Glass Blowing Step By Step

Rebecca: And now Catherine is going to walk us to the process of glass blowing.

Catherine Glass is worked by layer. To get enough quantity, you have to go back in the furnace many times to go get glass. So I start with just a small gather and then I am going to cover it in clear glass so I can have a lot of glass on it and I am going to go get my color.

So this is color green that we used to color glass. I have to go back many times in the color to get the density. If I go only once, I will have like small dots for the piece. So when I go many times it really gives a nice color to the piece. Whatever the piece I am making, it always start this way with putting the color on gradually and then when I have my last gather on, that is when the party starts. I have to really know where I am going. So we will just going to wait for it to cool down a little bit and then we are going to go get the last gather.

So this way, I am just placing the hot glass, reparchering it around the color, so it is going to be even other way around. We always have to be to, in the majority of the pieces that we are doing because I need someone to be blowing as well as I am taking care of the shape and the heat and she is talking care of the inflating of the piece.

So this is called the marver, it is a table made of stainless steel. I am marvering my glass for it to cool down on the bottom so I can keep enough thickness on the bottom and blow more of the sides and the shoulders of the piece.

Just cooling off the bottom to make sure that it is not too hot for the piece that is coming. You have to be at the right temperature. If it is too hot it is going to fuse with the bottom and then when you are going to try to detach it, it is going to come out with the bottom. I am going to reheat the end which is the lip of the vase and I am going to open the lip so it becomes straight.

So this is the end, so I am going the sharp part to melt. So this way when I get it out of the kiln it is perfect. It is ready to sell.

You can come and see. So this is how it looks once it is done.


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