again, dangerous, few major accidents happen. I've never had a major mishap happen to me, although I've had some good ones and some near misses. The best burn Ive ever inflicted on myself was when I inadvertently reached for and picked up a piece of hot kiln shelf. This was from not checking for heat and being tired at beginning of term. The near miss was during a long production night when a hole got burnt right through a synthetic fabric shirt by an oxy-aceteline torch. One of the only times I've ever worn synthetics to the shop, never again. Pure cotton T's or long sleeve shirts are the least flammable.
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wickedglass : Working with glass can be very dangerous for someone inexperienced and the first lesson should be about safety, sounds boring but it's essential, you don't want to end up blowing ourself up. Glass burns and bites, there are sharp edges to watch out for and the torch gets up to about 2200C ... I still sometimes burn myself or cut myself, but not very often and not badly. You learn quickly, because it hurts when you screw up. I've had 3 quite bad injuries, a 3rd degree burn, I've severed the tendon in my thumb completely from a cut (thanks to micro surgery my thumb is as good as it ever was) and I've slashed my scalp open 5 inches. A momentary lapse of attention is usually the cause, but obviously not everyone gets injured badly like that, I just wasn't paying attention. Even minor cuts and burns become less common with experience. The best way to prevent such things from happening is to be well rested, pay attention and practice good safety in your environment. One of my favourite questions is:"What happens when you suck instead of blow?" ... the answer is disappointing for those looking for a macabre tale, the glass cools too quickly to ever run into the danger of ending up with a molten gobbet in your mouth ... inhaling through a hot open tube however is a different story ... never do that!
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When you create a glass item, how do you go about it?
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LaughingTree : Glass is such a versatile medium that there are really infinite ways to work with it! There is so much complexity within the material itself and how you choose to work with it, that there are so many different paths to the same goal. That being said, my process will vary significantly depending on what I'm working on. I don't really make anything using molds the way I think most people would think of molds as being used in a hotshop. My anatomical glass and metal sculptures do use molds in the sense that I blow the glass directly into the metal, but it's more of an armature than a mold. And they are not reusable without breaking the glass out of the metal. As far as my traditional pieces, there are a few different color application techniques that I use. Glass color can be applied in a few different ways. In the shops I work at, all molten glass starts out clear. To add color, you may apply colored glass powders to the surface, roll the glass in crushed chunks of colored glass called "frit", or you may melt colored glass rods and apply them over the entire surface of the glass evenly. I don't ever use frit in my work. Just a personal preference. In addition color may be applied by trailing on colored bits of molten glass or using cane (thin colored strips rolled up to create lines). Once the color has been applied, there are countless ways to alter the glass to create different patterns. Attaching multiple bubbles together, or removing color in the coldshop, or how thin you blow the glass will all affect how the final piece will look. Some of the specific techniques I use are covered in my descriptions, but I don't do this for all my glass work. All my glass shapes are hand sculpted using traditional glassblowing tools, or tools that I have created. I rarely work from detailed drawings. I like to let the glass do some of the talking. Sometimes while working on a piece the glass may not want to cooperate with you. It may want to go in a different direction. I find it's best to listen to the glass... Let it guide the piece, and if I had strict detailed drawings, then I would be fighting with the glass more than I'd like to. Of course sometimes you do need to make the glass do what you want, and have detailed drawings, but if I can help it, I'll listen to what it says.
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wickedglass : Creating glass starts like anything else, an idea. Once I've refined the idea down enough to my liking I bring some glass to it. I've dropped the practice of sketching and drawing on paper, which was so important back at Uni, because I'm finally at a stage where I can translate ideas in my head directly into glass, although after saying that, sketching is still important to communication during collaborations. I'm a very visual person and I've also been told I'm very literal in my approach and in a way that's true. When an idea forms in my head, I generally start looking at images. I stay away from looking at anything made from glass when I'm researching, because I know it will find its way into my work subconsciously even when I'm consciously working against that and I'd rather not start making someone else's work. So, I spend hours just browsing images, text, following leads, until I've refined it down to something very specific. I look at it from as many angles as I can and it gets to the point when I'm so full with this particular "thing" that it has to come out.
