Birthday Glassblowing

Well, it has certainly been a while since my last update. I have been swamped with life. Yesterday was my birthday, and I had the pleasure of voyaging down to Corning, NY to use their hot shop. I booked a five-hour blow slot, and here are a few photos of what went down:

I didn't get any photos of the piece I was most excited about, which was a broad, shallow vessel with a swirly ribbed-pattern that will become a birdbath once I weld up a base for it. I seemed to be on a roman bottle form kick, which is the shape you see above with the rounded base and the long narrow neck, so I ended up with a number of vases as well. I try to go into my blow slots with some amount of intention, but I so seldom get to blow glass from a furnace that sometimes I just end up having fun making disparate items. Next time it might be prudent to do some production work for the holiday season though.

I'm feeling like making some pretty blown ornaments on my torch. I think that's next on the docket, after snail shell items, which I still need to hash out and make a good number of. Soon I will have enough free time to really focus, and I am so looking forward to it.

Corning Pilgrimage #2

So we ventured back down to Corning this past Wednesday and Thursday for some more burn-a-licious molten-glass-slingin' fun. Wednesday didn't go so well, but I was pretty happy with Thursday's haul. (Photos of pieces made will appear here soon!)

It felt very normal and natural to be in the hot shop despite the fact that I haven't truly spent any large amount of time in one since the Alfred days - Blowing glass is so enjoyable! It's satisfying in a way that not many other activities are for me. I appreciate the physicality of it, and even though I can't touch the piece I'm working on with my hands, it's sort of like a puzzle or a brain teaser trying to gauge the best steps to take, reading how the glass is acting, and coaxing it to do what you want it to. And then after all your effort, you end up with something beautiful.

 

And!! I came home to discover that I had made my very first sale on Etsy.com! I've really been meaning to revamp my online shop there, since there are currently three listed items and no banner to speak of. I didn't expect to sell anything until that happened, but I suppose it helps that it is the holiday season. So far it's been a good December. :)

Corning Pilgrimage #1

For the first time in far too long, me and a friend ventured down to Corning, NY yesterday to, get this - BLOW GLASS. Whoa. Crazy, I know...

So much fun! It was especially awesome because I got to see three of my former classmates (glassmates?) from my years at Alfred. We went nonstop for five hours, which seemed to me to be the perfect amount of time, at least for small production pieces which is essentially what we were making this time around.  No photos of the finished products yet, but we will be picking up the things we made next Wednesday, when we go down again for another five-hour timeslot.

This was our first time renting time at the Studio at Corning, and everything went well. They have very nice facilities, and I feel confident that much of whatever rustiness had built up from my long absence from the hot shop has been shaken away by this "back in action" blowslot. So, hopefully some of the multitude of ideas that have been aimlessly swimming around in my head and in my sketchbook (read: tree goblets, asymmetrical terrariums, colorful cups, and mustachioed ornaments...) will come to fruition next Wednesday!