Glassblowing 1A, Round III
Everyone was sluggish and out of it in glass class tonight. Maybe we were all thrown off because it wasn't our usual night. We were meeting on a Monday to make up for the canceled class two weeks back. Tonight's goal was to make a glass spheres and bowls. If we did a good job on the sphere, Esteban said, it would bounce when we dropped it instead of shattering.
Well, my sphere didn't work out. I shook the pipe a bit too much when I pulled the sphere out of the crucible, and tapped it against the edge of the equipment. SMASH!!! My sphere was in pieces on the floor of the studio.
I was also having a lot of trouble getting my lips into the right shape for glassblowing. I would blow air around the end of the pipe instead of through it to the molten glass. The class was nearly over before I got it under control, and in the meantime my weak little lungs couldn't produce enough air. It was so embarrassing.
I wasn't the only one breaking stuff, though. Jeannie broke a bowl when the guy blowing her pipe was too forceful. The same guy broke his bowl, too. I was the only one who managed to finish one, but given that everyone else had spheres and I didn't, I guess it evened out.
Esteban says that sometimes, you just have off nights, and all you can do is work through it.
On the plus side, I got the items I made last week back. My two flowers look slightly better than my first batch - that means I'm improving, right?
My clear paperweight didn't make it through the cooling process - apparently it shattered into pieces. (That's actually not much of a surprise; it was dropped at one point.) As a consolation prize, the Esteban and Jon decided to give me the demo paperweight as a consolation prize.
Can you guess which paperweight is mine and which one is the demo?
Hint: the one with the nice, even swirls? Not mine.
My color combination didn't quite have the springtime watermelon effect I hoped for, but at least the instructor one looks nice and evenly distributed!
Well, my sphere didn't work out. I shook the pipe a bit too much when I pulled the sphere out of the crucible, and tapped it against the edge of the equipment. SMASH!!! My sphere was in pieces on the floor of the studio.
I was also having a lot of trouble getting my lips into the right shape for glassblowing. I would blow air around the end of the pipe instead of through it to the molten glass. The class was nearly over before I got it under control, and in the meantime my weak little lungs couldn't produce enough air. It was so embarrassing.
I wasn't the only one breaking stuff, though. Jeannie broke a bowl when the guy blowing her pipe was too forceful. The same guy broke his bowl, too. I was the only one who managed to finish one, but given that everyone else had spheres and I didn't, I guess it evened out.
Esteban says that sometimes, you just have off nights, and all you can do is work through it.
On the plus side, I got the items I made last week back. My two flowers look slightly better than my first batch - that means I'm improving, right?
My clear paperweight didn't make it through the cooling process - apparently it shattered into pieces. (That's actually not much of a surprise; it was dropped at one point.) As a consolation prize, the Esteban and Jon decided to give me the demo paperweight as a consolation prize.
Can you guess which paperweight is mine and which one is the demo?
Hint: the one with the nice, even swirls? Not mine.
My color combination didn't quite have the springtime watermelon effect I hoped for, but at least the instructor one looks nice and evenly distributed!