vivid-blowing - Tumblr blog

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Havin a good ole time at the Middle Earth Festival #middleearthfest2017 #funtimes😎 #happiness #newglasses (at Middle Earth Beer & Music Festival)

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Little one helping with some hand lapping! 😊 #glassblowing #glassart #glassfamily

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Hehehe made me #smile

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So, here's a few pieces from my latest series "reaction" using lustre colours. I'm using the fact the coloured glass react but tryin to control to make some beautiful colours with simple shapes. Here we have green & black in tea lights and a pebble vase. I have also a silver blue lustre which has been very popular in tea lights, pebble base and a long neck vase.

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Art in Action

Home after Art in Action once the furnace had cooled to transport. What a fantastic show. We had such a brilliant time demonstrating and meeting people who really appreciate what we do for a living. Loved seeing so many glass artists too. Bit of pop corn making and brewing cups of tea! Now time to sleep for a month!

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I do love my new piece! Xxx

New Venetian style Glass. Foldin rim on the foot, not so pleased with the alvolio but I know I can do better!

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New Venetian style Glass. Foldin rim on the foot, not so pleased with the alvolio but I know I can do better!

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Just to comment on my own work, I do wish I could have got the too alvolio neater but still, for a person who has been practising a Venetian style goblet for about 6-9 months, I am very pleased 😊

Venetian “love” goblet commission. Very pleased with my outcome. First Venetian commission and fingers crossed a lot more to come ☺️

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Venetian “love” goblet commission. Very pleased with my outcome. First Venetian commission and fingers crossed a lot more to come ☺️

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No matter what piece it is, I do love watching glasses being made. I love it even more when I'm making but still love glass!

Glassmithing 101: Making a Cup…Vessel…Thing…

Day one: we made a paperweight. Day two of our glassmaking intensive course, we actually start learning how to blow glass. This is when everything gets really bananas! Not only is glassworking high-octane and dynamic, most functional pieces beyond a paperweight really require a tremendous amount of teamwork.

In these photos, the instructors demonstrate how a simple glass vessel is made. After the desired amount of molten glass is gathered on a pipe, a small bit of air is blown to get the vessel started. The lump is rolled on the marver table (basically a thick sheet of steel), then shaped with a jack. Meanwhile, a partner is blowing in the pipe to elongate the vessel to the desired size. To flatten the bottom, a third person needs to apply pressure with a wooden paddle. The final step is to open up the vessel. One partner needs to prepare a punty onto which the now flat-bottomed glass will be transferred. The open-end gets reheated several times to remain workable so that the lip can be shaped with a jack to your satisfaction.

I’ve skipped a lot of transitory details, but this is the gist. The Hubs made a pretty damn good drinking glass, whereas mine’s got over-blown and derpy looking :-( I’m glad to have tried this and feel wiser for it, but glassmithing is not for me. That intense heat and organized chaos is utterly terrifying. I prefer crafts that can be pursued independently, but glass working requires super specialized tools, space and people to make the simplest of items. There’s very little room for improv and half the time, you really can’t even see what’s going on because you are at the other end of the pipe. Lastly, and the most important reason, I cannot keep up with glasssmithing because I have an sense of humor of a 13 year-old-boy. In what other craft do you get to say: “Grab your pipe and flash the tip into the glory hole.” or “Hey, can you paddle my bottom while I jack.” I can’t keep a straight face. I refuse to ;-p

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Embryos in the making!

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NEW WORK IN THE MAKING 😝 embryos ready for hand engraving and blowing out - EXCITED!!

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Wow!

Francis Bedford, illustration of Venetian Glass, 1858. Lithography. From Art treasures of the United Kingdom. Day & Son Lith’rs to the Queen. Via NYPL

"Murano, where most of Venice’s glassmakers migrated to, “…held a monopoly on quality glassmaking for centuries, developing or refining many technologies including crystalline glass, enameled glass, glass with threads of gold, multicoloured glass (millefiori), milk glass, and imitation gemstones made of glass.” (Sayeth wikipedia.) Venetian glass is/was The Hot Shit." Thx for the comment tecmessa

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Nearly finished!

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Some designs I'm working on ☺️

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Development of new designs, really love this bulb shape, n I kinda like the idea of as stopper bein like an extension of the vase like it extends the vase.... Hmmm...

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Here you can view my work, read about me and even purchase my work ;-) so excited!