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Wednesday, December 28, 2016

Have You Ever Blown Glass?

A Gift To Each Other

After watching a segment on WDRB, a Louisville TV station about Flame Run Glass Works in Louisville,
Jim and I decided we would like to go and do that as a gift to each other.
 
 

Brook was our "main man" at Flame Run.
He did ALL the heavy lifting,
we just did the heavy breathing.

Brook is retrieving the hot glass out of the 2000 degree furnace.
 
 You can see it on the end of the pole.
It is crazy hot but one of the most interesting things I've ever seen.
 
Brook is rolling the hot glass in little pieces of glass to give it the color we selected. 
He'll roll it on that stainless table in front of the trays of glass to shape it and cool it.
 
Next he put it in a "much" cooler furnace.
It's only about 1200 degrees.
This melts the little glass pieces onto the glass on the pole.
 
Told you it was HOT!

Brook rolls and shapes the hot glass with the ease of a master.
He adds every color we selected separately,
re-heats it in between each addition and continues rolling and shaping.
Here Brook takes a cherry wood cup that has been soaked in water for a decade or two, and put it around the hot glass while he rolls it to really give it a nearly flawless round shape.
(Told you Brook has skills)
 
And then after all that super perfect work,
Brook gets real brave and turns it over to me.
Are you Kidding ME!
 
 
Brook is still rolling and shaping and I'm blowing.
He guided me every step of the way. 
"Blow softly, blow harder, harder, more, more, STOP"
 
Brook is scoring my ornament so it can come off the pole easily.
 
 
Brook took the hot round Kentucky Blue and White ornament
off the pole and took it to another station where he put the loop on.
Wow!
 
Here Brook is, with a much better view,
putting the hook on Jim's red, green and white ornament.
 
In a matter of minutes, each of us had our very own ornament.
 
It was impressive.
 
 Now aren't this just beautiful!
We are SOOO proud!
 
If you'd like to give this a try,
and I hope you do,
click HERE to go to the Flame Run website. 
 
They also have a great gallery of all sorts of blown glass items.
It is beautiful and incredible to think of how it was all made.
 
Hey guys,
I didn't give away my November painting yet and now it's time to give away my December painting.
You really should hop on this right now and get signed up,
because I give away a small painting every single month.
Here's how to sign up.
Scroll up to the top and on the right hand side is a box that says,
Subscribe to my blog
(I know, I'm so original).
Put your email in there.
Then you'll receive an email from me asking you to confirm that you really did sign up.  Click on the link in that confirmation email and you'll be all set. 
 
You also should move my email into your primary box,
because I will notify you by email if you're a winner,
and you don't wanna miss it.
 
Want to learn how to paint using acrylic paint in 2017.
Click HERE to go to my website to see the beginning classes I offer.  More will be coming in 2017.
 
Happy 2017
 


 

4 comments:

  1. Beautiful works, what fun to have collaborated on them! No, to answer your question, I have never blown glass. Going to interview a glass blower, though :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Meredith. We had a wonderful time and I'm sure we'll be heading back. Can't wait to hear the interview of the glass blower.

      Delete
  2. Thanks for a very interesting post, Sharon. We have a great glass blowing place in Santa Fe and I always am fascinated watching them work. Happy New Year.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Julie. Glass blowing is an incredible art and process I think. It is so fluid and beautiful during the whole process and it changes with just a tiny adjustment.

      Delete

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About Me

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Ghent, Kentucky, United States
I'm a nature artist and I love to paint old barns, rivers and lakes, trees and fence rows and flowers. I work almost daily. You can purchase paintings by contacting me at slgraves6@gmail.com and there is also a tab across the top of my blog for available paintings and one for small paintings with buy now buttons. You can also purchase through my Etsy shop using the name of Fine Nature Art. . Thank you so much for stopping by.