Something New That Is Very, Very Old

I got the chance to try something brand new on my creative journey this past month! It’s an artistic technique that is some 2,500 years old. Glassblowing!

As part of their exploration of manufacturing technologies and materials, the Engineering class at my school got the chance to work with glass. At the end of the day, there was a chance for me to join them, and I did! A special thank you to the folks at The Glass Spot in Richmond for bringing their traveling furnace with them and giving us all a great experience. One their website check out the link to the amazing work of owner/artist Chris Skibbe

On the surface it seems simple enough. A glob of molten glass is placed on the end of a long metal tube. Then air is blown into the glob, expanding it to the desired size and shape. There’s a variety of other techniques to create various shapes, but we stayed with simple balls. By rolling them in some glass “gravel” (there’s a technical term they used that I’ve forgotten), you can add opaque or translucent colors to your ball. I chose purple and green, and followed instructions on when to blow and how hard. (To those who know me well, keep your comments to yourselves!) The actual blowing part wasn’t as hard as I expected, but the amazing part is watch Chris smooth and manipulate the glass at the other end of the tube.

The other part that was interesting was the consistency of the molten glass itself. The glob will sag quickly if you don’t rotate the tube constantly. If (when) it does sag you need to get it back towards the center-line (by quickly turning the tube so the glass sags in the opposite direction) and begin rotating. I think I rotated too quickly, which led to its own issues!

The end result is slightly smaller than a softball, and includes an added loop at the top so it can be hung. Truly amazing. Another art form I didn’t think I’d ever get the chance to try. Glass in all forms is a fascinating and complicated medium.

Here’s how my work turned out!