A little break from the norm

I felt very blessed this weekend. I was treated, by my husband, with a weekend away with my mom. We were able to go down to the Willamete Art Center in Salem and take glass blowing class. The best thing I have done yet!

We got to learn all about glass blowing and experience making our own projects. The first thing we made were little clear snowman.(they looked more like blobs, then snowman) We also found out that the pipe or rod you use to collect your glass with is called a pony rod. You can see at the picture above I am molding the "blob" snowman on my pony rod. The tool I am using s called a the twisser, that is the tool you use to place water on the glass so it can be broken off the rod.

The second project to learn was flowers. This was fun! So you gather the glass just like we gathered the glass for the snowman blobs. In the picture you see me placing the pony rod into the furnace where there is a large ceramic bowl full of liquid clear glass. This part of the process is very hot. After gathering the glass we placed the hot glass into the color. You can see me in the picture to the right as I am gathering my color. Then we took it back to the "glory hole" where you reheat your glass and combined the color. After the glass to a certain temperature or "look" to it you sit down at the bench and shape your flower by using twissers or what they call Jacks. After you have shaped your flower you take another tool called Combination clippers, and lengthen your flower. From there you cut off the end of the stem while your partner catches the flower. In this picture you can see me strengthing my flower to make the stem. My partner Lucy, who was one of the teachers, caught my flower after we cut off the stem. I have to tell you it is alot harder then it looks.

We next made ornaments, both clear and colored. You gather the glass like always but the difference is you use a blow pipe instead of a pony rod. After gathering your glass you blow down the pipe to create a bubble. After creating your bubble you start to shape your glass, and your partner then blows down the pipe to enlarge the bubble.

Here you see the birth of a bubble. The first bubble is the hardest part of the project!

In the picture to the right you see mom shaping her ornament with wooden block. The gentleman helping her is Matt the other teacher of the class.

We also got a chance to make vessels, like bowls and cups. We made one bowl and one tumbler.

In this picture you see mom expanding her bubble into a bowl. In the next picture you see her swinging her pony rod to extend out the glass to make a tubbler or glass.

I could go on and on about what we did this last weekend. It was wonderful, tiring, and enlighting. This is one art I could do just for the enjoyment of it. I am thankful for the two teachers who were there, and the knowledge they were willing to share with us. Here is the link to Willamette Art Center http://willametteartcenter.com/. I hope all of you take the time to check out the site.