Glassblowing

I took a glassblowing class on May 26th. My 21st new thing. I am writing about it now because I had to wait till I stopped feeling sick to my stomach and my hands stopped sweating.

What was I thinking?!?!

Glassblowing involves FIRE. Really HOT fire.

I am clearly an idiot. I am absolutely terrified of fire and took a class that is done in front of not one but two huge furnaces, plus a flaming grill for keeping the pipe ends hot.

The young man (Josh) running the class made it all look so easy, and the actual blowing of the glass was easy, but making the cup (our first project) is a complex project.

My classmates all seemed to have no trouble at all, with Josh giving basic guidance and stepping in for minor adjustments as we assisted with the blowing and paddle as needed. And when they had all finished their cups, it was my turn. And here my day went off the rails.

I had to scoop up molten glass from this bowl in the center of the furnace which is like 3000 degrees when Josh opened the door. I froze when the heat blasted out, and spilled the molten glass on the floor.

Yeah, that was me, spilling liquid glass… Ask yourselves- how hot does glass have to be to go into a liquid form?

Pretty seriously hot…

Then shaping the glass by rolling/cooling it on the metal table is followed by reheating it… I couldn’t turn the pole and reheat the glass while still being far enough away from the fires of Hell to feel even vaguely safe.

And my cup was a crazy shape...

I was clearly out of my element. Josh helped me with each step and, by what must be considered a miracle, I had made a glass cup by the end. It is all still a bit of a blur, which happens when the” fight or flight” adrenaline rush takes over. One thing I know for sure: nobody will have any difficulty believing I made the cup- it is uneven and lopsided and I am fine with it. Or as Josh says… it is organic…

Just so you know, at that half-way mark in class, when everyone was finished with the first project, I seriously considered bolting at lunchtime and never going back.

I did not scoop out my own molten glass for my paperweight (the second project) and with fewer steps, I only needed a little help. (The others all made cool looking bowls, but I needed something easy)

I was exhausted by the end of the day- terror does that- and getting in my air-conditioned car after being in heat like the bowels of hell was a divine experience.

The pieces need to be "finished" whatever that means, (I am sure Josh told me but I have No Memory of it...) and then we can pick them up. And Josh let me have a piece of the now cooled and hardened glass that I had spilled.

I am just proud that I stayed and finished the class.

Glass-blowing now joins traveling in the Arctic on my list of things I NEVER intend to do again.