My general practice doesn't involve making or blowing into molds, but I have that option when I want it. My schooling gave me a good understanding and practical experience of mold making for glass, but I find that to blow and shape without molds allows for more freedom.
My colour comes in rod form, about 5mm to 7mm is standard diameter. These colour rods are then applied to the inside or outside of clear tubing or around clear rod and melted in at the torch. Colour is expensive and getting it shipped to Australia makes it even more expensive, so there are ways of applying it to clear which will look like the whole piece is solid or transparent colour.
Glass is one of those mediums which is intensively technique based and there are a lot of techniques out there to play with and build on; the manufacture of glass by humans is after all over 5000 years old. It's an interesting notion to be standing on the shoulders of so many generations who went before. Sometimes I've spent a lot of time developing a technique only to find out it's already been done, but on occasion I develop something quite unique rather than just divergent. Mastering technique is the needle and imagination is the thread, if there's an absence of either one of those it's impossible to make stitches.
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jddarkdeath : Well again, most pieces start with an idea that has been recorded, usually in a drawing. These drawings usually are expanded with other ideas for the piece, symbols and meanings in the pieces, and other thoughts . All pieces that I make right now are hand made from start to finish. Some of these pieces do go through a texture mold, or optic mold, but not very many mostly goblets. I am hoping to start making 2-3 part blow moulds this year year using ceramic original.
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Evil-FX : I think I have used just about every method and tool there is. Mostly I preferred to free blow pieces but over the years I have worked with press molds, paste molds, cast iron molds, wooden molds, steel molds, optic molds, sand molds, plaster molds, aluminum molds, graphite molds, etc, etc. I not only created some of my own molds but also all of the furnaces, equipment and many of the tools that I used.
Some of my favorite experimentation was coming up with interesting patterns and designs inside paperweights and marbles. Also experimenting with many rare (and sometimes dangerous) chemicals to create special luster and surface effects on glass. At Williamsburg Glass we often formulated our own colors and batch using very old formulas and equations scribbled down in notebooks that Mr Thacker had accumulated over his many years in the business. We made some very rare and unique types of glass like White Burmese, Neodymium, Ruby, Amberina, Milk glass and many others that most have probably never even heard of.
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Where do you work and where do you get your materials?
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jddarkdeath : I am fortunate enough that I am still at school and that their shop is very nice. ACAD provides a lot for their students in both opportunity and in resources. We have almost anything a blown or cast artist could need, from kilns to glory holes(reheat stations), Belts and wheels (for polishing), pipes, shears and a wall full of tools. We do end up buying our own color and a fair bit of our own material and whatever special tools we would like. I really like using a tag (Metal version of the traditional wooden paddle). This tool is fairly versatile, has different edges, and never looses it shape. Its my idea tool for working bottoms of pieces. In my area I only know of a few. Tyler Rocks and Julia Reimer have a shop near black diamond that students (from anywhere) can apply work at. Jim Norton's shop, Double Trouble, have an interesting set up. And much like many places in the north USA, there is a full top to bottom glass studio in Ontario called Geisterblitz.
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LaughingTree : As far as glass goes, I'll work at any one of a few rentable studios in the Seattle area. Generally most studios will provide you with the clear glass, a bench torch, and a basic set of hand tools. I have my own hand tools and pipes which I bring with me. You also need to supply all your own color as well as your own assistants. My most worked at studio in town is definitely PRATT and I definitely recommend it to anyone in the area either looking to take a class, or rent a shop. They offer classes in EVERYTHING! Not just glass. Anyone in the Seattle area should look them up if you have any interest in any artistic medium! Pilchuck up in Stanwood, WA is an amazing place if you can afford to take a class there, do it. Back east, Penland or Haystack are also amazing experiences and I'd recommend going to any of those places! As for colors, I use gaffer color whenever possible. It is without a doubt far superior in my opinion. I find it more consistent and equally soft/hard between its color range. Lately, however, I have cut back on my glassblowing quite significantly. I am building a metal shop at my house, and metal, wood, and 2d have become much more frequently used materials for me lately. This is primarily in response to becoming more environmentally aware of the impact my activities have on our world. Glassblowing is one of the worst things you can possibly do in terms of wastefullness. The furnace needs to be maintained at over 2000 degrees 24 hours a day 7 days a week. It uses an amazing amount of resources. In addition, the availability of other materials has caused a gentle and slow transition away from glass. I haven't quite said no entirely just yet. It's a bit of an internal struggle I've been having lately.
