Like metal, glass has commercial applications that often seem to overwhelm the artistic and craft. But even when it’s used in a mundane way, like the windows of a skyscraper, glass adds a dimension that no other material can. Glass becomes the focal point, the loci of attention. As light shines at, or through, or behind, or is reflected off it, one has much the same response.
What Do I Need To Start? Like much of craft through the middle of the 20th century, glass was very much an assembly line process, with specialists taking care of various tasks in the making of objects. Starting in the 1930s (and fully realized in the early 60s), studio glass – the idea that a single person could do everything from concept to completion – changed all that. Experimentation with smaller kilns, furnaces and tools, plus re-imagining millennia-old processes, meant that anybody could make glass objects in a limited space on a limited budget.
Depending on your circumstances, this has become even more possible today. But first, you need to decide what kind of glasswork you think you’d like to try – and you have plenty of options.
William Morris working on a Dale Chihuly basket at the Tacoma Museum of Glass, July 2006, Courtesy of Craft In America, Inc.
First up is glassblowing. There’s a certain romance to the molten glass in a furnace; and gathering it up with a punty (for solid glass, like sculpture) or blowpipe (for hollow glass, like bowls or glasses). But it’s very hot, and requires a fair amount of strength to handle. You’re constantly turning and shaping, and making trips to the “glory hole”, where you reheat the glass so it maintains a state of molten malleability. It also calls for a good deal of patience while you’re shaping it. Once finished you’ll need to anneal – or harden – your piece, and then cool it down.
Glass in the Glory Hole at Pilchuck Glass School, Courtesy of Pilchuck Glass School
Rather than set up your own studio complete with furnace, rolling tables, and collection of tools, you can easily rent space in just about any city in America. It’s a good idea to try that first. You’ll be working with others in a “classroom” environment, which is a big plus when you’re starting out. While it’s possible to blow glass on your own, it’s a lot easier when you have at least one other person working with you. That’s the way virtually all artists work. And in mostly all courses, you’ll be able to take home something your first time out.
There’s also hot casting, which is similar to blowing in that you’re working with hot glass, except you’re not blowing air into the molten material. As with blowing you start by melting “ice cubes” – small bricks of recycled glass – in the furnace, and then pour the melted material into molds you’ve made from plaster or wood, for example.
William Morris demonstrates glassblowing at the Museum of Glass.
Artists like William Morris help execute the designs of Dale Chihuly. Together they create vessels that are amazing in their creativity and execution - See the Artist’s Bio and Work HERE
We filmed glass artist brothers, Einar and Jamex de la Torre for the COMMUNITY episode.
30 Artists who work with Glass are represented in the Exhibition - see the Glass works online HERE
Want to draw a storyboard that illustrates how artists make a blown glass object? Download a lesson plan HERE
Many of America’s important Glass artists are featured in the Book. Learn more about the Book and where to order HERE
Over 4 hours of video available online. To view a list of all video content click HERE
