Arts & Crafts

 Guess what we did last night? We blew glass! Like, we made things out of glass in a studio. One of my colleagues went on a Celebrity cruise to Alaska and was telling me she made something out of glass. I couldn't have been more excited that our boat had this feature. I LOVE glass! Maybe growing up in the Chihuly era in Washington had something to do with it, or maybe I just like it! I've always been fascinated with all things glass. One of my favorite college classes was stained glass. Of course, since it's been a beat, I can't even remember what process we used (it wasn't rods and soldering), but I still have all my pieces. One of them is even good. Ha!

On the top deck here on Celebrity Equinox is a full functioning glass studio by Hollywood Glass. Does anyone watch Blown Away on Netflix? If you don't, you should!  It's a reality show about blowing glass, and from what I can tell, it's legit artists that are featured. The prize is a residency at Corning Museum of Glass, which is a big deal. Hollywood Glass is founded by season three contestant Brenna Baker. All of that means probably nothing if you haven't watched the show, but there's some fangirl background in case you have! Also, I haven't finished season 4, so SHHHHH!

There are lots of colors and projects to choose from. Mom chose a jellyfish, and I went with a penguin. Mom was up first!

Does anyone remember baby-sitting for that glass blower in Clyde Hill? His son's name was Reagan, and they lived near Chinook at the top of the hill. I wasn't "their" baby-sitter, but I subbed a lot for a friend. Anyway, the dad had blown glass everywhere (what a nightmare with a toddler) and the garage was full of color rods. Color rods have to be melted first to use, but the "frits" like you see below, can be applied directly to glass that has been heated up. 

First, glass is pulled from the Glass Melting Furnace, which is about 2100 degrees F. I mean, we signed a waiver, but still, the glass blower did this part! Mom worked with Sam and I worked with Kayla. After there is melted glass on the end of the rod, it is rolled around a little to create the initial shape, and then it's dipped in color. 

Then it goes into the furnace which at 2050 degrees is slightly cooler. Ours was running slightly cooler at 1900, and it actually made a huge difference in how malleable the glass was. During this stage the color is melting into the glass. You have to turn it evenly left and right, or else your penguin might end up with gout! (Penguin #1 ended up with that anyway, but that comes later!) 

Next, Kayla and Sam shaped the glass a little. I'm sure this is part of the experience that you can't learn in 20 minutes. :)   After the initial shaping, both my mom and I used many of these torture tools to make our pieces. 

Mom got to use some of the tools to sort of pull out the glass that would become the tentacles of the jellyfish. I used them to shape the wings and beak of the penguin. The jellyfish had layers, so they flashed it in cold water in between adding a new layer.

Of course you blow into the end to add the initial shape, hence the term, "glass blowing". The jellyfish required just a little air. The penguin, on the other hand, needed a little more! I was blowing, and the glass was sort of hardening, not to mentioned it was too hot, and she said, "full strength" or something of the sort, and I gave it my all, and the penguin sprouted a second stomach! We had a good laugh and started over. Penguin #2 is also a little pudgy, but he worked out!

Certainly this wasn't the most difficult part, but it was very satisfying to tap the pole at the end and have the creation pop cleanly off! 

And then they went into the annealer overnight, which cools the glass in a controlled environment. The penguin was pretty easy to visualize what it would look like (black and white), but the jellyfish was going to be a surprise! I mean, mom picked out the colors she liked, but you can't see them in this process. This definitely is part of the art!

This was SO FUN! I probably won't become a glass blower because it's just too dang hot, but I'd do this again in a heartbeat! Here are our finished products:

The penguin is hilarious and somehow has the expression of my cat Lanny. And the jellyfish is amazing! We can hardly believe that we made these beautiful things!