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Evil-FX : As I previously mentioned, most of the materials and tools we used were fabricated in shop from raw materials, but we often used a lot of the standard supplies like Spruce Pine batch and glass tools from various manufacturers. A lot of the equipment we used were antiques acquired from old West Virginian studios. Antique presses and molds, blowpipes, ect. The older stuff always seemed to hold up and do a better job than the new.
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wickedglass : I have a studio with my partner and life mate, Laurie. She is also a glass artist and specialises in casting, fusing and other kiln techniques. I'm also teaching her flameworking. We're in the basement of an old Victorian building from the 1870s called the Old Melbourne Meat Market, there are arts administration offices upstairs and a great main hall used for perfomance based disciplines. I'm currently rebuilding our website and I'll have some images of our studio up soon at www.flameworker.com. There are also two other visual art studios comprising of a woodworker's association and printmakers. Our studio is fantastic, it's quite large and it's able to house 5 kilns, all our cutting and grinding machines, sandblasting equipment, a gallery space as well as our flameworking benches, not to mention a small kitchen and lounge area. On a very basic level, the only tool essential for lampworking is a hot flame, but other tools really help make the process faster and easier. There are a variety of shears, tweezers, paddles, jacks, as well as graphite tools, such as molds and shapers at our disposal. My most commonly used tools, however, come from the glass material itself and are created as part of the process.
The raw material glass comes in tubular and solid rod form in various shapes, sizes and thicknesses. I use a German made laboratory type glass as my basis for everything I make. The glass itself is called borosilicate, after the flux which is used in its composition and most people are familiar with the american made commercial glass named Pyrex. My colours I import from the States and my favourite colour maker is Momka Peeva. Momka is in her 70s, has been a glass chemist all her life and she's obsessed with producing absolutely magnificent colours. There are other American colour manufacturers such as Northstar and Glass Alchemy, which produce several beautiful specialty glasses which I also use to extend my pallette. The other option is colour from China, and while I have used Chinese glass, I'm not particularly fond of it due to issues in quality and compatbility. I've also made my own colours using the came oxides which ceramic artists use to colour their glazes, but it is time consuming to do and I'd rather spend my time making work.
If you are interested, here are some retailers of glass and torches I've used in the past:
winshipdesigns.com
www.mountainartglass.com
www.vaporglass.com
www.generationsglass.com
www.cornerstoneglass.com
www.trevsglass.com
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Do you have any tips for beginners?
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Evil-FX : Practice, practice and practice. That is about the extent of it. No amount of schooling or book learning will substitute for real hands on experience. There are many college's that offer glassblowing now and that is always a good start. If at all possible, and your truly serious about learning old world style glassblowing, nothing can compare to a true long term apprenticeship under a skilled master glassblower.
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wickedglass : To someone intending to start out in flameworking I'd probably say:"Be careful, you will love it, you will get obsessed, you will dream about it, be prepared for that!". I don't know anyone who, once started, has ever not loved doing it. It's one of those things that's with you all your life, it's a job, it's a passion, it's a hobby, it's a love affair ... after 21 years I'm still in love with glass! If you're serious about starting out in flameworking/lampworking then there are several companies offering a beginner's kit (google lampworking kit). Doing a beginner's class is a good way to start and beadmaking is often a very unintimidating way to get a good introduction into working with glass without having to invest in equipment straight off the bat (but be careful, you will love it and you will want to get your own equipment ... did I already mention that?). If you google for a lampworker in your area, I'm sure you'll find that there are classes offered not far from you. Starting out is not extremely expensive, about US$500 will buy you a small torch (I recommend GTT torches), special eye protective didymium glasses, some tools and glass. You will also need to find a source for LPG and Oxygen.
