A couple of weeks ago Doug asked me that since I wasn't taking another course if I would be interested in assisting him in his classes. He thought it would be beneficial for other students new to glassblowing to have someone else that was just starting out to talk to and have help them.
I was very excited about it and was flattered that he thought I'd progressed enough to be helfull as a teachers assistant. I won't be able to do it regularly, just here and there as Jen and I can juggle schedules.
Today was the first class for this session. Doug has only two students in this session, Rayna and Gail. We spent some time talking about glassblowing in general and then Doug had me demo a paperweight while he talked to the class about each step. Apparently all I really need is an audience because everything went perfectly. And I think it was the straightest jack line I've done to date! Afterwards I just hung around and talked "shop" with the ladies. I really enjoy acting as a mentor; I like helping other people and honestly I learn a lot myself. Hopefully the class got some benefit from me being there!
To top it off, Doug let me sneak in a piece on my own while they were taking a break!
It'll be a few weeks, but I'm looking forward to going and helping out again.
This blog will be used to share my journey into the world of hot glass with all my friends and family. Anything I'm doing glass related, you'll hear about it here!
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Final Piece from Class
I picked up my last piece from class today. Gotta say I'm extermely happy with how it turned out! It's almost exactly what I was envisioning before I started work on it. Did a much better job thinning out the bubble before puntying it up so happy about that.
Add the color spots was pretty hard and I think they came out well. I made them from broken pieces of a "floor model". What was hard is they were pretty thick and it took a long time to melt them in. Spent almost an hour going back and forth from the glory hole keeping a balance between melting the pieces and trying not to collapse the bubble.
Just about my only criticism is that at one point I used the paper to try and smooth it out and I shouldn't have. There is a little bit of ash that got caught on the edges that gave the color spots a bit of a burnt look. Still quite happy, but it's always good to find something to learn from with each piece!
Add the color spots was pretty hard and I think they came out well. I made them from broken pieces of a "floor model". What was hard is they were pretty thick and it took a long time to melt them in. Spent almost an hour going back and forth from the glory hole keeping a balance between melting the pieces and trying not to collapse the bubble.
Just about my only criticism is that at one point I used the paper to try and smooth it out and I shouldn't have. There is a little bit of ash that got caught on the edges that gave the color spots a bit of a burnt look. Still quite happy, but it's always good to find something to learn from with each piece!
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Last Class
Tonight was our last glassblowing class for this session. I'm not planning on taking another class at the moment. Instead, I'm going to focus on renting studio time to practice the skills that I've learned so far.
I'm very happy with how my last piece turned out tonight. Ann got adventurous and got us started putting a foot on our pieces, so of course I had to try one too! Pictures in a couple of days when I pick it up.
Doug - I really enjoyed your classes and have learned a ton of things from you. I planning on attending your demos as regularly as I feel that I've learned just as much from watching you and Pauli than I have from the class. And if you ever need a "punty boy", just give me a holler.
Jeff, Ann and Lauren - It was great meeting you guys. Hopefully we can get up a regular studio routine. I don't have any weekends in April, but definitely planning on one or two in May. I will let you know.
The piece I brought home tonight was an Alex "commission". Last week he asked me to make him a cup. He wanted blue, green and yellow but I didn't have a mix that I liked, so he got just blue.
I'm very happy with how my last piece turned out tonight. Ann got adventurous and got us started putting a foot on our pieces, so of course I had to try one too! Pictures in a couple of days when I pick it up.
Doug - I really enjoyed your classes and have learned a ton of things from you. I planning on attending your demos as regularly as I feel that I've learned just as much from watching you and Pauli than I have from the class. And if you ever need a "punty boy", just give me a holler.
Jeff, Ann and Lauren - It was great meeting you guys. Hopefully we can get up a regular studio routine. I don't have any weekends in April, but definitely planning on one or two in May. I will let you know.
The piece I brought home tonight was an Alex "commission". Last week he asked me to make him a cup. He wanted blue, green and yellow but I didn't have a mix that I liked, so he got just blue.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Lampworking
A few weeks ago I decided to order some basic lampworking tools and give that a try. Sort of a mini "fix" to play with glass in between hot shop sessions. This morning I had some time to sit down and give it a go. Had a lot of fun doing it and my beads didn't turn out too bad. I have to work on using the proper place in the torch. A lot of the beads look "dirty" and I think it's because I was putting the glass too close to the torch (I'm using a basic hot head setup right now and I've heard that can happen; it's also brand new, maybe there's a break in period?).
Anyway, here's the obligatory pictures. Full gallery can be seen here. Right now, I'm not properly annealing them (waiting to make sure I want to continue before I drop a few clams on a kiln) so everything is pretty much practice at this point.
Anyway, here's the obligatory pictures. Full gallery can be seen here. Right now, I'm not properly annealing them (waiting to make sure I want to continue before I drop a few clams on a kiln) so everything is pretty much practice at this point.
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