Glass Class

Yesterday I went to a glass class at the Stained Glass Supply in Eagle Rock.  My sister-in-law Gretchen was going for a Christmas (or maybe birthday?) present from her parents and it was given as an option for me for a Christmas present as well, so I took them up on it.  I’ve always loved glass.  Stained glass, glass bowls, etc.  Pretty much, I like any sort of glass that is at least somewhat transparent so that you can see colors interacting both with each other and with the light that shines through it.

I had given up the idea of working with glass, mostly because working with glass means excessively hot temperatures.  (Have you ever been around a glass blowing demonstration? – that is so not me.)  Today’s class, however, was very manageable.  It was working with fused glass.  Basically, it’s laying pieces of glass on top of each other and putting that in a kiln, and then it gets all melty together once you turn the temperature on.

The class was sort of overwhelming at first because there were a bunch of different finished pieces with the instructor basically saying how you could do these various techniques.  Which would be great…if I knew anything about glass.  So, basically, it was far too confusing at the beginning.  But then we were set to the task of putting together a small pile of glass.  That piece was supposed to be fired (in a small kiln) during class, so I think we should have technically been able to see it (and take it home) before we left.  I guess we got started too late, because they were still cooling in the kiln by the time we left (by the time we left, our pieces were still at 600 F!

So, anyway, I felt quite blind when trying to do things.  I think I would have preferred to have had a more structured class so that the first lesson we learn how to do something specific, then the second lesson we learn something different, and then as we would go along, then I would have a better sense of what could and couldn’t be done.  But I suppose that’s a hard tactic to do for a one-shot, three-hour class.

Anyway, I ended up making one small rectangle (my guess is 2×1.5”), one small square (3×3”) and then I attempted to make two small flower vases that I had seen at a craft fair once.  I’d show you pictures, but I have none because I went home empty-handed.  I think I have to go back mid-week to pick them up, so expect to see a Glass Class Update!