Those starting out now are lucky, there are so many resources available to budding flameworkers. Back when I was starting out in glass, there was precious little around compared to now. Bandhu Scott Dunham's books on Contemporary Lampworking are excellent and very informative and will spell out many of the basics as well as some more advanced techniques. It's quite comprehensive and deals with health and safety issues, suppliers, some chemistry and physics of glass etc etc etc. There are several forums (www.lampworketc.com and www.talkglass.com to name just two) catering to lampworkers in particular and they're a great source of information and some are downright entertaining to watch. There has been an increase of youtube videos showing how to make glass at the lamp as well, which can be very informative, but beware of hacks showing you bad techniques (on youtube as well as the forums) ... nothing replaces the teachings of a competent master glassblower. And remember, you will need patience and practice, perseverence and dedication if you want to pursue glass in a serious way. It helps to be disciplined enough to master one technique before moving on to the next, this will build up a rock solid foundation for you, it's time well spent and you will never regret having gone about it this way.
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LaughingTree : For anyone interested in glassblowing, if you are in college, check if they have a glass program. That is without a doubt the most affordable and hands-on approach to glassblowing you will get. Keep in mind that glassblowing has one of the steepest learning curves of anything I've ever done. Skilled glassblowers make it look so effortless, while every single beginner will struggle for the entire first year. There's just no way around that. Eventually, you just start to understand the heat, and how the glass behaves. You start to become accustomed to the 2000+ degree heat. It all just comes together. I think one of the most important things you can learn is that glass breaks. A lot. The best ones will always get away... Don't get too attached to any one piece.
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jddarkdeath : Take a class, watch some videos, and practice. Most of the glassblowers history is passed down from word of mouth, and most of the books on glassblowing contain nothing more than pretty pictures and history. Most beginner classes will have the tools you need for your first class, but generally the first thing someone will buy is color. After that, tool wise, I suggest shears or jacks for hot glass. In term of practicality I suggest people try out flame working first as there is generally more access to it. "Hotter, faster, more." as one of my new friends told me. Its better to melt a piece to oblivion in your first try, then to work with cold glass. Lessons are offered in almost any major city, just search for glass lessons or ask around the art colleges or any gallery that has glass on sale.
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Which glass work are you most proud of and why?
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wickedglass : I think "proud" is probably the wrong word. Usually if I make something which is labour intensive, mind intensive and time intensive and it comes out well, I feel a sense of achievement ... I suffer from that affliction which many artists suffer from ... I see the flaws in my work. Speaking of labour intensive, both my partner and I are keen scuba divers (I'm sure you can tell from the amount of aquatic based work) and when we collaborate it's usually something based on sealife.
"Ode to the Sun King" was one of those, Laurie made the bottom part with the shells and urchins on it; collaborations like that are always great, like a mini relationship within a bigger relationship, there's argument, compromise, agreement and the joy of creating something together. I had to approach my part in stages. I made the center first and once done I had to hide it away. It scared the living daylights out of me ... how to proceed from there? It took me a couple of months to go back to it. Just think, the whole sculpture is just over 80cm tall and there are a few kilos of glass there. I don't work with jigs, braces or yokes, so when I was working on it, I was holding and supporting the whole thing in either one hand and sometimes both, something as complex as this, you can't just put down, either. I also wrapped myself in towels and worked inside our large kiln, adding bits with a hand torch, hoping I wouldn't catch on fire. Added to all that is the stress of knowing that at any stage in the glass making process you can screw up and completely destroy the piece you're working on.That was a big job and I got a lot of satisfaction (as well as pain in muscles I didn't even know existed) out of it. Glass is a great teacher if you push your boundaries and comfort zones with it, the greatest return you can get out of a piece like that is the greater confidence with which you emerge after making it. It's really something to build on for the next piece. The companion piece to this one is called "Venus Rising" and was made afterwards.
