Glass blowing

How to blow glass

Originally glass was melted in furnaces from ingredients such as soda, potash, various compounds, limestone and sand. These raw materials transform into glass in a temperature above 2000 F. Next the glass is left alone in order to allow air bubbles to be released. There are 3 furnaces involved in glass blowing. The fist one contains molten glass, the second furnace or the ‘glory hole’ is used to reheat a art piece throughout its creation, and the last furnace, the lire, is used to cool the glass for hours or days – this furnace also prevents the glass from cracking and changing shape. Tools used include a bench, marver, blocks, jacks, paddles, tweezers, shears, punty and a blowpipe. Initially, the blowpipe is dipped into the molten glass in the first furnace and gathered. Next the glass is rolled on the marver which is a slab of steel or marble. This is important in forming a cool, harder exterior skin on the molten glass so that it can be blow effectively. Air is then blown into the blowpipe in order to create the glass art.

Glass blowing history

The first evidence of glass blowing was found to date back to 27BC in Syria. The Syrians formed the glass medium around cores of mud and then quickly inflated them into large, clear, leak free containers. This technique spread to the Roman world and was adopted by the Venetians, especially on the island of Murano. Venice became the center of the highest quality glass manufacturing of the medieval period. The glass blowers of Venice were the best in the world at the time, boasting years of training and skill, and a variety of colors that could not be found elsewhere. Venetian glass blowers were so valued that they were sentenced to death if they attempted to escape Venice. This would not only release their trade secrets to the world, but it would also destroy Venice as a main trading centre for glass blown goods including glasses, flasks, glass jewelry, gold encrusted glass vessels and so on. The modern glass blowing movement was the “Studio Glass Movement”, which began in 1962 with chemist Dominick Labino and ceramics professor Harvey Littleton. They combined their efforts to experiment with melted glass and a small furnace and eventually began creating blown glass art. These two individuals sparked the advent of glass blowing as a private artform – possible in private studios. Famous decorative glass artists like Dale Chihuly, and Lino Tagliapietra embraced glass blowing art and became creative leaders of the times. Dale Chihuly started the Pilchich Glass School in Washington, which became a huge contributor to the American Studio Glass movement. Dante Morioni was the first Murano trained Italian artist to leave Venice and share his knowledge with the USA in 1971. This fueled more interest and admiration of the blown glass art. Today, glassblowing is one of the fastest growing hobbies in North America.