Glass Making

Searching for things to do on our Spring Break trip to Lincoln City, we found a glass studio where the average person off the street can walk in and make a piece of glass art. What a cool concept! We've certainly witnessed glass art being made before and watched the artisans working the glass in the ovens, but the idea of doing it ourselves was mind-boggling! The weather was so awful that the idea of being in a warm glass studio had its escapist appeal, as well, so off we went.

The Jennifer Sears Glass Art Studio is located right on Hwy 101 at the south end of Lincoln City. There are beautiful pieces on display in the gallery area, but the workshop is where you want to be - watching people just like you make glass art. Choices are numerous: paperweights, floats, and fluted bowls were most abundant. (Not so many bowls, as they were the priciest.) It should be noted that this is not a cheap form of entertainment. I was a bit relieved that Emily alone was creating that day. And I quickly made the decision that my role would be as photographer.

Safety was high on their priority list (along with a sense of humor!), and Emily donned gloves and goggles before starting her lesson with her one-on-one instructor, Andrew.

   

I was able to enter the work area and get pictures of every step along the way.

First step: Gathering glass. Andrew started out by gathering molten glass onto the end of the rod, and instructed Emily on the finer points of turning the pole and how to keep the glass from drooping and becoming  off center.

 

Adding color: Emily dipped the hot glass onto colored chips on the sides and top of her glass "blob". She chose red, orange, and yellow.



Integrating the color into the glass. The glass was placed in the furnace to melt the added colors into the clear glass she started with.



Giant tweezers were used to create swirls in the design

 

And the end was snipped off.



The glass was reheated in the furnace - a constantly repeated step to keep the glass at an optimal temperature for working it.



Bubbles were added.

 

And it was cooled a bit while constantly turning.

 

Next, came shaping the glass with a "block" ...

  

...and reheating again.

 

Emily began pulling the glass paperweight away from the rod.

   

Turning, turning, turning while it cools down. Andrew checked for proper temperature until it was just right for the next step.

 

Emily used this mini-baseball bat to literally knock the glass off the rod. It happened so fast, I missed it! But the piece is visible on the fiberglass cushion in the background. The colors are not yet recognizable because the piece is still so hot.



Emily and Andrew applied a blow torch to the bottom to make it a bit hotter for leveling off and stamping with the studio's seal.

 

Lastly, Andrew placed the paperweight into the 900+ degree cooling oven for gradual cool-down.



The next day, on our way out of town, we picked up the finished piece. What a work of art!