Although it's more complex in different ways, after having gone through making "Ode to the Sun King" it didn't scare me at all. Both those pieces were made for entry into the 2007 Ranamok Prize for Contemporary Glass, which is open to Australian and New Zealand glass artists, and they were both accepted into the finalist short list.
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jddarkdeath : My pieces "Goddess and Goblet" has been one of my most cherished since inception.
Upon completing it I was ecstatic! The feeling did not last long as It was not well received by my peers nor my professors. It hasn't stopped me though, I plan to continue working with these ideas and developing this as a series. This piece tested the limits of skill, patience and courage for me. With 20+ hours, 5+ different mediums including experimental texture and paint, and first fully assembled blown goblet, there were a lot of firsts.
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Evil-FX : Probably the piece that I'm most proud of is my Egyptian themed Burial Urn.
I was always attracted to Egyptian history and art and I spent quite a while researching to find just the right images to incorporate into the piece. It also took me longer to create than any other. Weeks of carefully sandblasting the details into the colored layers of glass, repeatedly staying at the shop into the wee hours of the morning. Eventually the running joke was if I would complete it before I had to be cremated and placed into it. Which I suppose was a bit morbid, but stressed the point of how long it was taking me to finish. I have gotten several offers to buy this piece over they years, but the price required for me to part with this one would be quite extreme.
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LaughingTree : I think my sky tree series will always hold a special place in my heart.
Whenever I play with a new material, whether it be drawing, painting, sculpting, glassblowing, trees are probably going to be the first thing I try to make... It took me 6 years of glassblowing and many many failed attempts before I got a glass tree I was happy with. And I'm really happy with them.
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Thank you so much for taking the time to participate in this special feature! I hope you go on creating amazing glass works for all of us to enjoy.
Cheers,
MyntKat
Up To Date?
Wooooo, it's been months, again, since I've posted. Life has been crazy and busy and awesome and I am totally making excuses for not taking the time to post here more often. :P
Sooooo, what's been going on. Well, as I've documented, quite sparsely, on my blog, I am working on a crochet Vera and a few new hat ideas. I am hoping to launch another crochet pattern to my shop before the year is up.
I have just uploaded a free pattern that also comes with youtube tutorial videos if you're new to crocheting amigurumis, so there's that! :D
Aaaaaand I must hurry back to work. Hope to hang around dA a little more again in the future as I have just g
Oh London, you crazy beast...
And so continues my soap opera life! London is crazy, awesome and confusing. I have been here for barely two months and in that time I have moved twice, found a great job with more than decent pay, made a bunch of friends, met the love of my life and moved in with him, been called some horrible things because of it, worked through one of the hardest times in my life, had some of the happiest moments of my life and have eaten way too little chocolate. As I said, my life's a soap opera at the moment and I'm actually loving it!
Of course, staring in my very own soap opera makes me way too busy with life to keep up with things online. I've also
I'm still alive!
Yes, it's been a while since my last update. I've been very busy vacationing with family and settling into my new home.
I spent two awesome months in Germany and France, catching up with family and just enjoying having some time for myself and loved ones.
I have now been in London, UK, for a little over 3 weeks and am already feeling incredibly at home here! I found a cozy little room and already met a bunch of amazingly crazy people and am having way too much fun exploring the city. I'm still looking for a job, but had a great interview yesterday and am hoping it'll lead to a placement. For now I am just enjoying being alive and being abl
Ready to Move On...
Alright, finally another blog update. I've really neglected dA while I've been trying to organize and save up for my move. I've arrived back home in Hamburg, Germany just before Christmas and am now enjoying some well deserved down time at my mom's place.
That's right, no job or anything to worry about for two months! How ridiculously luxurious is that? Well, it is for me anyway, I'm one of those people who've always had to work to somehow make enough to pay their rent, so this is unusually weird for me. I'm already wondering what to do with all this extra time and it's just been two weeks! :D But not to worry, I have plenty of things on my
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Comments6
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Excellent article! I have some great shots of actual blowing in action.
Glass
But this is fantastic
Glass
But this is fantastic