Saturday, April 30, 2011

Glass Blowing Anyone?

From a discussion on my friend's blog about blizzards, the discussion got around to glass blowing...yeah, I know.  You gotta love that kind of discussion!  Here are the efforts of my first attempt...well, the ones that didn't get gifted!
Hmmmm.  A little extra bubble....

...a little slant...

...getting better, with stuff inside and a wrap on the outside....

...and an interesting color combination!


Of course, I cannot find the ones from year two that turned out much better.  I have carefully stored them away some place safe!  Hope they show up at Christmas...

10 comments:

  1. How on earth did you do those with a torch? They really are bubbles!! How COOL IS THAT??? Donna - is there anything you can't do? You are really a tour de force! Here is such a funny thing - that we have friends, and we ourselves - minds teeming with ideas and the compulsion to shape things into new things. I know formal, professional artists = but I know many others who will always be unsung, and yet whose power to order the things they touch amazes - we are blessed. These eyes and hands and ideas - and you have used yours most powerful in the service of children. Quietly, in the most powerful function on the face of the earth.

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  2. Yes. That was worth braving the attic for...you always say the nicest things. Remember, we connected first on a post about this powerful need to create.
    The bulbs start out as closed end pipettes about 8 inches long and 1/4 inch in diameter. There is a slight bulge at the closed end of the pipette that is about 1 inch long and about 3/8 inches in diameter...I wish I could draw on this thing...Anyway, you put the colored glass bits down inside and then hold it in the propane torch (that is clamped to a table)twirling it all the time until it starts to melt and then you start to blow gently and keep twirling...
    You have to be brave to start twirling with one hand so you can "wrap" things on the outside with the other hand.
    It was kind of expensive so I didn't get to experiment as much as I would have liked to...

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  3. Hello Donna! That must be exiting work! They are beautiful!
    Thank you for your sweet comment!
    Have a lovely May! Teje

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  4. Okay, I am totally impressed! I've tried glass blowing. Once. A very feeble attempt in my husband's cousin's sign-making studio. I felt ridiculous and intimidated. I had just wanted a tour, not a see-how-difficult-this-manner-of-making-a-living-is lesson. But nevertheless, I was able to determine that glass blowing is quite the challenge. So I know that what you produced here, in your first attempt, is impressive!

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  5. Hi W-SW,
    It was a little scary with fire and melted glass, but I would have gone on and on if it wasn't so pricey...
    I didn't start with molten glass like real glass blowers. WV is a glass blowing state and we have a couple of plants left. I remember getting to tour them as a child.

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  6. Dear Donna, thank you for having 'Nero's Post and Patch' on your blog list!!!
    Hugs and kisses from Teje & Nero

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  7. You did a great job! My husband is a fun time glass blower, so i've got to play around with it a little bit. It is not easy! Your ornaments are beautiful!

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  8. Thanks, tree...wish I could play more.

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  9. So. I see. Any process involving hot glass is scary. But these are wonderful - magical - glass is a miracle, every dang time. But I get it now, how you did it. I laugh, thinking of how lumpy even my beads were - twirling hot glass is really essentially the art of doing this work - and I think it must take a lot of playing before you can lose the self-conscious timidity and get the feel for it. But look how very well you did right out of the box! Here's a proposition - after we're out of this mortal thing, we can set up a workshop together and work on this stuff for ETERNITY, and distance won't be an issue.

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  10. I used to go to a small group Bible study with a wonderful bunch of believers. One day, the leader asked us if we had any thoughts on grace...I looked at him and said, "We're for it!" That's how I feel about crafting with you in Eternity! Yippee!

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