Glassblowing Essay

Imagine a piece of glass with waves of color being swung on the bottom of a pole, moving like a skirt being twirled. That is the image that glassblowers instill in people’s minds every day. Molding glass to make it look like ruffles on a fabric. Glass artwork can range from vases, windows, ash trays, and even bongs. All around is glass. A cup, window, and a vase are examples. However, glassblowers take a type of sea glass called cullets and place them into a kiln, a heating machine that has a hole for an opening, heating it to high temperatures until it has become molten glass. This kiln is called a “crucible” at City Arts in Wichita, Kansas. Using a tool called a blowpipe they extract the molten glass, making what is called a gaver. The heated glass is hot enough that it sometimes drips off the blowpipe like honey. Normally, there is a bucket of water next to the kiln to catch the dripping glass, to make smaller amounts of glass. After getting an amount of glass on the blowpipe it rolls on a metal surface to marver into a cone like shape.

Most glassblowers take an apprenticeship to learn the trade. Hands on learning is one of the best tools for learning glassblowing and apprenticeships is hands on learning. Red Deer has courses in glassblowing. Wichita has classes in November on Mondays, but these courses cost two hundred dollars. However, college courses are also a choice and a major in glassblowing are more accessible than ever. Haliburton School of the Arts has a degree called the Visual and Creative Arts Diploma (VCAD). The Salem Community College and Ball State University also offer Kiln Techniques, Figure Drawing, Glassblowing, Glass Casting, Art History, Glass: Cold Working and Sculpture courses that can contribute to a Associate 's, Bachelor 's, or Master 's degree. After learning glassblowing there is an option of working for an industry or