I had my first of two days at Corradetti Studio’s glass blowing workshop. I researched glass blowing before, and chose to go with a weekend course offered by Corradetti. There are 4 total students (including me) in the class and we have two instructors. The two instructors are apprentices, I think, for Anthony. Reagan was the name of one instructor, and I forget the name of the other… Apparently Reagan has about 10 years of experience blowing glass, and she has been a lot of fun to work with so far. The other instructor has about 3 years of experience and still considers herself as a beginner. She is just as great and both seem to work really well together.
The day started out with the girls going through safety procedures. Basically, they wanted to drill into our heads that the metal rods and molten glass are very hot. They then went around the studio pointing out various pieces of equipment and described the uses for each. After that, Reagan gave a demonstration for how to make a glass (similar to a pint glass). I have to say that blowing glass looks MUCH easier than it is in person 🙂
After Reagan was done with the initial demonstration, it was then time to split up in groups of two and start working. We split up so that there would be an instructor working with one person at a time. So while two people were working, the other two watched and helped out when needed. In total, we made 3 objects today. I made two glasses and a paper weight. Doing the paperweight was easier and a little more fun than the glasses. We were able to embed colors into the piece, and as a bonus, I finally got to see how the bubbles are put in glass paperweights, etc. I do have to admit that making the glasses really gave me an appreciation for custom glass work. Now I can understand how artists can charge the ridiculous prices for pieces.
Tomorrow, it looks like I’ll be making myself a new cereal bowl among other things… we’ll also be able to use color in all of the pieces, I believe. Anyway, I’ll write about how it was after it’s a memory.
Jim,
It is nice to see that you are doing something other then writing code and drinking beer these days. I saw a link to your blog in a serverside.net article, it’s nice to see you are still contributing to open source development.
Later
brian
Hey Brian!
Most of my time is still consumed with beer and code writing, though I am trying to expand myself in positive ways. It’s good to hear from you and I hope all is well at ActivPlant!
For anyone else that happens to find themselves reading these comments, I worked with Brian at RSI. He was an unspoken mentor for me and is responsible for shaping me into the code monkey that I am today 🙂 He put up with my inexperience with coding in general (thanks UWM!) and helped show me techniques to work away from the greeness of a rookie… It was a pleasure working with your Brian and I’ll always remember it.
If you have not already taken the next couple of classes check out my blog. I have been posting tips and hits and what not for new glass blowers as well as my personal experiences as a new guy learning to do this.
I have about 2.5 years in now, and I have been catching up to present day. Anyway, glass is seductive…she has a mean bite.
Good luck.
The_Gnat.
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http://new2glass.blogspot.com