Newest work

Last week I had my first full glassblowing session with a fellow student. One of our instructors was in the studio and did give us some helpful hints but we were pretty much on our own. It was a very good night. I had four pieces make it in the box and my partner had two. One of his hit the floor which is too bad since it was a nice looking piece. 

I have been promising some pics and I managed to take a few I don't totally hate last night. 

Here is a paperweight I had made in the first night of class:

Here is a small blue cup I made during a Valentine's open house I mentioned in an earlier post:

Here are a couple of a small blue tumbler I made last week:

Here are a couple vases I made last week as well:

The yellow and orange vase is my favorite one so far. I already have too many ideas for what I'd like to try and make for next week's session on Tuesday. One thing on my list is a tumbler big enough to hold at least 12oz of my favorite barley beverage that doesn't have a monster thick lip.

Thanks for reading!

-drew-

Tonight is the night.

Tonight is my first night of hot shop rental. 4 hours of just me and another fellow glassblowing student playing with hot glass for 4 hours. I can't wait! 

Wish me luck!

-drew-

Open House

In my last post I made mention of an open house I was attending on Saturday. I did end up going in spite of being sick for most of last week. I got there about 12:30 and at that time there were no big demos going on but the studio owner was making some really nice little wine goblets and explaining each step as he went along. I was watching him work and his assistant disappeared for a minute so he asked me to help! Needless to say I was a little worried I'd mess up something but after having him teach one of my classes and talking to him over the year or so I've been hanging out at his studio I knew he would talk me through whatever he needed. And he did. I delivered a few bits for the stem of the goblet and didn't hurt him, myself, or the goblet so it all worked out well. His assistant came back and actually gave me some gathering tips and answered all my newbie questions. 

After hanging around for an hour or so watching some incredible stuff being made the owner Michael said there was an open bench and I should make something. I was thinking to myself, "What? With all these people watching me?". I ended up hooking up with two other relative new blowers and we switched off making a piece at a time. My first attempt was a simple clear tumbler that was reasonable successful. I practiced trimming the lip since the lip was really fat coming off the pipe and for my second only lip trim I was happy with the results. It turned out too small to really hold much but it will hold at least one handful of Peanut M&Ms so I call it a success. Then one of my instructors, Steve Claypatch, asked if I would help him with a piece. I assisted with my first bench blow and flipped the piece while he shaped the sides with cork paddles. I also helped with a punty and the transfer. You can really learn a lot just by helping someone who knows what they are doing. I helped Steve with a second small vase he made that had trapped bubbles by using an optical mold. After the transfer to the punty he pretended he was an Italian master and sat an the bench and had me do all his reheats for him. It was quite fun and a bunch of guys in the shop were giving him a hard time about it. I made my second piece and Steve helped me add some color by adding some color to the pipe before my first gather and then gathering over it. Another new technique for me. (most of them are) After my first gather I added some opaque blue frit, another gather, and blew it out into another small, slightly lumpy, tumbler. I tell you, if there is ever a booming market for small lumpy tumblers I am good to go. I could have probably stayed for another couple of hours but I had to head home. It was another great experience. I don't have the stuff I made yet, it was not out of the annealer until yesterday and I have not had a chance to go in and pick it up. I promise to post some pics once I get them in hand. 

On a side note, another student and myself have booked our first slot for next week. Next Wednesday the 18th he and I have a spot for 4 hours. I can't wait! 

Thanks for reading!

-drew-

First Public Glassblowing Appearance

As I mentioned in the post below I will be making my first public glassblowing appearance (yikes!) this weekend at Foci Glass in Minneapolis. Here is the info:

 Valentines Open House

Join us on February 7th from 11 AM until 5 PM for glassblowing demonstrations by Michael Boyd at NOON, Andy Thompson at 2:00, and Todd Cameron at 4:00.  Enjoy light refreshments and an open gallery featuring work of local glass artists.

For more information you can visit the Foci site by clicking here.

Hope to see you there!

-drew-

Class is over

Well last Wednesday was my last class, for now. I do plan on taking more advanced classes in the future after I get more experience with the basics. Here are my impressions of the class.

The instructors were excellent. Over the 4 week course we worked with 3 different instructors and it was nice to get a feel for how they all did things. They never made me feel like I was in over my head. They answered every question very well considering how little I knew going into this. I would highly recommend the school and the instructors. Over the four week course I made 2 paperweights, several nice started bubbles, a nice small clear tumbler, a clear tumbler "floor model" as described in an earlier blog entry, and two floppy, lumpy colored tumblers. I am also infected with the glassblowing bug. I already ordered some color and have begun making plans to get back into the studio with another student who just finished classes as well. And this Saturday the studio is having their annual Valentine's open houseand one of my instructors promised that if I show up I will get a chance to play around a bit. I am excited to go but a little nervous about making stuff in front of a crowd with as little skill as I have at the moment. I am of course going to do it and hopefully will not make too many "floor models". I am going to make a seperate entry in my blog to annouce the open house so watch for it here sometime today. 

Thanks for reading. 

-drew-