What is Glassblowing?

I don't have any videos up on my site yet, so some people might be wondering: what is glassblowing? And how is it used to make the items on my site?

What is Blown Glass Jewelry?

Glassblowing is an ancient art going back for thousands of years. There are two different types, furnace work and lampworking

Lampworking

This is the type of glassblowing I do. Propane is pumped into a torch, and this provides the fuel for ignition. Oxygen is also pumped in, this allows the propane to burn more efficiently and also increases the heat and intensity of the flame. A propane heavy flame is weaker and leaves black soot, while an oxygen heavy flame is thin and piercing and burns clean.

Glass rods are placed in front of the torch, and then melted, shaped, and sculpted into an infinite number of forms. There is a rich history to lampworking, it's been done for thousands of years!

If you'd like to learn more about the process, I have a guide for making glass flowers and one for making space pendants. Or maybe you're thinking, this seems so cool, how can I get started lampworking? You can start by clicking here.

I also use a lot of specially made opals in my work, these are called gilson opals.

Furnace Work

In furnace work large six-foot steel rods and tubes are used to gather glass out of a furnace. Furnace work can be very exciting, you're creating much bigger objects than lampworking and working with a giant heat source. The piece you are working on is cooling down anytime it's not inside of the furnace, and this adds to the need for speed. 

The steel rods are used to gather solid blobs that can be shaped. The hollow tubes can be blown into to turn the glass into a hollow vessel. From here you can make cups, vases, etc.