Today is the first day of my Birthday Month. Knowing I wanted to do something truly unique Susie agreed to join me at Carlsbad's Barrio Glass Works for our first ever hands-on experience working with hot glass.
Our class was the Intro level - Make Your Own experience. "Experience the movement and beauty of hot glass. A hands-on experience assisted by Barrio Glassworks team members. Friends and family are welcome to watch and photograph." Oh you better believe our men were there to photo document the entire adventure. What fun!
This was an introductory session to working in a hot glass studio by making our own unique solid object, either a glass paperweight or a glass heart. We both chose to make the paperweight. They were just cooler.
Gary introduced us to all the steps in the process. I felt a bit overwhelmed but excited by all we were learning.I truly had no idea how many steps were involved in just making a glass paperweight. It began with gathering molten (2100°F glass from a furnace), manipulating it with color, shaping it into a sphere, and slowly cooling it in an annealing oven. The process relies on constant turning of the blowpipe to keep the glass centered and using wet tools (we used wood blocks) to create the shape. This is a very simple explanation. We were there for an hour crafting our orbs of awesomeness.It is very hands-on indeed.
Believe it or not, when Susie's orb (the golden one on the right) cools, it will look like the blue one on the left. Isn't that amazing? Mine, below, will look like the green one on the table on the right. So hard to believe. It's magical.The last step was flattening the base by using an imprinted mold to "heal" the bottom.Sadly, we weren't able to bring our creations home just yet. The finished paperweight was placed in an annealer (a slow-cooling oven) at just under 1000°F. It cools slowly for up to 24 hours to prevent the glass from cracking due to thermal stress. Steve and I will be returning next weekend to pick up our treasures and to enjoy yet another fabulous day in Carlsbad.Susie and I thoroughly enjoyed celebrating Day 1 of my Birthday Month at Barrio Glass Works.Afterward, the four of us dined al fresco and explored some of the Village's other treasures together."Glass is performance art…
from its fluidity
to the way it scatters light in space."
— Thomas Phifer
posted under |
%20(Medium).jpg)
%20(Medium).jpg)
%20(Medium).jpg)
.gif)
%20(Medium).jpg)
%20(Medium).jpg)
.gif)
%20(Medium).jpg)
.gif)
%20(Medium).jpg)
%20(Medium).jpg)
%20(Medium).jpg)
%20(Medium).jpg)
%20(Medium).jpg)
%20(Medium).jpg)
%20(Medium).jpg)
0 comments:
Post a Comment