Glass
Conspiratrixx, Russiandude and I took a class over at Diablo Glass School in Boston this weekend. We were doing lampwork, which is probably the glass class I've been most interested in. And, indeed, it was awesome. Our teacher, Beth, was great - good demos, but she was very hands off and gave us lots of time to do our own work, and wasn't the sort to try to take it from you to show you what to do.
We made some marbles, a couple of pendants, some flower sculptures. I tried to do some glassblowing, but it didn't turn out too well. Lots of fun, though, just tricky. You need to hold both ends of the bubble and rotate it smoothly and quickly in front of the flame so it heats evenly. But very suddenly the bubble turns liquid and it sides are suddenly no longer attached and the middle is drooping and you have to keep spinning each side evenly, so it doesn't twist, and then get it out of the flame and blow very gently, but not so gently that it cools down before you alter the shape, and then you have to do it again. I made a couple of uneven bubbles - if one side is heated more than the other, only that section bubbles out, and gets paper thin very quickly.
Still, fun stuff, and we discussed theory and how-tos for some more complicated thing. I made a rather ugly ornament, and I made a so-so little bottle, that kind of looks like a tiny pitcher. Except also a bit lopsided. But still, it was a lot of fun.
The only downside was that, of course, I managed to burn myself during the last 5 minutes of class. I had finished my last marble and had just tapped my tweezers on it to break off my punty (the tiny rod barely attached so I could work with it), and the marble jumped and rolled off the table... right into my lap. I now have a perfectly round burn on each leg, and in each side of my pants. Ouch! Thankfully the marble had been sitting for a few minutes and was no longer glowing. Honorable war wound, and the class was well worth it.
I really enjoy flameworking. It's the same sort of connection I feel with metal, that I found lacking with stained glass. Love it. And rental time up there is cheap. W00t!
We made some marbles, a couple of pendants, some flower sculptures. I tried to do some glassblowing, but it didn't turn out too well. Lots of fun, though, just tricky. You need to hold both ends of the bubble and rotate it smoothly and quickly in front of the flame so it heats evenly. But very suddenly the bubble turns liquid and it sides are suddenly no longer attached and the middle is drooping and you have to keep spinning each side evenly, so it doesn't twist, and then get it out of the flame and blow very gently, but not so gently that it cools down before you alter the shape, and then you have to do it again. I made a couple of uneven bubbles - if one side is heated more than the other, only that section bubbles out, and gets paper thin very quickly.
Still, fun stuff, and we discussed theory and how-tos for some more complicated thing. I made a rather ugly ornament, and I made a so-so little bottle, that kind of looks like a tiny pitcher. Except also a bit lopsided. But still, it was a lot of fun.
The only downside was that, of course, I managed to burn myself during the last 5 minutes of class. I had finished my last marble and had just tapped my tweezers on it to break off my punty (the tiny rod barely attached so I could work with it), and the marble jumped and rolled off the table... right into my lap. I now have a perfectly round burn on each leg, and in each side of my pants. Ouch! Thankfully the marble had been sitting for a few minutes and was no longer glowing. Honorable war wound, and the class was well worth it.
I really enjoy flameworking. It's the same sort of connection I feel with metal, that I found lacking with stained glass. Love it. And rental time up there is cheap. W00t!